Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Social Media Promote Civic Activism? A Field Experiment with a Civic Campaign

Abstract Social media may help civil society organize and mobilize for different campaigns. However, the extent to which social media campaigns simply recruit like-minded individuals as compared to exerting a causal impact on joiners’ attitudes is difficult to disentangle. We test both the organizational and transformative potential of a civil society campaign in a randomized field experiment deployed via Facebook or an email newsletter in collaboration with a Bulgarian environmental campaign. As expected, we find that Bulgarian Facebook users who are active in pro-environmental groups, and those who decide to follow the campaign, are more highly educated than those who decide to stay at the sidelines. Moreover, beliefs in the effectiveness of civic society, character traits and prior activism systematically predict whether a Bulgarian Facebook user decides to join the cause on Facebook, or subscribe to the email newsletter. In contrast, we find little evidence that the campaign affected opinions, knowledge, or self-reported behavior. We conclude that social media campaigns that are commonplace among civil society organizations are effective at selecting activist-types, but changing the views and behaviors of the broader social media population may be more difficult than assumed.
T cells recognize the VH complementarity‐determining region 3 of the idiotypic protein of B cell non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma

The idiotypic protein expressed by B lymphoma cells is a clone‐specific tumor antigen which may be suitable for immune targeting by T cells. In this study, we cloned the immunoglobulin heavy chain variable gene (VH) of the idiotypic protein from a patient with B cell lymphoma and used a synthetic peptide of 22 amino acids corresponding to the VH complementarity‐determining region (CDR)‐3 of the idiotypic protein to investigate whether autologous T cells could recognize this unique peptide. We demonstrated that autologous T cells possessing both CD4+ and CD8+ phenotypes could be propagated. The T cells were able to proliferate, secrete cytokines, and lyse autologous cells presensitized with the specific peptide in a major histocompatibility complex‐dependent manner. Moreover, these CDR3 peptide‐primed T cells were also able to kill autologous lymphoma cells. Our results therefore offer new perspectives for specific therapeutic vaccination for the treatment of B cell lymphoma.
Pioglitazone Compared to Glibenclamide on Lipid Profile and Inflammation Markers in Type 2 Diabetic Patients During an Oral Fat Load

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of pioglitazone and glibenclamide on lipid profile and inflammatory parameters during an oral fat load (OFL). A total of 201 type 2 diabetic patients on treatment with metformin were enrolled in the study; pioglitazone was titrated till 45 mg/day and glibenclamide till 15 mg/day, in association with metformin, respectively. The patients underwent an OFL at baseline and after 12 months. The OFL was given between 08.00 and 09.00 h after a 12-h fast. Blood samples were drawn before and 3, 6, 9, and 12 h after the OFL. We evaluated glycemic-metabolic parameters [glycated hemoglobin (HbA (1c)), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting plasma insulin (FPI), homeostasis model assessment (Homa) index], total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (Tgs), interleukin-6 (IL-6), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and adiponectin (ADN). Pioglitazone was better than glibenclamide in decreasing HbA (1c), FPG, FPI, lipid profile, and in improving inflammatory parameters such as Hs-CRP, and ADN. Comparing the OFL performed at baseline, and the OFL performed at the end of the study, pioglitazone, but not glibenclamide, improved all post-OFL peaks for all parameters. Comparing the 12 months OFL in the group treated with pioglitazone and in the group treated with glibenclamide, the values recorded with pioglitazone were significantly better than the ones obtained with glibenclamide. We can conclude that pioglitazone was better than glibenclamide in mitigating the variations of lipid components and inflammation parameters in type 2 diabetic patients.
Integrons and Gene Cassettes in theEnterobacteriaceae

