Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Task Complexity along Single Task Dimension on EFL Iranian Learners' Written Production: Lexical complexity

Based on Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis, this study explored the effects of task complexity on the lexical complexity of Iranian EFL students’ argumentative writing.This study was designed to explore the manipulation of cognitive task complexity along +/-single task dimension (a resource dispersing dimension in Robinson’s triadic framework) on Iranian EFL learners’ production in term of lexical complexity. To this end, based on the results of the writing test of TOFEL (2004), 48 learners were selected and assigned to two groups, simple task group (STG, n = 24) and complex task group (CTG, n= 24) randomly. The participants in the STG were given an eight-frame picture which had been arranged in the correct sequence before its administration (+single task). These participants were required to order the frames in the right sequence first, before starting writing (- single task). Their output was encoded based on the measures of lexical complexity. The null hypothesis was nullified since the results indicated positive significant impact of +/-single dimension on lexical complexity. Regarding the results of the present study, it can be stated that when the participants were engaged putting the pictures in their correct order in the complex task, they carried out deeper semantic processing in order to find the reasonable order, which might lead to the better activation of their exemplar-based system and made them browse it more deeply. It was found that, at least in the Iranian context, Robinson’s (2005) predictions were more convincing.
Nurse Aides' ratings of the resident safety culture in nursing homes.

PURPOSE First, the resident safety culture of nursing homes from a Nurse Aide's perspective was compared with existing data from hospitals. Second, how the safety culture of nursing homes varied according to facility characteristics and market characteristics was examined. METHODS Data came from 72 nursing homes and 1579 Nurse Aides (response rate of 55%). From these nursing homes, Nurse Aides completed The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) instrument, a previously validated survey with 12 subscales used to assess safety culture. The nursing home scores from this instrument were compared with the hospital scores. Ordinary least squares regression was used to examine the association between nine nursing home facility characteristics and two market characteristics and the overall safety culture score. RESULTS All of the 12 HSOPSC subscale scores from the nursing home sample were considerably lower than the benchmark hospital scores, indicating a less well-developed safety culture. The significant facility and market characteristics from the regression analysis resembled many of those found when similar characteristics are used in examinations of quality. CONCLUSIONS These results are important in clearly showing that the resident safety culture of Nurse Aides in many nursing homes may be poorly developed.
Megakaryocytic blast crisis as a first presentation of chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract: Acute megakaryocytic leukemia (AmegL) corresponds to 5.0–10.0% of all acute myeloid leukemias (AML). Blast crisis as the first presentation of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) accounts for 10.0% of all cases. Objective: We report a case of megakaryocytic blast crisis as the first presentation of CML. Case report: A 25‐yr‐old‐female with a 2‐month history of dry cough and a large, non‐tender splenomegaly was found to have a hemoglobin concentration of 10.5 g/dL, a hematocritof 33.0%, a white blood cell count (WBC) of 11.4 × 106 L with 38% small blasts, eosinophilia of 5%, basophilia of 8%, and a platelet count of 580 × 109 L. Bone marrow aspiration revealed 24% of blast cells with cytoplasmatic blebs and hyperplastic megakaryocytic lineage with dysplasia. Cytochemical stains were all negative, immunophenotyping studies showed CD41 and CD61 positivity in blast cells. Bone marrow biopsy showed grade II fibrosis. Karyotype revealed 46, XX, t(9,22) (q34.1;q11.2)[20] and the reverse‐transcriptase‐PCR (RT‐PCR) gave rise a product with a size corresponding to the 210 kDa protein (p210). No matched donor was found. After induction therapy 5.9% of blast cells persisted. The patient received Imatinib Mesylate and is doing well after a 12‐month follow‐up. Discussion: AmegL as the first presentation of CML is a rare and often fatal event. Some characteristics point towards the diagnosis of a blast crisis instead of AmegL de novo with t(9,22).
Different Evolutions in Heart Rate Variability after Heart Transplantation: 10-Year Follow-Up

