Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of kinesiotaping on hemiplegic hand in patients with upper limb post-stroke spasticity: a randomized controlled pilot study.

BACKGROUND Post-stroke spasticity is a common complication in patients with stroke and a key contributor to impaired hand function after stroke. AIM The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Kinesiotaping on managing spasticity of upper extremity and motor performance in patients with subacute stroke. DESIGN A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study. SETTING One hospital center. POPULATION Participants with stroke within six months. METHODS Thirty-one participants were enrolled. Patients were randomly allocated into Kinesiotaping (KT) group or control group. In KT group, Kinesio tape was applied as an add- on treatment over the dorsal side of the affected hand during the intervention. Both groups received regular rehabilitation 5 days a week for 3 weeks. The primary outcome was muscle spasticity measured by modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). Secondary outcomes were functional performances of affected limb measured by using Fugl-Meyer assessment for upper extremity (FMA-UE), Brunnstrom stage, and the Simple Test for Evaluating Hand Function (STEF). Measures were taken before intervention, right after intervention (the third week) and two weeks later (the fifth week). RESULTS Within-group comparisons yielded significant differences in FMA-UE and Brunnstrom stages at the third and fifth week in the control group (p=0.003-0.019). In the KT group, significant differences were noted in FMA-UE, Brunnstrom stage, and MAS at the third and fifth week (p=0.001-0.035), and in the proximal part of FMA-UE between the third and fifth week (p=0.005). Between-group comparisons showed a significant difference in the distal part of FMA-UE at the fifth week (p=0.037). CONCLUSIONS Kinesiotaping could provide some benefits in reducing spasticity and in improving motor performance on the affected hand in patients with subacute stroke. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT Kinesiotaping could be a choice for clinical practitioners to use for effectively managing post-stroke spasticity.
Social and Emotional Learning Competencies and Cross-Thematic Curriculum-Related Skills of Greek Students: A Multifactorial and Triangulation Analysis.

The cross-thematic curriculum (CTC) for school education has recently been implemented so that the quality of the Greek educational system is improved. This study aimed at assessing social and emotional learning competencies and CTC-related skills of 541 Greek students aged 11–13. Data triangulation was also used for validating these findings, having 145 school teachers reporting their perceptions on students' skills. Both students and teachers reported moderate scores of all students' skills. Multivariate analysis revealed that gender remained a significant predictor for high scores of all students' skills, and that the higher the grade level of the students, the lower the mean emotional support, social, and CTC-related skills scores. The mean score of CTC-related skills was very low according to both students and teachers.
Cognitive function and mood at high altitude following acclimatization and use of supplemental oxygen and adaptive servoventilation sleep treatments

Impairments in cognitive function, mood, and sleep quality occur following ascent to high altitude. Low oxygen (hypoxia) and poor sleep quality are both linked to impaired cognitive performance, but their independent contributions at high altitude remain unknown. Adaptive servoventilation (ASV) improves sleep quality by stabilizing breathing and preventing central apneas without supplemental oxygen. We compared the efficacy of ASV and supplemental oxygen sleep treatments for improving daytime cognitive function and mood in high-altitude visitors (N = 18) during acclimatization to 3,800 m. Each night, subjects were randomly provided with ASV, supplemental oxygen (SpO2 > 95%), or no treatment. Each morning subjects completed a series of cognitive function tests and questionnaires to assess mood and multiple aspects of cognitive performance. We found that both ASV and supplemental oxygen (O2) improved daytime feelings of confusion (ASV: p < 0.01; O2: p < 0.05) and fatigue (ASV: p < 0.01; O2: p < 0.01) but did not improve other measures of cognitive performance at high altitude. However, performance improved on the trail making tests (TMT) A and B (p < 0.001), the balloon analog risk test (p < 0.0001), and the psychomotor vigilance test (p < 0.01) over the course of three days at altitude after controlling for effects of sleep treatments. Compared to sea level, subjects reported higher levels of confusion (p < 0.01) and performed worse on the TMT A (p < 0.05) and the emotion recognition test (p < 0.05) on nights when they received no treatment at high altitude. These results suggest that stabilizing breathing (ASV) or increasing oxygenation (supplemental oxygen) during sleep can reduce feelings of fatigue and confusion, but that daytime hypoxia may play a larger role in other cognitive impairments reported at high altitude. Furthermore, this study provides evidence that some aspects of cognition (executive control, risk inhibition, sustained attention) improve with acclimatization.
Facial aging trajectories: A common shape pattern in male and female faces is disrupted after menopause

