Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seeing What You Want to See: How Imprecise Uncertainty Ranges Enhance Motivated Reasoning

In this article, we consider a novel criterion for evaluating representations of uncertainty ranges, namely, the extent to which a representation enhances motivated reasoning. In two studies, we show that perceptions of the distribution underlying ambiguous numerical ranges are affected by the motivations and worldviews of end users. This motivated reasoning effect remained after controlling for objective numeracy and fluid intelligence but was attenuated when the correct interpretation was made clear. We suggest that analysts and communicators explicitly consider the potential for motivated evaluation when evaluating uncertainty displays.
A comparison of manual and automated methods of measuring conjunctival vessel widths from photographic and digital images

We investigated the application of a fully automated computer algorithm for identifying vessels of the conjunctiva from their scleral surround, and compared measures of vessel width with established methods. Vessel widths at 101 locations (ranging from 20 to 140 μm), from 12 patients, were measured from film and digital images, using a variety of methods, and compared. Widths were measured manually, by semi‐automated methods using grey level (densitometric) profiles taken from digital images, and by automated techniques set at different operating levels. Good intra‐session repeatibility was obtained using the automated method with an operating sigma value of 3 pixels (16 μm) (mean difference 0.5 μm, 95% CI −8.5 to 9.4 μm) and manual calliper measurements from digitally created photographic slides (mean difference 0.4 μm, −9.3 to 10.1 μm). For comparison with other measures of width, the latter was used as the gold standard. Widths measured from film were slightly larger than those measured directly from digital images, although this effect was small (5 μm) for most vessels. Overall widths measured using the automated method, with a sigma value of 3 pixels, agreed best with the gold standard (inter‐method repeatibility; mean difference 1.4 μm, −32.5 to 35.2 μm) although the automated method overestimated small widths (<40 μm) and underestimated larger vessel widths (>40 μm). Automated detection of vessels of the conjunctiva from digital images avoids manual and operator involved measures which are time consuming, and which preclude large patient studies. The resulting data may help in monitoring the vascular response of the conjunctiva to surgical or pharmacological intervention, and in describing vascular changes in response to ocular or systemic disease. The application of this algorithm to the study of retinal vessels is yet to be realised.
Prevalence of hepatitis C infection and its associated factors in healthy adults without identifiable route of transmission

While hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is long known to be associated with parenteral exposure, the specific route of transmission is not identified in a proportion of infected patients. Taking blood donors as the surrogate of healthy adults in the community in Hong Kong, we identified 91 HCV‐infected donors (≤0.02% positive rate) in 2014‐2016, of whom 46 were recruited in a mixed‐method study to examine their transmission routes. A majority (75%) of the recruited donors were HCV RNA positive, with the predominant subtypes being 1b and 6a. From the results of the structured self‐administered questionnaire and in‐depth interviews, only 14 (30%) recruited donors could be traced to past history of contaminated blood transfusion (n = 9) or injection drug use (n = 5). Case‐control analyses with 3 different control groups were performed to examine factors associated with HCV infection in multivariable analyses. High‐risk sexual behaviour, body piercing, intramuscular injection and vaccine inoculation abroad, having lived abroad for >3 months were significantly associated with HCV in donors with otherwise nonidentifiable source of infection. While the specific route of transmission cannot be established for each person, associations with multiple parenteral exposures outside Hong Kong were observed. The World Health Organization has advocated for the global elimination of HCV by 2030. With a high proportion of HCV‐infected persons who are unaware of their infections, HCV elimination could be hard to achieve.
Teaching Arabic in the Dormitory of Ma’had Jami’i of State Islamic University in Bandung: Toward a Total Immersion