Background. After heart transplantation, the donor heart is extrinsically denervated. No input of sympathetic or vagal nerves can influence the heart rate, resulting in a flat power spectrum of the beat-to-beat variability. The occurrence and the significance of reinnervation remain controversial. Methods and Results. We monitored the evolution of heart rate variability (HRV) after heart transplantation, starting from a few weeks postoperatively up to 10 years after surgery. Twenty–four-hour Holter recordings of 216 heart-transplant patients were analyzed using time and frequency domain analysis of HRV. Analysis of all data revealed an increase in 24-hour and night-time total power starting from 2 years after transplantation. Low-frequency oscillations calculated over the total 24 hours, day- and nighttime increased significantly starting from year 4 and onward (year 4–8: P<0.005). No evolution was found in high-frequency power. Subgroup analysis revealed a group with a clear spectral component (n=16), a group with a small component (n=124), and a group with a flat spectrum (n=76). Only the first group revealed an evolution in both high- and low-frequency power. Conclusion. These results indicate three different types of evolution in HRV, with reinnervating patterns present in only a minority of the patients. The vast majority of the patients show no signs of reinnervation.
Generation of a mature streptococcal cysteine proteinase is dependent on cell wall‐anchored M1 protein

In the present study, we have generated a mutant strain of Streptococcus pyogenes, MC25, which lacks M protein on its surface, and we demonstrate that this strain is unable to generate a mature 28 kDa cysteine proteinase. Furthermore, we show that S. pyogenes bacteria of M1 serotype are dependent on cell wall‐anchored M protein to cleave the secreted zymogen into a mature cysteine proteinase. We also show that MC25 secretes a 40 kDa zymogen, having a conformation different from that secreted by wild‐type bacteria. We provide data showing that the cleavage site is not blocked but, presumably, the active site is. This suggests that M protein, when anchored to the cell wall, is involved in the unfolding of the zymogen and generation of a mature cysteine proteinase that can be activated under reducing conditions. Our data add new aspects to the interaction between two important virulence factors of S. pyogenes, the streptococcal cysteine proteinase and M protein.
View-Independent Working Memory Representations of Artificial Shapes in Prefrontal and Posterior Regions of the Human Brain

Traditional views of visual working memory postulate that memorized contents are stored in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using an adaptive and flexible code. In contrast, recent studies proposed that contents are maintained by posterior brain areas using codes akin to perceptual representations. An important question is whether this reflects a difference in the level of abstraction between posterior and prefrontal representations. Here, we investigated whether neural representations of visual working memory contents are view-independent, as indicated by rotation-invariance. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and multivariate pattern analyses, we show that when subjects memorize complex shapes, both posterior and frontal brain regions maintain the memorized contents using a rotation-invariant code. Importantly, we found the representations in frontal cortex to be localized to the frontal eye fields rather than dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. Thus, our results give evidence for the view-independent storage of complex shapes in distributed representations across posterior and frontal brain regions.
A case of march fracture in a patient with osteoporosis on long-term HAART

Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) various metabolic effects are now being seen that may be due to the drugs themselves or to the altered natural history of the disease. Bone disorders such as avascular necrosis of the femoral head have been widely described and there have been reported cases of pathological vertebral crush and rib fractures. This case emphasizes the need for the consideration of osteoporosis as a diagnosis in HIV-positive patients and also that individuals may need assessment of risk factors and ongoing monitoring for osteoporosis to prevent complications occurring.
Liver tumors: Pediatric population

