Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning to localize a broadband tonal complex signal with advanced hearing protectors and TCAPS: the effectiveness of training on open-ear vs. device-occluded performance

Abstract (1) determine if untrained, normal-hearing listeners could learn, with regimented practice trials, to localise a dissonant tonal complex while wearing electronic hearing protectors and achieve equivalent performance to the unoccluded ear, (2) determine if different protector designs affect the localisation learning curve, and (3) determine if a sequential training regimen could be used to determine whether a device is not amenable to training effects. All subjects completed paired training and testing trials, in 12 Learning Units (LU), first with the open ear. , then half with device A, a US Army TCAPS (INVISIO® X50), and the other half with device B (a prototype). Both groups then finished with the opposite device. Ten subjects participated, with thresholds below 25 dBHL, bilateral symmetry below 15 dBHL, and naivety with electronic protectors and localisation testing. Subjects eventually approached their open ear capability with device A, but never reached equivalent open ear nor asymptotic performance with device B. Depending upon a protector’s sound transduction, frequency response, and other characteristics, different amounts of training are required to adapt. The training protocol has value in determining device acceptability based on the training burden required, especially when mission-related localisation performance is important.
Unregulated antigen-presenting cell activation by T cells breaks self tolerance

Significance Removal of a subset of T cells with regulatory function (Tregs) impairs immune homeostasis and causes T cell proliferation and autoimmune disease. Using mice raised under foreign-antigen–free conditions, evidence is presented that lymphoproliferation induced by Treg cell removal is directed to self antigens rather than microbial or other foreign antigens. Based on experiments conducted both in vivo and in vitro, autoreactive T cell responses developing after Treg cell removal are directed to increased expression of costimulatory molecules (CD80, CD86) on dendritic cells, thereby leading to increased immunogenicity of self ligands. T cells proliferate vigorously following acute depletion of CD4+ Foxp3+ T regulatory cells [natural Tregs (nTregs)] and also when naive T cells are transferred to syngeneic, nTreg-deficient Rag1−/− hosts. Here, using mice raised in an antigen-free (AF) environment, we show that proliferation in these two situations is directed to self ligands rather than food or commensal antigens. In both situations, the absence of nTregs elevates B7 expression on host dendritic cells (DCs) and enables a small subset of naive CD4 T cells with high self affinity to respond overtly to host DCs: bidirectional T/DC interaction ensues, leading to progressive DC activation and reciprocal strong proliferation of T cells accompanied by peripheral Treg (pTreg) formation. Likewise, high-affinity CD4 T cells proliferate vigorously and form pTregs when cultured with autologous DCs in vitro in the absence of nTregs: this anti-self response is MHCII/peptide dependent and elicited by the raised level of B7 on cultured DCs. The data support a model in which self tolerance is imposed via modulation of CD28 signaling and explains the pathological effects of superagonistic CD28 antibodies.
Effects of caponisation and age on the histology of the internal organs of Leghorn cockerels