ABSTRACT : Arabic is indispensably necessary, especially in the Muslim-majority in Indonesia. However, it takes a lot of time to acquire Arabic , since there are various linguistic branches to learn for anyone who wishes to fluently understand it. On the top of that, Arabic has different characteristics from those of the Indonesian language . The present study was based on the results of a preliminary study that show a significant lack of Arabic teaching innovation , when compared with the teaching of other foreign languages, especially English. The purpose was to figure out the concept of Arabic teaching in the “ Ma’had Jami’i ” in terms of its objective, process, evaluation, issues, and challenges. To this end, an embedded case study was carried out. The data sources included informants, teaching activities, and documents. The data were analyzed using data source triangulation and an interactive model of method triangulation. The results show that the objective of Arabic teaching was to equip students with Arabic knowledge and skills in order for them to be able to keep up with the lesson and practice Arabic in university classrooms ; the teaching process was theory and practice-oriented to create a conducive language learning environment ; the evaluation was conducted through written and performance tests during the placement test, midterm test , and final test ; and the teaching challenges lay in the psychological, educational, and social aspects. It is recommended that further studies deal with students’ interactions, second language acquisition, interference problem , and teaching components, specifically in the context of language dormitory. KEY WORDS : S econd L anguage A cquisition ; “ Ma’had Jami’i ” D ormitory ; Arabic T eaching I nnovation ; Students of Islamic State University; T otal I mmersion . About the Authors: Prof. Dr. M aman A bdurahman , Prof. Dr. R ahman , and Dr. E ly S a’diah are the Lecturers at the Faculty of Language and Literature Education UPI (Indonesia University of Education), Jalan Dr. Setiabudhi No.229 Bandung 40154, West Java, Indonesia. For academic interests, corresponding author is: mamanabdurrahman@upi.edu Suggested Citation: Abdurahman, Maman, Rahman & Ely Sa’diah. (2018). “Teaching Arabic in the Dormitory of M a’had J ami’i of State Islamic University in Bandung: Toward a Total Immersion” in EDUCARE: International Journal for Educational Studies , Volume 10(2), February, pp.75-86. Bandung, Indonesia and BS Begawan, Brunei Darussalam: Minda Masagi Press owned by ASPENSI and BRIMAN Institute, ISSN 1979-7877. A rticle Timeline : Accepted (November 16, 2017); Revised (January 5, 2018); and Published (February 28, 2018).
Changes in the prevalence of psychological distress and use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications associated with comorbid chronic diseases in the adult Australian population, 2001–2008

Objective: To investigate changes in the prevalence of psychological distress and use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications associated with comorbid chronic diseases in the adult Australian population from 2001 to 2008. Methods: Participants were 48,359 adults aged ≥ 25 years from the 2001, 2004–05 or 2007–08 Australian National Health Surveys. Clinically significant psychological distress was determined with the 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (using scores ≥ 30). Contemporaneous use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications and the presence of chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, asthma and arthritis were by self-report. Results: Overall, the prevalence of psychological distress was relatively stable (3.9 vs. 3.7%) between 2001 and 2008, but increased from 5.9 to 7.0% and 4.6 to 5.0% for people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In contrast, the use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications decreased from 7.3 to 4.8% across all disease categories. On average, the odds of psychological distress and use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications was 1.15 to 1.59-fold and 1.10 to 1.64-fold higher, respectively, for all chronic diseases after adjustments for socio-demographic and lifestyle variables. After further adjustment for all chronic disease predictors fitted jointly, these associations decreased in strength (percentage change in the log odds ratio) by 14 to 98%. Each additional chronic disease increased the odds of both psychological distress (1.34-fold higher) and use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications (1.40-fold higher) in a dose–response manner. Conclusions: Although the prevalence of psychological distress changed little for adult Australians between 2001 and 2008, it increased for people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Conversely, the reported use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications progressively decreased for people with, and without, chronic diseases. Overall, there was a persistently higher psychopathology burden associated with each and increasing number of comorbid chronic diseases.
Science maps and strategic thinking