ABSTRACT Integrons were detected in 59 of 120 (49%) urinary isolates ofEnterobacteriaceae by PCR using degenerate primers targeted to conserved regions of class 1, 2, and 3 integrase genes. PCR sequencing analysis of the cassette arrays revealed a predominance of cassettes that confer resistance to the aminoglycosides and trimethoprim.
Genetic differentiation in Scottish populations of the pine beauty moth, Panolis flammea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract Pine beauty moth, Panolis flammea (Denis & Schiffermüller), is a recent but persistent pest of lodgepole pine plantations in Scotland, but exists naturally at low levels within remnants and plantations of Scots pine. To test whether separate host races occur in lodgepole and Scots pine stands and to examine colonization dynamics, allozyme, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and mitochondrial variation were screened within a range of Scottish samples. RAPD analysis indicated limited long distance dispersal (FST = 0.099), and significant isolation by distance (P < 0.05); but that colonization between more proximate populations was often variable, from extensive to limited exchange. When compared with material from Germany, Scottish samples were found to be more diverse and significantly differentiated for all markers. For mtDNA, two highly divergent groups of haplotypes were evident, one group contained both German and Scottish samples and the other was predominantly Scottish. No genetic differentiation was evident between P. flammea populations sampled from different hosts, and no diversity bottleneck was observed in the lodgepole group. Indeed, lodgepole stands appear to have been colonized on multiple occasions from Scots pine sources and neighbouring populations on different hosts are close to panmixia.
Seismic Phase Picking Using Convolutional Networks

When a seismometer network records an earthquake, operators will manually review the waveforms and identify the wave phases, a task known as phase picking. Manual phase picking is a time-consuming process that can be automated using machine learning; however, automatic methods have not yet achieved human-level performance, and open-source implementations of state-of-the-art algorithms are not always available. Convolutional networks have revolutionized the field of image processing, where the large amounts of readily available data make possible near-human performance in tasks such as classification and segmentation. Fortunately, phase picking is also an area where thousands of phases are manually picked, which makes convolutional networks a good fit for the processing of this type of data. In this paper, we describe Cospy, an open-source convolutional phase picker that uses a two-stage analysis in which the first stage segments a rough area around the phase, and the second stage regresses the precise location. Our approach was evaluated on the Northern California Earthquake Data Center (NCEDC) data set and, when targeting picks closer than 0.1 s, it achieved an $F_{1}$ -score of 93.13% for P phases and 91.07% for S phases. Our results show that convolutional networks are on track to achieve human-level performance on the task of seismic phase picking and can contribute to decreasing the need for manual analysis. An open-source implementation of the proposed approach, pretrained on the NCEDC data set, can be downloaded at https://github.com/stbnps/cospy.
Beliefs About the Controllability of Pain: Congruence Between Older Adults With Cancer and Their Family Caregivers

Family dyadic beliefs about pain controllability were examined to determine what influence they had on patient symptom distress and subjective caregiver burden. The Calgary Family Assessment and Intervention Models and Illness Beliefs Model guided this investigation. Self-report questionnaires were administered to a sample of 81 family dyads that consisted of ambulatory cancer care older adult outpatients and their family caregivers. Inferential statistics indicated that family dyads were congruent in their beliefs about pain controllability. Descriptive statistics showed that family dyads with beliefs that the pain was controllable had less symptom distress and caregiver burden than dyads with beliefs that pain was not controllable. Results suggest that family dyadic beliefs that cancer-related pain is controllable have a positive influence on family pain control outcomes. Findings also support the need for nurses to include family members when developing pain management interventions for older adults.
Clinical Impact of Portal Vein Thrombosis Prior to Liver Transplantation: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION To identify the impact of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) and associated medical and surgical factors on outcomes post liver transplant (LT). MATERIAL AND METHODS Two analyses were performed. Analysis One: cohort study of 505 consecutive patients who underwent LT (Alberta) between 01/2002-12/2012. PVT was identified in 61 (14%) patients. Analysis Two: cohort study of 144 consecutive PVT patients from two sites (Alberta and London) during the same period. Cox multivariable survival analysis was used to identify independent associations with post-LT mortality. RESULTS In Analysis One (Alberta), PVT was not associated with post-LT mortality (log rank p = 0.99). On adjusted analysis, complete/occlusive PVT was associated with increased mortality (Hazard Ratio (HR) 8.4, p < 0.001). In Analysis Two (Alberta and London), complete/occlusive PVT was associated with increased mortality only on unadjusted analysis (HR 3.7, p = 0.02). On adjusted analysis, Hepatitis C (HR 2.1, p = 0.03) and post-LT portal vein re-occlusion (HR 3.2, p = 0.01) were independently associated with increased mortality. CONCLUSION Well-selected LT patients who had PVT prior to LT had similar post-LT outcomes to non-PVT LT recipients. Subgroups of PVT patients who did worse post-LT (complete/occlusive thrombosis pre-LT, Hepatitis C or post-LT portal vein re-occlusion) warrant closer evaluation in listing and management post-LT.
Large-scale UK audit of blood transfusion requirements and anaemia in patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy

Cancer patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy often become anaemic and may require blood transfusions. A large-scale audit of patients with a variety of solid tumours receiving chemotherapy at 28 specialist centers throughout the UK was undertaken to quantify the problem. Data were available from 2719 patients receiving 3206 courses of cytotoxic chemotherapy for tumours of the breast (878), ovary (856), lung (772) or testis (213). Their mean age was 55 years (range 16–87). Overall, 33% of patients required at least one blood transfusion but the proportion varied from 19% for breast cancer to 43% for lung. Sixteen per cent of patients required more than one transfusion (7% for breast, 22% in lung). The mean proportion of patients with Hb < 11 g dl–1rose over the course of chemotherapy from 17% before the first cycle, to 38% by the sixth, despite transfusion in 33% of patients. Of the patients receiving transfusions, 25% required an inpatient admission and overnight stay. The most common symptoms reported at the time of transfusion were lethargy, tiredness and breathlessness. Further research is needed to evaluate the role of blood transfusions in patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign
Differentiating Autoimmune Pancreatitis From Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Using Dual-Phase Computed Tomography

Objective This article aimed to study features on dual-phase computed tomography (CT) that help differentiate autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) from pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA). Methods The CTs of 32 patients with AIP were matched with equal number of PA and were independently evaluated by 3 radiologists who assigned a diagnosis of AIP, PA, or unsure. Interobserver agreement between radiologists was evaluated using &kgr; statistics. Results The mean accuracies for diagnosing AIP and PA were 68% and 83%, respectively. There was moderate agreement between radiologists (&kgr;, 0.58; P < 0.0001). The most common findings for AIP were common bile duct (CBD) stricture (63%), bile duct wall hyperenhancement (47%), and diffuse parenchymal enlargement (41%). The most common findings for PA were focal mass (78%; &kgr;, 0.58; P < 0.0001) and pancreatic ductal dilatation (69%; &kgr;, 0.7; P < 0.0001). Findings helpful for diagnosing AIP were diffuse enlargement, parenchymal atrophy as well as absence of pancreatic duct dilatation and focal mass. Findings helpful for diagnosing PA were focal mass and pancreatic ductal dilatation. Misdiagnosis of PA in patients with AIP was due to focal mass, pancreatic duct dilatation, and pancreatic atrophy, whereas misdiagnosis of AIP in patients with PA was due to absence of atrophy, presence of diffuse enlargement, and peripancreatic halo. Conclusions Diffuse enlargement, hypoenhancement, and characteristic peripancreatic halo are strong indicators for a diagnosis of AIP. Radiologists demonstrated moderate agreement in distinguishing AIP from PA on the basis of CT imaging.
Maintaining Workers Resolve: Examining Influential Factors and Supports Leading to Long-Term Worker Permanence in Child Welfare

Supervisory Committee Dr. Susan Strega, Faculty of Human and Social Development, School of Social Work Supervisor Dr. Jeannine Carriere, Faculty of Human and Social Development, School of Social Work Departmental Member Retention of experienced workers is an ongoing challenge in child protection social work. The purpose of this study is to understand more about the permanence of frontline child protection workers, where permanence is defined as ten or more consecutive years of frontline practice. Using a qualitative narrative methodology, supported by anti-oppressive theory, conversational interviews were conducted with experienced frontline child protection workers. Through narrative analysis of these interviews, I uncover some of the impacts and influence on worker permanence.
Joke and Its Relation to Students Grammar Mastery in EFL Learning

