Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of menstrual cycle, site and individual variation on breast elasticity and thickness

Ultrasound elasticity imaging using quasi-static compression has been widely evaluated in breast tumor diagnosis. Although it is promising in differentiating between benign and malignant breast tumors, factors such as semi-quantization without scaling the force applied and physiological changes of breast elasticity during the menstrual cycle may result in misdiagnosis. It has been reported that, due to female sex hormones, female breast morphology, proliferative and secretive activities, density, volume, electrical property and blood flow exhibit cyclic changes during the menstrual cycle. However, there is a lack of in vivo information about the menstrual cycle dependence of breast tissue elasticity changes. One recent study based on magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) unveiled the variations of breast elasticity during the menstrual cycle. However, the theory of MRE and the position of subjects in the examination are different compared with the measurements performed using ultrasound elastography. Additionally, the potential differences within the breast and iii among individuals have not been well considered in the previous studies about breast elasticity measurement in vivo. Using a 2-D ultrasound indentation system, the aims were to quantify the elasticity and thickness of breast tissues in vivo and to investigate the changes as a function of the menstrual cycle, different parts of a breast, and individual subjects. A specialized 2-D ultrasound probe with a force sensor attached was developed to record the force applied onto the tissue and the corresponding ultrasound images during manual loading and unloading processes (named ‘indentation’). The initial tissue thickness and the deformation caused by indentation were extracted from the ultrasound images. Tissue elasticity was calculated from the force-deformation data. The good repeatability of the elasticity and thickness measurement in vivo (n=163, ICC>0.950, variability <4.9% for the elasticity, and <0.7% for the thickness) guaranteed the feasibility of repeated tests during menstrual cycles. 21 subjects were recruited for breast elasticity and thickness measurements at an interval of two to three days for one complete menstrual cycle. The measurements were conducted on the four quadrants of both breasts for each subject. Concerning each quadrant, five repeated tests were performed and the values were averaged. The menstrual cycle length of each subject was normalized to 28 days using the ovulation day predicted from the pelvis ultrasound scanning. Accordingly, the number of tests for each subject was interpolated to 28 data points by linear interpolation.
A Study of the "Pride" Program: A Residential, Summer-School Program for At-Risk Middle-School Students in an Urban Community

A STUDY OF THE PRIDE PROGRAM: A RESIDENTIAL, SUMMER-SCHOOL PROGRAM FOR AT-RISK MIDDLE-SCHOOL STUDENTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY. Maria Teresa Amillategui Grimm Old Dominion University, 1997 Director: Dr. Stephen J. Tonelson This research examined the Pride Program (1991 and 1992)—a residential, summer-school program for at-risk middle-school students. It was conducted with subjects from two large, urban middle schools for the purpose of determining if, after five school years, differences existed among three selected groups (treatment, control and comparison) of at-risk students in the areas of academic achievement, attendance and conduct. Treatment-group self-esteem was examined over a three-year period. Furthermore, this study provided a qualitative program evaluation of the Pride Program for the first two years of its existence. The results are as follows: The qualitative evaluation indicated that all participants were generally satisfied with the program, although it needed some corrections, particularly in the academic component. Primary quantitative findings at the end of tenth grade were that there were no significant differences between groups in mean English grades, mathematics grades, grade-point average, number of absences and discipline referrals. At the end of middle school (eighth grade), the treatment group was found to have significantly better math grades in school than the other two groups and significantly lower ITBS Total Language scores than the control group. No significant difference was found in Total Self-esteem over the three-year period.
Burnout among catholic priests in Brazil: prevalence and associated factors

Catholic priests experience a myriad of stressors in their pastoral work, face countless demands and unrealistic expectations, are under constant scrutiny, and are surrounded by a culture that is increasingly secular and apparently less supportive. Consequently, priests may experience significant levels of burnout, which is characterized as a syndrome resulted from inadequate responses to chronic emotional stress. The purpose of this cross-sectional research was to investigate the rates of burnout among Catholic clergy in Brazil and associated factors. Randomly selected Catholic priests in Brazil (N = 242) were given the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), a sociodemographic questionnaire, and several survey items to assess psychosocial and spiritual variables. Results indicated that approximately one third of priests in Brazil experience moderate to high burnout rates. Younger priests reported higher levels of burnout. Vocational satisfaction, social support, self-care, and spiritual practices were significantly correlated to lower levels of burnout. In consistency with the literature on clergy burnout, these findings suggest that these factors may have a buffering effect on burnout among priests. In conclusion, there is a significant number of priests in Brazil feeling overwhelmed and experiencing clinically significant burnout levels. This is a problem that has to be taken seriously and requires immediate attention.
GEBE KOYUNLAR VE FÖTUSLARINDA PESTİVİRUS ENFEKSİYONU