In this paper, we discuss how to use topical, scientific reference maps to overview and navigate in dynamic research landscapes and how to use such maps as input to strategic thinking. An automated procedure is developed that creates a reference map from a set of selected scholarly papers covering a specified subject area. The method is based on co-occurrences of keywords and distributes keywords on a reference grid where related keywords appear close to another and vice versa. Once the reference map is created other entities such as individual scientific papers, researchers, and research groups may be projected to the map based on the keywords they use. An article may be represented as a point calculated as the mean x and y of all the keywords it contains. Similarly, individual researchers are plotted as the mean of all articles they have written; a research group as the mean of all researchers it includes and so forth. The centre of a distribution is supplemented with point cloud- or density maps in order to map the actual form and size of the distribution in the reference map. The maps can also show how a scientific field has evolved over the years, and potentially the current direction of research. A research institute, a research group or an individual researcher can map their abilities and competencies to the reference map and compare that to potential collaborators and competitors to visualise strengths and weaknesses. These maps may be used as an input or inspiration to strategic discussions where strategic positions or moves may be discussed, evaluated, and presented as strategic narratives: (1) stay and fortify; (2) invade and conquer; (3) merge and fuse subjects; (4) re-apply methodology from other areas; (5) explore and discover new land outside the reference map; and (6) invent new research areas.
Gate oxide leakage and delay tradeoffs for dual-T/sub ox/ circuits

Gate oxide tunneling current (I/sub gate/) is comparable to subthreshold leakage current in CMOS circuits when the equivalent physical oxide thickness (T/sub ox/) is below 15 /spl Aring/. Increasing the value of T/sub ox/ reduces the leakage at the expense of increased delay, and hence a practical tradeoff between delay and leakage can be achieved by assigning one of two permissible T/sub ox/ values to each transistor. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for dual-T/sub ox/ assignment to optimize the total leakage power under delay constraints and generate a leakage/delay tradeoff curve. As compared to the case where all transistors are set to low T/sub ox/, our approach achieves an average leakage reduction of 86% under 100 nm models and 81% under 70 nm models. We also propose a transistor and pin reordering technique that has minimal layout impact to further reduce the total leakage current up to 12% and I/sub gate/ up to 27% without incurring any delay penalty.
Congruence of quality of life among infertile men and women: findings from a couple-based study.

BACKGROUND It has been consistently demonstrated that infertility is associated with quality of life (QOL) impairments. Research to date has mostly focused on individual's reactions to infertility (mainly women), without an examination of how the partner is reacting to the same condition. The few studies that assessed QOL among couples did not use couple-based analyses, consequently not considering the intra-couple effects. The objectives of this study were to explore the congruence of QOL perception within infertile couples and to estimate the effect of depression levels on the congruence. METHODS In total, 162 couples were interviewed in an assisted reproduction clinic cross-sectionally. Subjects completed a socio-demographic form, World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF and the Beck Depression Inventory independently. The statistical strategy was guided to ensure that subjects would be explored within pairs at all times and not as independent groups. Paired t-tests were run, and Cohen's effect was estimated. Depression levels were controlled by linear multiple regressions and repeated-measures ANCOVAs. RESULTS Out of the five QOL domain scores, only two showed a significant discrepancy between partners (psychological and social relationship domains). Male depression was a significant predictor for all five QOL difference scores, whereas female depression was associated with three (overall, psychological and physical). Moreover, it was demonstrated that, except for the psychological domain and for the female depression on the physical domain, the load of depression as a predictor of the QOL difference scores was markedly low, accounting for not more than 7.5% of the variance of congruence between men's and women's QOL. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that QOL scores do not differ markedly between spouses. Since QOL seemed similarly affected in both men and women, consideration might be given to offering interventions to them as a dyad. These results are not in line with the previous non-paired studies, and further investigations are required to address this dissimilarity.
The natural history of drinking and alcohol-related problems after traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVES To describe changes in drinking from before traumatic brain injury (TBI) to 1 year after TBI. DESIGN Inception cohort with 1-year follow-up. SETTING Level I trauma center. PARTICIPANTS Adults (N=197) hospitalized with a broad range of head injury severity. INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. RESULTS Drinking and alcohol-related problems decreased substantially from preinjury to 1 year after TBI. However, about one quarter of the sample reported heavy drinking, significant problems, or both during the first year after TBI. Preinjury alcohol use and problems were highly predictive of heavy use and problems after TBI. CONCLUSION Although drinking and alcohol-related problems decreased after TBI, there appears to be an ongoing need for prevention and intervention efforts. Screening for preinjury alcohol problems can be used to identify the vast majority of persons who will develop alcohol-related problems within 1 year after injury.
Osmolarity affects matrix synthesis in the nucleus pulposus associated with the involvement of MAPK pathways: A study of ex vivo disc organ culture system