ABSTRACT 1. Poultry researchers seek the most efficient bird line to produce capons (castrated cockerels). The previous studies did not include results from histopathological analyses of internal organs after caponisation. No data have been published on whether adipose tissue accumulates in internal organs or if caponisation changes the structure of the lymphoid organs and the accumulation of lymphoid cells. 2. The aim of this study was to analyse the occurrence of histopathological lesions in internal organs from Leghorn (layer-type) capons and cockerels at different times of fattening. 3. Two hundred, one-day-old Leghorn cockerels were used in this experiment. At 8 weeks of age, the birds were randomly divided into a control group (100 uncastrated cockerels) and a second group consisting of 100 castrated birds. At 12, 16, 20, 24 and 28 weeks of age, six cockerels and six capons were slaughtered. Samples of all internal organs from six cockerels and six capons at each slaughter age were evaluated. 4. The main histopathological differences between capons and cockerels were related to the accumulation of adipose tissue, with higher values noted in capons, especially in the gizzard and the caecum submucosa and fatty degeneration in liver hepatocytes. 5. Additionally, differences were observed more often in cockerels than in capons with regard to depletion of lymphoid cells in lymphoid organs, including the thymus and bursa of Fabricius in 28-week-old birds and the spleen in 24-week-old birds. 6. These studies prove that caponisation causes the accumulation of fat in internal organs and changes the structure of lymphoid organs. 7. Age influences the occurrence of desirable lesions, such as the accumulation of adipose tissue within the examined organs, and older capons (24 and 28 weeks old) are better sources of high quality, potentially edible tissues.
Metformin Results in Diametrically Opposed Effects by Targeting Non-Stem Cancer Cells but Protecting Cancer Stem Cells in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been shown as a distinct population of cancer cells strongly implicated with resistance to conventional chemotherapy. Metformin, the most widely prescribed drug for diabetes, was reported to target cancer stem cells in various cancers. In this study, we sought to determine the effects of metformin on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). CSCs and non-stem HNSCC cells were treated with metformin and cisplatin alone, and in combination, and cell proliferation levels were measured through MTS assays. Next, potential targets of metformin were explored through computational small molecule binding analysis. In contrast to the reported effects of metformin on CSCs in other cancers, our data suggests that metformin protects HNSCC CSCs against cisplatin in vitro. Treatment with metformin resulted in a dose-dependent induction of the stem cell genes CD44, BMI-1, OCT-4, and NANOG. On the other hand, we observed that metformin successfully decreased the proliferation of non-stem HNSCC cells. Computational drug–protein interaction analysis revealed mitochondrial complex III to be a likely target of metformin. Based on our results, we present the novel hypothesis that metformin targets complex III to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, leading to the differential effects observed on non-stem cancer cells and CSCs.
Attitudes toward guardianship, social work goals, and perspectives of disability among social work students

Abstract Purpose: Guardianship of people with disabilities has been under growing scrutiny, leading some welfare states to offer supported decision-making as a legal alternative. This study examined the attitudes of Israeli social work students toward guardianship and supported decision-making and the relationship between these attitudes and the perceived importance of social work goals, as mediated by perceptions of disability. Materials and methods: Participants were 414 undergraduate and graduate level social work students from Israel. Participants completed a structured questionnaire that measured: attitudes toward guardianship and supported decision-making, importance of social work goals, and perception of disability. Results: Although social work students tended to support limiting the scope of guardianship, they did not clearly oppose it. Individual model perspective of disability mediated the association between the social work goal of social control and attitudes toward guardianship. Social model perspective of disability mediated the association between the social work goal of social justice and attitudes toward guardianship. Conclusion: To reduce guardianship appointments, social work educators should educate students better regarding current supported decision-making trends, emphasize the importance of social justice goals, and discuss critically the necessity of social control. Further, educators need to embrace the social model of disability, in particular its view of autonomy and interdependence. Implications for rehabilitation The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has urged limiting guardianship practices, and developing instead less restrictive alternatives, especially supported decision making. In order to fully implement the Convention’s vision, efforts must be placed in social work training programs on discussing the limitations of guardianship, the dilemmas it raises and the advantages of other less restrictive alternatives, including that of supported decision-making. Social work educators should also emphasize the importance of social justice goals and discuss critically the necessity of social control. Similar emphasis should be placed on exposing students to the social model of disability, including its view of autonomy and interdependence.
Adaptation of the Morningness–Eveningness Stability Scale improved (MESSi) into Turkish