This linguistic-based educational research was conducted to identify the relation between semantic understanding and student’s syntax comprehension in learning English as foreign language. This observational research was managed by giving English humor (joke, pun, wit, etc.) to thirty students of English Department. In addition, students were interviewed to know how humor is advantageous for their grammar understanding. This research emerged that students were encouraged to construct well-structured sentences after firstly discovering the meaning of the humor. The first factor was the fact that students were able to understand the whole humor although they missed the grammar structure of it. The second factor was the in complex and brief structure of humor-triggered students to competently sustain its grammatical structure. The third factor was the ridiculousness of the joke itself. That humor is undoubtedly ridiculous motivate students to memorize its grammatical structure and meaning. Thus, humor was highly beneficial for students to elevate their grammatical mastery. Keywords—EFL; grammar; humor; joke
Measuring the Effects of the ‘Normalization’ of US Monetary Policy on Central America and the Dominican Republic

Since the beginning of the international financial crisis in major developed economies, central banks of these countries implemented several monetary policy (MP) measures, oriented to stabilize the financial system and mitigate the effects on the real side of the economy. As more data on the recovery of US economy becomes available, the speech of FED authorities is turning to consider the rising of the FED fund rates (FFR), defined as “normalization”. The effects of the US MP normalization are unclear – mainly for economies with low degrees of financial development – since the reversion of a monetary policy to a pre-crisis stance would take place under a US growth scenario. We estimate the impact of the normalization on Central America and the Dominican economies, summarizing the information of nearly 80 variables in a few common factors and considering both effects through real and financial channels. We estimate a factor augmented VAR, to measure the impact of US MP shocks to these economies, using a sign restriction approach in the identification process of such shocks. Then we use measured shocks to map the effects on domestic variables. Our results indicate that this eventuality will affect these economies mostly through its effects on the real side of the economy due to its impact on external demand and the reduced role of exchange rate as a shock absorber, where countries with less flexible exchange rate regimes being more affected. On the financial side, domestic interest rate will rise and net international reserves will fall, as central banks limit volatility in exchange rates.
Monetary Dialogue 2009-2014 – Looking Backward, Looking Forward

This paper comments on the role of the Monetary Dialogue in the context of an evolving monetary policy. The discussion is conducted in terms of the adoption of forward guidance on interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB), the ECB’s model choice and data revision policies in inflation forecasts, its membership in the Troika, its activities as a financial supervisor, as well as regards its bond purchasing activities and the implication for ECB monetary policy stemming from Fed’s envisaged exit from unconventional monetary policies. This paper also assesses on a case-by-case basis the actual exchange of information between the European Parliament (EP) and the ECB. We argue that the new ECB supervisory role has made the Monetary Dialogue exercise even more important "now" than in “normal” times. Still, we suggest changes, both procedural as well as regarding its focus range, to make it even more effective. In our view, the transparency/accountability issue represented by a Supervisory Board 'hosted' by ECB needs to be addressed. A crucial challenge for the Monetary Dialogue is also to assess the optimal degree of ECB transparency and accountability towards the EP, the key democratic institution.
Mechanisms creating transient and sustained photoresponses in mammalian retinal ganglion cells