Liver tumors in childhood are rare and are typically not detected clinically until they reach a large size and often spread within the organ or metastasize. This can make surgical resection problematic, and almost all of them require extirpation for cure. With very effective chemotherapy for hepatoblastoma and to some extent for sarcomas, many cancers can be shrunk to permit partial hepatectomy, but for most hepatocarcinomas, some of the other malignancies, and even some benign proliferations, their location at the hilum and multiplicity of masses in multiple lobes make transplantation the treatment of choice. Major advances in diagnostic imaging, especially enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, permit a preoperative choice of resection versus transplantation to be achieved in almost all instances, and for the remainder, intraoperative ultrasonography can further help to determine the most desirable approach. The outcome is very much better in the case of hepatoblastoma when transplantation is a primary modality rather than following unsuccessful attempts at resection. In this review, transplantation for liver tumors in children is considered from all aspects, including the importance of screening for tumors whenever possible to avoid the need for transplantation. Liver Transpl 14:1545–1556, 2008. © 2008 AASLD.
Transbronchial lung biopsy in patients with diffuse parenchymal lung disease without ‘idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis pattern’ on HRCT scan - Experience from a tertiary care center of North India

Background: Diffuse parenchymal lung diseases (DPLD) are a group of disorders characterized by chest radiological findings of bilateral diffuse shadowing. Lung biopsy is generally required to make an etiological diagnosis of DPLD's. Transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) is a minimally invasive method to achieve a lung sample which has been found to be a useful diagnostic tool in patients with DPLD. As per American Thoracic Society guidelines for management of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, TBLB is not required in patients who have findings consistent with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) on HRCT scan thorax. Some Indian researchers have evaluated, on a small number of subjects, the role of TBLB in patients with DPLD, but they had not excluded patients with ‘IPF pattern’. This study was planned to assess TBLB in patients with DPLD after excluding patients with ‘IPF pattern’. Materials and Methods: A prospective non-randomized study on 49 patients with DPLD without a characteristic ‘IPF pattern’ were subjected to TBLB. Results: The overall diagnostic yield of TBLB was 85.7%. Non-specific interstitial pneumonitis, tuberculosis and sarcoidosis were the most common histology patterns found (22.4, 18.4 and 16.3%, respectively). Procedure-related mortality was nil. Iatrogenic pneumothorax occurred in five patients (10.2%). Minor complications included hemorrhage and transient hypoxia. Conclusion: TBLB is a safe and effective tool in the diagnosis of DPLD.
East African Cenozoic vegetation history

The modern vegetation of East Africa is a complex mosaic of rainforest patches; small islands of tropic‐alpine vegetation; extensive savannas, ranging from almost pure grassland to wooded savannas; thickets; and montane grassland and forest. Here I trace the evolution of these vegetation types through the Cenozoic. Paleogene East Africa was most likely geomorphologically subdued and, as the few Eocene fossil sites suggest, a woodland in a seasonal climate. Woodland rather than rainforest may well have been the regional vegetation. Mountain building started with the Oligocene trap lava flows in Ethiopia, on which rainforest developed, with little evidence of grass and none of montane forests. The uplift of the East African Plateau took place during the middle Miocene. Fossil sites indicate the presence of rainforest, montane forest and thicket, and wooded grassland, often in close juxtaposition, from 17 to 10 Ma. By 10 Ma, marine deposits indicate extensive grassland in the region and isotope analysis indicates that this was a C3 grassland. In the later Miocene rifting, first of the western Albertine Rift and then of the eastern Gregory Rift, added to the complexity of the environment. The building of the high strato‐volcanos during the later Mio‐Pliocene added environments suitable for tropic‐alpine vegetation. During this time, the C3 grassland was replaced by C4 savannas, although overall the extent of grassland was reduced from the mid‐Miocene high to the current low level. Lake‐level fluctuations during the Quaternary indicate substantial variation in rainfall, presumably as a result of movements in the intertropical convergence zone and the Congo air boundary, but the impact of these fluctuations on the vegetation is still speculative. I argue that, overall, there was an increase in the complexity of East African vegetation complexity during the Neogene, largely as a result of orogeny. The impact of Quaternary climatic fluctuation is still poorly understood.
Up-Regulation of Both Intimin andeae-Independent Adherence of Shiga ToxigenicEscherichia coli O157 by ler and Phenotypic Impact of a Naturally Occurring ler Mutation