Pestivirus genusu daha onceleri, koken aldigi hayvan turune gore 3 ayri virus turune ayrilmaktaydi: Sigirlarin BVD virusu, Koyunlarin Border Disease virusu ve Domuzlarin Klasik Domuz Vebasi (CSF) virusu. Bununla birlikte, bugun, genetik analiz ve virusa ozgu monoklonal antikorlar yardimiyla bu viruslarin birbirinden ayrimi mumkun olabilmektedir. Sigir ya da koyun pestiviruslari ile deneysel veya dogal enfeksiyonlar gostermektedir ki pestivirus enfeksiyonlarinin gebe koyunlardaki patogenezi ve sonuclari (abortlar, kongenital malformasyonlar, persiste enfeksiyonlar vb.) bu turlerdeki gebe hayvanlarda benzerdir. Calismanin amaci dogal yollarla enfekte olmus gebe koyunlarda, pestivirus enfeksiyonunun patogenezine isik tutmak ve bu alandaki verileri guncellestirmektir. Bu calismada Ankara bolgesindeki farkli mezbahalara getirilen 100 gebe koyuna ait 108 fotus kullanildi. Bu gebe koyunlara ait 75 serum orneginin 31\'i (% 41,3) pestiviruslara karsi seropozitivite gosterirken, fotuslardan alinan 65 serumun tamami seronegatif olarak tespit edildi.Virus izolasyonu amaciyla toplam 584 farkli fotal organ ve kan ornegi kullanildi. Fotal kuzu bobrek hucre kulturundeki 3 kor pasaji takiben her bir materyal direkt immunplak teste tabi tutuldu.Sonuc olarak 69 gunluk gebelik yasinda olan bir fotusun cesitli organlari (karaciger, beyin, bobrek, barsak ve akcigerler) ve lokosit orneginde, annesinin kotiledon ve amniyon orneklerinde ncp pestivirus tespit edildi.Bu sonuclara gore, orta-erken gebelik doneminde virusun anneden fotusa plasenta yoluyla gectigi ve bu enfeksiyon sirasinda fotal immun sistemin tam olarak gelismemis olmasi sebebiyle fotusta persiste bir enfeksiyonun olustugu dusunulmustur.
Self-Rated Effectiveness of Microdosing With Psychedelics for Mental and Physical Health Problems Among Microdosers

Background: There is a growing interest in the use of psychedelic substances for health related purposes, including symptom relief for disorders like anxiety, depression, and pain. Although the focus of recent clinical trials has been on high doses of these substances, anecdotal evidence suggests that low (micro) doses are also effective, and may be more suitable for certain conditions. Nonetheless, empirical evidence regarding the efficacy of microdosing with psychedelics for symptomatic relief is lacking. The present study aimed to investigate, by means of an online questionnaire, the self-rated effectiveness (SRE) of microdosing with psychedelics (MDP) for mental and physiological disorders compared to the conventional prescribed treatment and to regular doses of psychedelics. Methods: An online questionnaire was launched on several websites and fora between March and July 2018. Respondents who had consented, were 18 years of age or older, had experience with microdosing and were diagnosed with at least one mental or physiological disorder by a medical doctor or therapist (N = 410; 7.2%) were included in the analyses. Odds ratio were calculated to compare the SRE of MDP with conventional treatment, and regular psychedelic doses for mental and physiological diagnoses for each of the three effectiveness questions (“Did it work,” “Symptom disappear,” “Quality of life improved”). Results: Odds ratio showed that SRE of MDP was significantly higher compared to that of conventional treatments for both mental and physiological diagnoses; and that these effects were specific for ADHD/ADD and anxiety disorders. In contrast, SRE of MDP was lower compared to that of higher, regular psychedelic doses for mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, while for physiological disorders no difference was shown. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that SRE of MDP to alleviate symptoms of a range of mental or physiological diagnoses is higher compared to conventionally offered treatment options, and lower than regular (‘full’) psychedelic doses. Future RCTs in patient populations should objectively assess the effectivity claims of psychedelics, and whether these are dose related, disorder specific, and superior to conventional treatments.
The career development processes of women refugees in South Africa: An exploratory study