Retinal neurons use sustained and transient light responses to encode visual stimuli of different frequency ranges, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In particular, although earlier studies in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) proposed seven potential mechanisms, all seven have since been disputed, and it remains unknown whether different RGC types use different mechanisms or how many mechanisms are used by each type. Here, we conduct a comprehensive survey in mice and rats of 12 candidate mechanisms that could conceivably produce tonic rod/cone-driven ON responses in intrinsically photosensitive RGCs (ipRGCs) and transient ON responses in three types of direction-selective RGCs (TRHR+, Hoxd10+ ON, and Hoxd10+ ON-OFF cells). We find that the tonic kinetics of ipRGCs arises from their substantially above-threshold resting potentials, input from sustained ON bipolar cells, absence of amacrine cell inhibition of presynaptic ON bipolar cells, and mGluR7-mediated maintenance of light-evoked glutamatergic input. All three types of direction-selective RGCs receive input from transient ON bipolar cells, and each type uses additional strategies to promote photoresponse transience: presynaptic inhibition and dopaminergic modulation for TRHR+ cells, center/surround antagonism and relatively negative resting potentials for Hoxd10+ ON cells, and presynaptic inhibition for Hoxd10+ ON-OFF cells. We find that the sustained nature of ipRGCs’ rod/cone-driven responses depends neither on melanopsin nor on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, whereas the transience of the direction-selective cells’ responses is influenced neither by &agr;-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)/kainate receptor desensitization nor by glutamate uptake. For all cells, we further rule out spike frequency adaptation and intracellular Ca2+ as determinants of photoresponse kinetics. In conclusion, different RGC types use diverse mechanisms to produce sustained or transient light responses. Parenthetically, we find evidence in both mice and rats that the kinetics of light-induced mGluR6 deactivation determines whether an ON bipolar cell responds tonically or transiently to light.
Quantitative Easing and Tapering Uncertainty: Evidence from Twitter

In this paper we analyze the extent to which people’s changing beliefs about the timing of the exit from Quantitative Easing (“tapering”) impact asset prices. To quantify beliefs of market participants, we use data from Twitter, the social media application. Our data set covers the entire Twitter volume on Federal Reserve tapering in 2013. Based on the time series of beliefs about an early or late tapering, we estimate a structural VAR-X model under appropriate sign restrictions on the impulse responses to identify a belief shock. The results show that shocks to tapering beliefs have non-negligible effects on interest rates and exchange rates. We also derive measures of monetary policy uncertainty and disagreement of beliefs, respectively, and estimate their impact. The paper is the first to use social media data for analyzing monetary policy and also adds to the rapidly growing literature on macroeconomic uncertainty shocks.
Multiple sclerosis: validation of MR imaging for quantification and detection of iron.

PURPOSE To investigate the relationship between iron staining and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging measurements in postmortem subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS). MATERIALS AND METHODS Institutional ethical approval was obtained, and informed consent was obtained from the subjects and/or their families. Four MR imaging methods based on transverse relaxation (T2 weighting, R2 mapping, and R2* mapping) and phase imaging were performed by using a 4.7-T system in three in situ postmortem patients with MS less than 28 hours after death and in one in vivo patient 1 year before death. Iron staining with the Perls iron reaction was performed after brain extraction. Region-of-interest measurements from six subcortical gray matter structures were obtained from MR imaging and then correlated with corresponding locations on photographs of iron-stained pathologic slices by using a separate linear least-squares regression in each subject. Iron status of white matter lesions, as determined by staining, was compared with appearance on MR images. RESULTS R2* mapping had the highest intrasubject correlations with iron in subcortical gray matter (R(2) = 0.857, 0.628, and 0.685; all P < . 001), while R2 mapping (R(2) = 0.807, 0.615, 0.628, and 0.489; P < . 001 and P = . 001, . 034, and . 001, respectively), phase imaging (R(2) = 0.672, 0.441, 0.596, 0.548; all P ≤ . 001), and T2-weighted imaging (R(2) = 0.463, 0.582, 0.650, and 0.551; all P < . 001) had lower but still strong correlations. Within lesions, hypointense areas on phase images did not always represent iron. A hyperintense rim surrounding lesions on R2* maps was only present with iron staining, yet not all iron-staining lesions had R2* rim hyperintensity. CONCLUSION All four MR imaging methods had significant linear correlations with iron and could potentially be used to determine iron status of subcortical gray matter structures in MS, with R2* mapping being preferred. A reliable method of determining iron status within MS lesions was not established.