Abstract Objectives Despite variation in lifestyle and environment, first signs of human facial aging show between the ages of 20–30 years. It is a cumulative process of changes in the skin, soft tissue, and skeleton of the face. As quantifications of facial aging in living humans are still scarce, we set out to study age‐related changes in three‐dimensional facial shape using geometric morphometrics. Materials and methods We collected surface scans of 88 human faces (aged 26–90 years) from the coastal town Split (Croatia) and neighboring islands. Based on a geometric morphometric analysis of 585 measurement points (landmarks and semilandmarks), we modeled sex‐specific trajectories of average facial aging. Results Age‐related facial shape change was similar in both sexes until around age 50, at which time the female aging trajectory turned sharply. The overall magnitude of facial shape change (aging rate) was higher in women than men, especially in early postmenopause. Aging was generally associated with a flatter face, sagged soft tissue (“broken” jawline), deeper nasolabial folds, smaller visible areas of the eyes, thinner lips, and longer nose and ears. In postmenopausal women, facial aging was best predicted by the years since last menstruation and mainly attributable to bone resorption in the mandible. Discussion With high spatial and temporal resolution, we were able to extract a shared facial aging pattern in women and men, and its divergence after menopause. This fully quantitative three‐dimensional analysis of human facial aging may not only find applications in forensic and ancient human facial reconstructions, but shall include lifestyle and endocrinological measures, and also reach out to studies of social perception.
Maintaining foveal fixation during a peripheral detection task

Using road lighting to improve the detection of potential hazards may contribute to reduced accident rates for pedestrians, drivers and other road users. In past studies carried out to measure peripheral detection, the test participant was instructed to maintain fixation on a target during presentation of the peripheral target, but these studies did not question the degree to which this fixation was maintained. We therefore used eye tracking to record fixations during a peripheral detection task and introduced a fixation task designed to encourage fixation. It was found that observers were good at maintaining foveal fixation and there was little benefit in introducing a fixation task although this might be of greater benefit if the peripheral field contains more interesting distractions.
Safety and Efficacy of Nivolumab in Brain Metastases From Renal Cell Carcinoma: Results of the GETUG-AFU 26 NIVOREN Multicenter Phase II Study.

PURPOSE Nivolumab is standard of care for patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) after failure of antiangiogenic therapies, but its activity on brain metastases from ccRCC remains unknown, because these patients were excluded from pivotal studies. We aimed to assess the activity of nivolumab in this population. METHODS The GETUG-AFU 26 NIVOREN phase II trial assessed the activity and safety of nivolumab in patients with metastatic ccRCC who failed vascular endothelial growth factor-directed therapies ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03013335 ). Patients with asymptomatic brain metastases were prospectively identified and underwent dedicated brain evaluation. Two cohorts were constituted: cohort A comprised patients with previously untreated brain metastases, and cohort B comprised patients whose brain metastases underwent prior therapy. The primary end point was intracranial response rate in cohort A. RESULTS Seventy-three patients with brain metastases were included: 39 in cohort A and 34 in cohort B. Intracranial response rate was 12% in cohort A; no objective response was reported in patients with brain lesions that were multiple or larger than 1 cm. Median intracranial progression-free survival was 2.7 months (95% CI, 2.3 to 4.6 months) in cohort A and 4.8 months (95% CI, 3.0 to 8.0 months) in cohort B, with adjusted hazard ratio of 2.04 (95% CI, 1.08 to 3.83). Overall survival rate at 12 months was 67% (95% CI, 49.6% to 79.1%) in cohort A and 59% (95% CI, 40.6% to 73.2%) in cohort B. Most patients in cohort A (72%) needed subsequent focal brain therapy. Nivolumab was well tolerated, with no unexpected toxicity. CONCLUSION Nivolumab activity is limited in patients with untreated brain metastases from ccRCC. Brain imaging and focal therapy should be considered before immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with metastatic ccRCC.
Sexual orientation and mental health over the life course in a birth cohort