Orientation: There is an observed global movement of labour (freely and forcibly). South Africa emerges as a popular receiving ground for refugees. Within the career psychology literature, scant attention is given to understanding the career development concerns, post-settlement, of women refugees in the host country.Research purpose: The study explored the career development processes of women refugees, post-settlement, in South Africa as a host country.Motivation for the study: Calls have been made within local and international literature for studies that give attention to understanding the career development processes of minority groups.Research approach/design and method: Using a narrative inquiry approach, this study explored the career development processes of women refugees using a sample of 20 women refugees in South Africa. Relying on a snowball sampling procedure to recruit the participants, in-depth interviews were utilised as a data collection technique.Main findings: Drawing on participants’ narratives, the findings illustrate how women refugees have been more concerned with fulfilling a short-term desire for survival and acquiring basic commodities at the expense of a longer focus of advancement and career progression. This is mainly compounded by the structural constraints that limit both their career development and their lived experiences. Issues exclusive to the women refugees are also revealed. Overall, the results illustrate how all the aforementioned factors intersect as barriers that hinder women refugees in developing their careers.Practical/managerial implications: The study provides information and strategies that policymakers in South Africa and other developing nations that are hosting refugees can use to facilitate the career development processes of women refugees.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge focussing on career development of women refuges, a populace that previously received limited focus both locally and internationally.
Development of a novel adjuvant platform for neonatal vaccines against pertussis

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.v TABLE OF CONTENTS.vi LIST OF TABLES.xi LIST OF FIGURES.xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.xiv CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1 1.1 Bordetella pertussis 1
Unifying the Notions of Modularity and Core–Periphery Structure in Functional Brain Networks during Youth

Abstract At rest, human brain functional networks display striking modular architecture in which coherent clusters of brain regions are activated. The modular account of brain function is pervasive, reliable, and reproducible. Yet, a complementary perspective posits a core–periphery or rich-club account of brain function, where hubs are densely interconnected with one another, allowing for integrative processing. Unifying these two perspectives has remained difficult due to the fact that the methodological tools to identify modules are entirely distinct from the methodological tools to identify core–periphery structure. Here, we leverage a recently-developed model-based approach—the weighted stochastic block model—that simultaneously uncovers modular and core–periphery structure, and we apply it to functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired at rest in 872 youth of the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort. We demonstrate that functional brain networks display rich mesoscale organization beyond that sought by modularity maximization techniques. Moreover, we show that this mesoscale organization changes appreciably over the course of neurodevelopment, and that individual differences in this organization predict individual differences in cognition more accurately than module organization alone. Broadly, our study provides a unified assessment of modular and core–periphery structure in functional brain networks, offering novel insights into their development and implications for behavior.
Teaching of Pragmatics: Issues in a Global Age

This article reviews literature on pragmatic teaching in three domains: (1) instructional methods in interpragmatics (2) pragmatic teaching resources (3) test and assessment of pragmatic ability . It aims at providing a comprehensive perspective of the available choices for pragmatics teaching and the ways that second language learners’ pragmatic development can be enhanced in the classroom. In the area of instructional methods, this article reviews researches under the theoretical SLA framework of explicit versus implicit instruction, input processing instruction, and skill acquisition and practice. In the domain of pragmatic teaching resources, two types of pedagogical resources are reviewed: textbooks development and the possibility of the application of CA based research material and electronic corpora to the classroom pragmatics teaching and learning. In the discussion of test and assessment of pragmatic ability, two categories are reviewed. The first is the comparative study of the six types of instruments to test second language learners’ pragmatic ability which is aimed to provide statistical and practical aspects for the test developers and test users. The second reviews the teacher assessment and its related assessment instruments in the application of pragmatic teaching . Finally, this article discusses unique challenges and opportunities pragmatics teaching faces in the current era.
Understanding the Effects of Lifestyles and Routine Activities on Adolescents’ Physical and Non-physical Peer Victimization: A Zero-inflated Analysis of the 2007 NCVS-SCS

ABSTRACT The current study aims to expand previous empirical tests of lifestyle and routine activity theories (LRAT) by introducing a zero-inflated approach to the study of adolescents’ physical and nonphysical peer victimization. While many studies have examined youth victimizations, little academic attention has been given to an excessive number of non-victimization. With the application of the recent methodological findings, this study addresses an immunity effect and investigates diverse aspects of youth peer victimization. Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey School Crime Supplement (NCVS-SCS) are analyzed using both negative binomial (NB) and zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression models. The results from the NB and the ZINB models suggest that the application of the ZINB model is required for clarification of victimization determinants. This study also finds that the effects of illegal substance and gun availability at school observed from the ZINB model corroborate findings in previous studies. Nevertheless, there are a number of differentiated results from the zero-inflated model which provide directions for future victimization research assessing datasets with excessive zeros.
Mediated Misinformation: Questions Answered, More Questions to Ask