ABSTRACT Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are important human pathogens which are capable of causing diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and the potentially fatal hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). An important virulence trait of certain STEC strains, such as those belonging to serogroup O157, is the capacity to produce attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions on enterocytes, a property encoded by the locus for enterocyte effacement (LEE). LEE contains theeae gene, which encodes intimin, an outer membrane protein which mediates the intimate attachment of bacteria to the host epithelial cell surface, and eae is routinely used as a marker for LEE-positive STEC strains. However, the O157:H−STEC strain 95SF2 carries eae but did not produce A/E lesions on HEp-2 cells, as judged by a fluorescent actin staining assay. In this assay, 95SF2 adhered poorly to the HEp-2 cells, and those that did bind exhibited abnormal cell division. In contrast, the O157:H7 STEC strain EDL933 adhered strongly and produced typical A/E lesions. We have demonstrated that 95SF2 carries a defective LEE regulatory gene, ler, with a single base change with respect to that published for ler of EDL933, resulting in an Ile57-to-Thr substitution. Ler shows homology to H-NS-like regulators, which are modulators of transcription, and the mutation occurs in a domain implicated in oligomerization. 95SF2 was able to adhere and produce A/E lesions on HEp-2 cells when EDL933ler was expressed from a multicopy plasmid. Conversely, introduction of a plasmid carrying 95SF2 ler into EDL933 abolished adherence and capacity to form A/E lesions. Studies witheae deletion derivatives of 95SF2 and EDL933 demonstrated that the ler-mediated adherence to HEp-2 cells is largely independent of intimin. We have also demonstrated that EDL933ler, but not 95SF2 ler, increases the level of intimin in O157 STEC.
Validating bowel preparation scales

Abstract Background and study aim Few scales assessing bowel preparation quality have been validated, and direct between-scale comparisons remain scarce. The aim of the study was to compare inter- and intra-rater reliability, predictive abilities for clinical outcomes, and ease of use for each scale. Methods Colonoscopy video recordings highlighting five colonic segments after washing were viewed independently by three physicians, and cleanliness was evaluated using the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS), the Chicago Bowel Preparation Scale (CBPS), and the Harefield Cleansing Scale (HCS) in randomized order. Kappa or intraclass correlations quantified intra- and inter-rater reliability. Ease of use was evaluated (1 – 10 scale, 1 = easy), as were associations between scores, adenoma detection, and adequacy of preparation to exclude lesions ≥ 5 mm. Results Among 83 colonoscopy videos, indications included screening or surveillance in 72.3 %. Mean (± SD) scores of the respective three raters were 5.17 ± 1.57, 6.49 ± 1.48, and 5.12 ± 1.21 for BBPS, and 23.73 ± 6.01, 28.39 ± 5.47, and 24.75 ± 5.83 for CBPS, while successful HCS scores (grade A or B) were given for 76 %, 89 %, and 63 % of examinations. Intra-rater reliability ranges were 0.88 – 1.00, 0.83 – 1.00, and 0.62 – 1.00 for BBPS, CBPS, and HCS, respectively. Similarly, inter-rater reliability ranges were 0.50 – 0.79, 0.64 – 0.83, and 0.28 – 0.52, respectively. Sources of disagreement included varying rater strictness, which was possibly most marked for preparations rated as intermediate. Overall, associations between preparation scores and adenoma detection lacked statistical significance. Conclusion The BBPS and CBPS showed the best inter- and intra-rater reliability, and the BBPS was considered the easiest to use. Further studies are needed to determine an optimal adequacy threshold for these scales, with the goal of predicting clinical outcomes and determining the appropriate interval to the next colonoscopy.
Magnet Position Variation of the Electromagnetic Actuation System in a Torsional Scanner