Abstract Background Sexual minority individuals consistently report higher rates of mental disorder than heterosexuals. However, much of the research has methodological limitations related to the classification of sexuality, the use of cross-sectional data and problematic sampling procedures such as using convenience samples. Methods We used longitudinal data from a birth cohort enrolled in the Christchurch Health and Development Study (n = 1040). Latent class analysis was used to classify participants sexuality based on self-report data of sexual behaviour, attraction, identity and fantasy, gathered over five assessments between the ages of 18 and 35 years. Mental health and substance use outcome data were gathered at four assessments between the ages of 21 and 35 years. Potential covariate variables were collected during childhood. Results The latent class analysis identified four groups interpreted as: ‘heterosexual’ 82%, ‘mostly heterosexual’ 12.6%, ‘bisexual’ 3.5% and ‘gay/lesbian’ 1.9%. In the sexual minority groups, women outnumbered men by at least 2:1. Pooled rates for mental health disorders of depression, anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation, cannabis abuse and total disorders, after adjustment for childhood covariate variables, were significantly higher in the sexual minority groups (p < 0.01). The strength of association between sexuality group and mental health outcomes did not differ according to sex. Fluidity in sexuality reports appeared unrelated to risk of mental health outcomes. Conclusions Over the life course, membership of a sexual minority group is clearly associated with mental health problems of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation regardless of the age when same-sex attraction, behaviour, identity or fantasy is expressed.
Combined brain positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging in GABAA receptor encephalitis

V. Vacchiano , M. P. Giannoccaro, R. P. Napolitano, R. Liguori , V. Allegri, R. Rinaldi and L. Spinardi Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Neuroradiology Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, UOC Clinica Neurologica, Bologna, Nuclear Medicine, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, and Neurology Unit, S. OrsolaMalpighi University Hospital, Bologna, Italy
Direct Estimate of Lateral Eddy Diffusivity Upstream of Drake Passage

AbstractThe first direct estimate of the rate at which geostrophic turbulence mixes tracers across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is presented. The estimate is computed from the spreading of a tracer released upstream of Drake Passage as part of the Diapycnal and Isopycnal Mixing Experiment in the Southern Ocean (DIMES). The meridional eddy diffusivity, a measure of the rate at which the area of the tracer spreads along an isopycnal across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, is 710 ± 260 m2 s−1 at 1500-m depth. The estimate is based on an extrapolation of the tracer-based diffusivity using output from numerical tracers released in a one-twentieth of a degree model simulation of the circulation and turbulence in the Drake Passage region. The model is shown to reproduce the observed spreading rate of the DIMES tracer and suggests that the meridional eddy diffusivity is weak in the upper kilometer of the water column with values below 500 m2 s−1 and peaks at the steering level, near 2 km, where the eddy ph.
High burden of premature ventricular contractions in structurally normal hearts: To worry or not in pediatric patients?

There is paucity of data regarding the significance of high percentage of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) in healthy children and their impact on left ventricular (LV) function and the risk of ventricular arrhythmias. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of LV systolic dysfunction in children with frequent PVCs and determine whether PVC characteristics were predictive of LV dysfunction.
Professional Learning in Higher Education: Understanding How Academics Interpret Student Feedback and Access Resources to Improve Their Teaching.

Previous research on professional learning has identified that face-to-face consultation is an effective approach to support academics’ learning from student feedback. However, this approach is labour and time intensive, and does not necessarily provide all academics with just-in-time support. In this article, we describe an alternative approach, which involves the creation of Ask Charlie , a mobile website that visually represents results from student evaluation of teaching (SET), and provides academics with personalised recommendations for teaching resources. Ask Charlie was developed and evaluated by drawing on design-based research methods with the aim to support professional learning within higher education. A semester-long evaluation of the website led to recommendations for improving the effectiveness and value of online, personalised, and interactive resources for academics. While Ask Charlie offered access to a valuable teaching resource portal, it was crucial that its design took into account time as well as timing in terms of supporting professional learning. Our findings suggest that future development of the website could include additional features to encourage reflection and communication as well as promote alignment with existing professional development strategies across the university.
The Effectiveness of Court Connected Dispute Resolution in Civil Cases

his article reviews empirical studies of court-connected mediation and neutral evaluation in small claims cases, general jurisdiction trial cases, and appellate cases. For each case type, the studies' data sources and methodology are briefly outlined, and the dispute resolution process and structure of the programs are described. The empirical findings regarding program outcomes and how those outcomes compared to non-ADR program outcomes are presented. In addition, findings showing the impact of program structure on outcomes are reported. In general, the empirical research indicates that mediation and neutral evaluation settle cases and that participants view the process and outcome as fair. The findings are mixed, however, with regard to whether mediation and neutral evaluation outperform or simply do as well as traditional litigation on these dimensions, and on compliance, improving the parties’ relationship, and reducing the time and cost of resolution. Moreover, the pattern of findings differs depending on the type of court. Only a handful of studies have systematically assessed the impact of elements of program structure, and their findings are mixed. Our ability to draw clear conclusions about the relative effectiveness and efficiency of court-connected mediation, neutral evaluation, and traditional litigation is limited by the small number of studies with reliable comparative data.
CAR, a homing peptide, prolongs pulmonary preferential vasodilation by increasing pulmonary retention and reducing systemic absorption of liposomal fasudil.