With the rampant increase of misinformation produced and distributed online at an alarming rate, it has become more imperative than ever to understand what makes people fall for misinformation. Drawing on the literature on persuasion, credibility of online information, and digital deception, we first review a list of factors associated with the source, message, channel, and receiver that may alter the extent to which people judge information as truthful and believable. Based on critical assessments of the gaps in the literature, suggestions are offered to shape future research agendas and develop an integrative conceptual framework.
Identification of a genetic contribution to Meniere's disease

Meniere’s disease (MD) is a complex disorder of the inner ear characterized by the symptoms of hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo, with an incidence in Caucasians of one in 1000. The hallmark histopathologic feature of MD is endolymphatic hydrops. Symptoms of MD typically present in the fourth decade of life, and the vertigo attacks experienced by patients with MD can be debilitating. Treatments aimed at alleviating the symptoms of MD are ineffective in approximately 30% of patients. Several studies have attempted to identify genetic factors important in MD through the use of families segregating the disease, but causative genes have not been identified. Many of these studies have been unsuccessful due to the fact that families of sufficient size to generate meaningful linkage results are extremely rare. Attempts to identify a genetic component to MD through the use of candidate gene association studies have been underpowered or poorly designed and therefore also unsuccessful. We hypothesize Meniere’s disease is a complex disorder that is due to the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. We tested this hypothesis using linkage and association studies. Initially, we focused on candidate gene replication association studies (KCNE1, KCNE3, iNOS), as well as testing a novel candidate gene (AQP4). We were unable to replicate the previous associations and although we could not identify an association between MD and AQP4 we did discover rare variants of AQP4 in our MD patient population. These variants segregate with a ‘syndromic’ MD phenotype. We also performed a genome-wide linkage study on a large Chilean family segregating MD over three generations and identified a novel MD locus on 1q32.11q32. 3. Targeted exon capture and pyrosequencing of the region identified two potential disease-causing variants in two genes of unknown function. We next screened a cohort of singleton patients with MD for variants in these same genes. Surprisingly, in both genes, we identified common and rare variants supporting a possible role for either gene
“Rules … I Want Someone to Make Them Clear”: Japanese Mothers in Montreal Talk about Multilingual Parenting

ABSTRACT This article examines the development of Japanese as a heritage language (HL) in linguistically mixed families. While families where parents share a mother tongue have been investigated extensively in recent decades, this particular demographic has received minimal attention in Canada. The article, part of a larger study, is based on semi-structured interviews with Japanese-descent mothers living in Montreal, Canada, which sought to investigate their efforts to raise their children through the Japanese language while navigating a linguistically diverse social context. The study found that the families engaged in highly valued metalinguistic discourse for devising and implementing family language policies. This was seen as essential for successful HL development. It was found that their contextual environment had several positive and negative impacts on the mothers’ parenting experiences and generated significant stress, but also provided inspiration for pursuing their HL goals. The article concludes with implications for research and knowledge mobilization.
Development and Evaluation of an Educational Intervention to Enhance Deep Learning and Study Skills among Pharmacy Students in Zambia

Background: Existing evidence suggests that most students undertaking health science programmes lack adequate learning and study skills. Aim: To develop and assess the potential effect of a deep learning and study skills elective module on undergraduate pharmacy students’ learning approach. Methods: A quasi-experimental study adopting a pretest-posttest design was conducted. An elective module dubbed ‘Orientation and Approaches to Deep Learning and Study Skills’ (OADLSS) was developed and experimented as an adjunct educational intervention. Forty-six (46) undergraduate pharmacy students were enrolled with 25 participants undertaking the OADLSS module and 21 participants constituting the non-intervention (control) group. The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) questionnaire was used to measure learning approaches before and 4-weeks after the intervention. Student’s t-tests and margins plots were used to compare approaches to learning within and across groups. Results: Participants that undertook the OADLSS elective module found it relevant and useful for enhancing their learning. Mean scores for strategic learning approach significantly reduced from 27.20 ± 1.94 (95%CI: 26.40 – 28.00) to 26.00 ± 3.09 (95% CI: 24.72 – 27.28, p = 0.0245) among OADLSS participants compared to controls (25.05 ± 4.38; 95%CI: 23.06 – 27.04 to 24.38 ± 3.28; 95%CI: 22.89 – 25.87, p = 0.5079). Deep learning scores minimally increased from 23.68 ± 3.26 (95%CI: 22.23 – 25.03) to 24.08 ± 3.64 (95%CI: 22.58 – 25.58) but this was not statistically significant (p = 0.5924) and did not predict high academic performance after the OADLSS intervention. Conclusion: An adjunct learning and study skills intervention produced minimal immediate changes to deep learning and studying approach. The potential influence of the educational intervention can be further enhanced by accompanying changes to the learning environment, educational strategies of the curriculum and educators, including assessment modalities utilised.