ABSTRACT Morningness–eveningness is an individual difference that is related with various traits such as behavioral problems, personality, and health. The aim of the current study is to adopt the Morningness–Eveningness Stability Scale improved (MESSi) which is a novel assessment tool that consists of subscales of morning affect (MA), eveningness (EV), and distinctness (DI) into Turkish. Concurrent validity of the MESSi along with Big five inventory (BIG-5), Subjective alertness level, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were analyzed. The scale was administered to 1,076 high school and university students aged 14–47 years (M = 19.49, SD = 3.53). The explanatory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed the three-factor structure of MESSi. According to the concurrent validity result of the MESSi with BIG-5, conscientiousness was found to correlate positively with MA and negatively with EV. Also, extraversion showed a negative correlation with DI and positive correlation with MA. Furthermore, the subjective alertness rating results showed that MA was positively related to alertness in the morning hours and negatively in the evening hours. Also, sleep quality-related results showed that EV and DI are positively related to total PSQI scores and negatively related to MA. In addition, concerning positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), MA was positively related with PA and negatively with NA, while DI was negatively related with PA and positively with NA. In overall, MESSi is a valid and reliable instrument and can be used in Turkish students.
Intestinal F‐box protein regulates quick avoidance behavior of Caenorhabditis elegans to the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa

In most animals, avoiding pathogenic bacteria is crucial for better health and a long life span. For this purpose, animals should be able to quickly sense the presence or uptake of pathogens. The intestine could be a candidate organ to induce escape behaviors; however, the intestinal signaling mechanism for acute regulation of neuronal activity is not well understood. Here, we show that adult Caenorhabditis elegans can respond to the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa within 30 min of exposure. This behavior was much faster than previously observed avoidance behaviors in response to P. aeruginosa. By genetic screening, we isolated a mutant defective in this quick avoidance behavior and found that the novel F‐box protein FBXC‐58 is involved. FBXC‐58 is expressed in several tissues, but defective avoidance was rescued by expression of the protein in the intestine. Interestingly, we also found that some but not all mutants in the p38‐MAPK and insulin‐like signaling pathways, which function in the immune response to pathogens in the intestine, were defective in the quick avoidance behavior to P. aeruginosa. These results suggest that a novel signaling pathway in the intestine exists to regulate neuronal activity for a quick behavioral response.
Are we witnessing the start of a therapeutic revolution in acute myeloid leukemia?

Abstract The 5-year overall survival rate of AML patients remains 25–40%. The prognosis is even more dismal for older patients who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy and patients with secondary or relapsed/refractory AML. In 2017, 4 new drugs were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for AML treatment: The FLT3 inhibitor midostaurin, the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-2 inhibitor enasidenib, a liposomal formulation of cytarabine and daunorubicin (CPX-351), and the anti-CD33 antibody gemtuzumab ozogamicin. Additionally, the IDH1 inhibitor ivosidenib has received FDA approval in July 2018. However, all these drugs were approved in certain settings and/or for certain subsets of AML patients. Herein, we review the mechanisms of actions and preclinical data, highlight pivotal clinical trial data, and discuss future directions and challenges for further development of these 5 novel therapeutics. Finally, we briefly overview some of the highly promising agents that are currently in advanced stages of clinical development.
PENGARUH TUNJANGAN KINERJA TERHADAP KINERJA PEGAWAI PADA BAUK UNIVERSITAS NEGERI MAKASSAR

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui: 1) Gambaran persepsi pengawai mengenai pemberian tunjangan kinerja pada BAUK Universitas Negeri Makassar; 2) Gambaran kinerja pegawai pada BAUK Universitas Negeri Makassar 3) Pengaruh tunjangan kinerja terhadap kinerja pegawai BAUK Universitas Negeri Makassar. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah pendekatan kuantitatif dengan jenis penelitian korelasional. Variabel dalam penelitian ini yaitu pemberian tunjangan kinerja sebagai variabel bebas dan kinerja pegawai sebagai variabel terikat. Populasi dalam penelitian ini sebanyak 107 dengan sampel sebanyak 50% (54 orang) yang diambil dengan menggunakan teknik proportinale random sampling. Teknik pengumpulan data yang dilakukan yaitu teknik angket observasi dan teknik dokumentasi. Data yang diperoleh melalui instrument angket, dianalisis dengan menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan inferensial setelah diuji persyaratan analisis. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: 1) Persepsi pegawai mengenai pemberian tunjangan kinerja termasuk sangat tinggi; 2) Kinerja pegawai termasuk kategori sangat tinggi; 3) Terdapat pengaruh positif dan signifikan antara pemberian tunjangan kinerja terhadap kinerja pegawai. Oleh karena itu disarankan kepada pimpinan pada BAUK Universitas Negeri Makassar, kiranya berupaya mempertahankan kinerjanya dan bahkan lebih ditingkatkan. Kata kunci: Tunjangan Kinerja, Kinerja Pegawai.
Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension: A Study on Bidirectional Causality