Here we sought to elucidate the role of CAR (a cyclic peptide) in the accumulation and distribution of fasudil, a drug for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), in rat lungs and in producing pulmonary specific vasodilation in PAH rats. As such, we prepared liposomes of fasudil and CAR-conjugated liposomal fasudil, assessed the liposomes for CAR conjugation, physical properties, entrapment efficiencies, in-vitro release profiles, and stabilities upon incubation in cell culture media, storage and aerosolization. We also studied the cellular uptake of fasudil in different formulations, quantified heparan sulfate (HS) in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and investigated the distribution of the liposomes in the lungs of PAH rats. We assessed the drug accumulation in a close and recirculating Isolated Perfused Rat lung (IPRL) model and studied the pharmacokinetics and pharmacological efficacy of the drug and formulations in Sugen/hypoxia-induced PAH rats. The entrapment efficiency of the liposomal fasudil was 95.5±4.5% and the cumulative release was 93.95±6.22%. The uptake of CAR liposomes by pulmonary arterial cells (PACs) and their distribution and accumulation in the lungs were much greater than those of no-CAR-liposomes. CAR-induced increase in the cellular uptake was associated with an increase in HS expression by rat PAH-PASMCs. CAR, when conjugated with liposomal fasudil and given via an intratracheal instillation, extended the elimination half-life of the drug by 4-fold compared with fasudil-in-no-CAR-liposomes given via the same route. CAR-conjugated liposomal fasudil, as opposed to fasudil-in-no-CAR-liposomes and CAR pretreatment followed by fasudil-in-no-CAR-liposomes, reduced the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) by 40-50% for 6 hours, without affecting the mean systemic arterial pressure (mSAP). On the whole, this study suggests that CAR aids in concentrating the drug in the lungs, increasing the cellular uptake, extending the half-life of fasudil, and eliciting a pulmonary specific vasodilation when the peptide remains conjugated on the liposomal surface, but not when CAR is given as a pretreatment or alone as an admixture with the drug. Keywords: liposomes, peptide as a targeting moiety, pulmonary hypertension, fasudil, isolated perfused rat lung.
Self-Paced Balance Learning for Clinical Skin Disease Recognition

Class imbalance is a challenging problem in many classification tasks. It induces biased classification results for minority classes that contain less training samples than others. Most existing approaches aim to remedy the imbalanced number of instances among categories by resampling the majority and minority classes accordingly. However, the imbalanced level of difficulty of recognizing different categories is also crucial, especially for distinguishing samples with many classes. For example, in the task of clinical skin disease recognition, several rare diseases have a small number of training samples, but they are easy to diagnose because of their distinct visual properties. On the other hand, some common skin diseases, e.g., eczema, are hard to recognize due to the lack of special symptoms. To address this problem, we propose a self-paced balance learning (SPBL) algorithm in this paper. Specifically, we introduce a comprehensive metric termed the complexity of image category that is a combination of both sample number and recognition difficulty. First, the complexity is initialized using the model of the first pace, where the pace indicates one iteration in the self-paced learning paradigm. We then assign each class a penalty weight that is larger for more complex categories and smaller for easier ones, after which the curriculum is reconstructed by rearranging the training samples. Consequently, the model can iteratively learn discriminative representations via balancing the complexity in each pace. Experimental results on the SD-198 and SD-260 benchmark data sets demonstrate that the proposed SPBL algorithm performs favorably against the state-of-the-art methods. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of the SPBL algorithm’s generalization capacity on various tasks, such as indoor scene image recognition and object classification.
Linking employee perceptions of collective efficacy in self-managing service teams with customer-perceived service quality : a psychometric assessment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the linkage between self‐managing team (SMT) member perceptions of collective efficacy and customer‐perceived service quality, and the most cost‐efficient way to reliably assess collective efficacy and customer‐perceived service quality, using generalizability theory (G‐theory). Design/methodology/approach – Longitudinal design; employee and customer survey data from 52 teams of a major financial services institution were collected at two points in time.Findings – First of all, results of OLS regression analysis show a positive effect of collective efficacy on customer‐perceived service quality. In addition, taking a G‐theory approach, the results indicate that collective efficacy possesses a higher psychometric quality than customer‐perceived service quality and that the costs of reliably comparing SMTs on collective efficacy are considerably lower compared to customer‐perceived service quality. Finally, for both constructs, the results reveal subtle b.