: A mechanically-resonant torsional spring scanner was developed in a recent study. Various methods were developed to improve the angular displacement of the scanner while maintaining the scanner frequency. However, the effects of rotor magnet radial position on scanner characteristics were not well investigated. In this study, the relationships between the magnet position and the scanner characteristics such as natural frequency, angular displacement and stress level were studied. A finite element model was created and an average deviation of 3.18% was found between the simulation and experimental results, qualifying the simulation results as a guide for further investigations. Three magnet positions on the transverse oscillating suspended plate were investigated by finite element analysis (FEA) and one of the positions were selected as the design position. The magnet position with the longest distance from the twist axis of the mirror was selected since it attains minimum stress level while exceeding the minimum critical flicker frequency and delivering the targeted angular displacement to the scanner.
Use of optical coherence tomography to assess variations in macular retinal thickness in myopia.

PURPOSE To investigate the variation in macular retinal thickness in otherwise normal young Asian myopic subjects by using optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS One hundred thirty ophthalmically normal men 19 to 24 years of age with myopia (spherical equivalent, -0.25 to -14.25 D) underwent examination of one randomly selected eye. Visual acuity, refraction, slit lamp examination, applanation tonometry, gonioscopy, A-scan ultrasound, fundus examination, visual field testing, and optic disc photography were performed. Exclusion criteria were visual acuity worse than 20/30, previous intraocular surgery, intraocular pressure >21 mm Hg, or other ocular diseases. Three horizontal transfixation and three vertical transfixation OCT scans (ver.4.1; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) of 6 mm each were conducted on each eye by a single operator. Neurosensory retinal thicknesses at 100 points along each scan were measured, and the overall average, maximum, and minimum retinal thicknesses were analyzed by simple linear regression and analysis of variance. RESULTS The average macular retinal thickness (overall) was 230.9 +/- 10.5 microm and was not significantly related to the degree of myopia. The mean maximum retinal thickness (at the parafovea) was 278.4 +/- 13.0 microm, and correlated negatively with axial length (P = 0.03). The mean minimum retinal thickness (at the foveola) was 141.1 +/- 19.1 microm, and this was positively correlated with axial length (P = 0.015) and spherical equivalent (P = 0.0002). The retina was thicker at the superior and nasal parafovea compared to the inferior or temporal parafovea. CONCLUSIONS Average retinal thickness of the macula does not vary with myopia. However, the parafovea was thinner and the fovea thicker with myopia.
Apolipoprotein E allele frequencies in patients with late‐onset sporadic Alzheimer's dementia in Hungary

Introduction – The presence of the apolipoprotein E4 allele (apoE4) has been recognized as a risk factor for the development of presenile and senile forms of Alzheimer's dementia (AD). Material and methods – The apoE alleles frequency of 71 normal controls (NC), 60 demented controls (DC) and 50 senile type AD subjects was determined by polymerase chain reaction in order to get data about the apoE polymorphism of the Hungarian AD population. Results – The apoE3/3 genotype was the most common in all groups. The apoE4 frequency was significantly higher (28%) in the AD group than that was (7% and 9%) in the NC and DC populations, respectively. No apoE4 homozygotes were found in the DC group and the number of heterozygotes was lower in the DC than in the AD group. Conclusion – The results are in good agreement with others in the literature and support the occurrence of an increased apoE4 allele frequency in Hungarian senile AD population.
Functional Role of Mitochondria in Arrhythmogenesis

A coordinated electrical propagation throughout the heart is necessary for appropriate cardiac function. When such coordination in cardiac action potential (AP) fails, cardiac arrhythmias occur [1]. Several sub-cellular factors contribute to AP heterogeneity, mainly related to sarcolemmal ion channels; however, a growing attention is focused on the action of mitochondria on cell excitability. Indeed, albeit the mitochondrial role in energy production and apoptotic pathways has been determined, the contribution of this highly dynamic organelle in the regulation of excitation–contraction coupling is less clear. Mitochondria form a functional network the that and is made