Rationale: In observational studies, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) has been associated with an increased risk of hypertension, and vice versa; however, the causality between these conditions remains to be determined. Objectives: This population-based prospective cohort study sought to investigate the bidirectional causal relations of T2D with hypertension, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods and Results: After exclusion of participants free of a history of heart failure, cardiovascular disease, cardiac procedures, and non-T2D diabetes mellitus, a total of 318 664 unrelated individuals with qualified genotyping data of European descent aged 37 to 73 from UK Biobank were included. The genetically instrumented T2D and hypertension were constructed using 134 and 233 single nucleotide polymorphisms, respectively. Seven complementary MR methods were applied, including inverse-variance weighted method, 2 median-based methods (simple and weighted), MR-Egger, MR-robust adjusted profile scores, MR-Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier, and multivariate MR. The genetically instrumented T2D was associated with risk of hypertension (odds ratio, 1.07 [95% CI, 1.04–1.10], P=3.4×10−7), whereas the genetically determined hypertension showed no relationship with T2D (odds ratio, 0.96 [0.88–1.04], P=0.34). Our MR estimates from T2D to BP showed that the genetically instrumented T2D was associated with a 0.67 mm Hg higher systolic BP (95% CI, 0.41–0.93, P=5.75×10–7) but not with a higher diastolic BP. There was no clear evidence showing a causal effect of elevated systolic BP or diastolic BP on T2D risk. Positive pleiotropic bias was indicated in the hypertension→T2D relation (odds ratio, of MR-Egger intercept 1.010 [1.004–1.016], P=0.001) but not from T2D to hypertension (1.001 [0.998–1.004], P=0.556). Conclusions: T2D may causally affect hypertension, whereas the relationship from hypertension to T2D is unlikely to be causal. These findings suggest the importance of keeping an optimal glycemic profile in general populations, and BP screening and monitoring, especially systolic BP, in patients with T2D.
Building Conceptions of Cognitive Enhancement: University Students’ Views on the Effects of Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancers

Abstract Background: Use of prescription stimulants for cognitive enhancement in healthy individuals has been of growing interest to the academic community. University students can be prone to use these pharmacological cognitive enhancers (PCEs) for their perceived academic benefits. Objectives: We aimed to understand university students’ beliefs about the factors influencing PCE use, the cognitive and health effects of the drugs, and how these conceptions are interrelated. Methods: Data were collected through focus groups with 45 students at the University of Toronto in 2015/2016. We used thematic analysis to extract key themes and cooccurrence coefficients to evaluate the overlap between these themes. Results: We found that participants perceived users as either struggling students or high-achieving ones. Alleged benefits of PCEs included enhanced focus, attention, memorization, and grades, but did not include increased intelligence or long-term cognitive enhancement. Participants disagreed on whether ADHD diagnosis would affect how PCEs worked and how “needing the drug” was determined. Mentions of nonspecific side effects were common, as was the possibility of misuse (e.g., addiction, abuse). Though not an initial aim of the study, we uncovered patterns pertaining to whom participants used as sources of information about different themes. We propose that social learning theory provides a useful framework to explain how the experiences of peers may shape the conceptions of our participants. Conclusions/Importance: Our findings highlight that conceptions surrounding PCEs are multileveled, and informed by a variety of sources, including peers. This should be considered in the development of interventions geared toward university students.
In-depth Analysis of Mortality in Relation to Malnutrition in Children Under-five of Age in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Background: The Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) countries are facing many challenges that influence the nutritional status of children under-five years of age (CU5) and increase early mortality rates (MRs). Few studies have considered using global data to analyze the protective effect of breastfeeding on reducing MRs in the EMR. Aim: To analyze regional mortality rates in relation to socio-demographic, nutritional indices and early feeding practices in CU5 in the EMR countries. Methods: Data from the WHO global data bank for nutritional status and MRs in the 22 countries in EMR were analyzed MRs included neonatal mortality rates (NMR), infant mortality rates (IMR), under-five mortality rates (U5MR), maternal mortality ratio (MMR). Data was analyzed by income group and correlated to obesity and underweight, early feeding practices including early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF), exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), breastfeeding rates at 12 (BR12) and 24 months (BR24) and selected indicators for development included illiteracy rates and total fertility rates (TFR). Results: MRs correlated with global data for country rates EIBF, EBF. Also BF12 and BF24 months correlated with stunting, wasting in the CU5, U5MR and overweight and obesity in adults. MRs correlated highly with stunting and wasting and poorly with overweight or obesity in CU5. Other variables as illiteracy, TFR, obesity and overweight in adults correlated significantly with MRs and with breastfeeding duration. At country level the low trends of shortened breastfeeding duration were associated with the high MRs and rate for obesity and stunting. Conclusions: Suboptimal early feeding practices leading to the double burden of malnutrition influence MR in the under-five mortality rates in children. Improving early initiation rates and prolonging the duration of intense breastfeeding can reduce early mortality. This cannot be attained without improving social indicators of literacy and birth spacing i.e. a comprehensive developmental approach to child survival.
Skeletal muscle denervation investigations: selecting an experimental control wisely

Unilateral denervation is widely used for studies investigating mechanisms of muscle atrophy. The “contralateral-innervated muscle” is a commonly used experimental control in denervation studies. It is not clear whether denervation unilaterally alters the proteolytic system in the contralateral-innervated muscles. Therefore, the objectives of this rapid report are 1) to determine whether unilateral denervation has an effect on the proteolytic system in contralateral-innervated control muscles and 2) to identify the changes in proteasome properties in denervated muscles after 7- and 14-day tibial nerve transection with either the contralateral-innervated muscles or intact muscles from nonsurgical mice used as the experimental control. In the contralateral-innervated muscles after 7 and 14 days of nerve transection, the proteasome activities and content are significantly increased compared with muscles from nonsurgical mice. When the nonsurgical mice are used as the experimental control, a robust increase in proteasome properties is found in the denervated muscles. This robust increase in proteasome properties is eliminated when the contralateral-innervated muscles are the experimental control. In conclusion, there is a crossover effect from unilateral denervation on proteolytic parameters. As a result, the crossover effect on contralateral-innervated muscles must be considered when an experimental control is selected in a denervation study.
Landau level spectroscopy of valence bands in HgTe quantum wells: effects of symmetry lowering

The Landau level spectroscopy technique has been used to explore the electronic structure of the valence band in a series of p-type HgTe/HgCdTe quantum wells with both normal and inverted ordering of bands. We find that the standard axial-symmetric 4-band Kane model, which is nowadays widely applied in physics of HgTe-based topological materials, does not fully account for the complex magneto-optical response observed in our experiments—notably, for the unexpected avoided crossings of excitations and for the appearance of transitions that are electric-dipole forbidden within this model. Nevertheless, reasonable agreement with experiments is achieved when the standard model is expanded to include effects of bulk and interface inversion asymmetries. These remove the axial symmetry, and among other, profoundly modify the shape of valence bands.