Matrix homeostasis within the nucleus pulposus (NP) is important for disc function. Unfortunately, the effects of osmolarity on NP matrix synthesis in a disc organ culture system and the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. The present study was to investigate the effects of different osmolarity modes (constant and cyclic) and osmolarity levels (hypo‐, iso‐, and hyper‐) on NP matrix synthesis using a disc organ culture system and determine whether ERK1/2 or p38MAPK pathway has a role in this process. Porcine discs were cultured for 7 days in various osmotic media, including constant hypo‐, iso‐, hyper‐osmolarity (330, 430, and 550 mOsm/kg, respectively) and cyclic‐osmolarity (430 mOsm/kg for 8 h, followed by 550 mOsm/kg for 16 h). The role of ERK1/2 and p38MAPK pathways were determined by their inhibitors U0126 and SB202190 respectively. The expression of SOX9 and downstream aggrecan and collagen II, biochemical content, and histology were used to assess NP matrix synthesis. The findings revealed that NP matrix synthesis was promoted in iso‐ and cyclic‐osmolarity cultures compared to hypo‐ or hyper‐osmolarity culture although the level of matrix synthesis in cyclic‐osmolarity culture did not reach that in iso‐osmolarity culture. Further analysis suggested that inhibition of the ERK1/2 or p38MAPK pathway in iso‐ and cyclic‐osmolarity cultures reduced NP matrix production. Therefore, we concluded that the effects of osmolarity on NP matrix synthesis depend on osmolarity level (hypo‐, iso‐, or hyper‐) and osmolarity mode (constant or cyclic), and the ERK1/2 and p38MAPK pathways may participate in this process. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:1092–1100, 2016.
Reduction of Olive Knot Disease by a Bacteriocin from Pseudomonas syringae pv. ciccaronei

ABSTRACT A bacteriocin produced by Pseudomonas syringae pv. ciccaronei, used at different purification levels and concentrations in culture and in planta, inhibited the multiplication of P. syringae subsp. savastanoi, the causal agent of olive knot disease, and affected the epiphytic survival of the pathogen on the leaves and twigs of treated olive plants. Treatments with bacteriocin from P. syringae pv. ciccaronei inhibited the formation of overgrowths on olive plants caused by P. syringae subsp. savastanoi strains PVBa229 and PVBa304 inoculated on V-shaped slits and on leaf scars at concentrations of 105 and 108 CFU ml−1, respectively. In particular, the application of 6,000 arbitrary units (AU) of crude bacteriocin (dialyzed ammonium sulfate precipitate of culture supernatant) ml−1 at the inoculated V-shaped slits and leaf scars resulted in the formation of knots with weight values reduced by 81 and 51%, respectively, compared to the control, depending on the strains and inoculation method used. Crude bacteriocin (6,000 AU ml−1) was also effective in controlling the multiplication of epiphytic populations of the pathogen. In particular, the bacterial populations recovered after 30 days were at least 350 and 20 times lower than the control populations on twigs and on leaves, respectively. These results suggest that bacteriocin from P. syringae pv. ciccaronei can be used effectively to control the survival of the causal agent of olive knot disease and to prevent its multiplication at inoculation sites.
Hematologic response to three alternative dosing schedules of azacitidine in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

PURPOSE Azacitidine (AZA) is effective treatment for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) at a dosing schedule of 75 mg/m(2)/d subcutaneously for 7 days every 4 weeks. The initial phase of this ongoing multicenter, community-based, open-label study evaluated three alternative AZA dosing schedules without weekend dosing. PATIENTS AND METHODS MDS patients were randomly assigned to one of three regimens every 4 weeks for six cycles: AZA 5-2-2 (75 mg/m(2)/d subcutaneously for 5 days, followed by 2 days no treatment, then 75 mg/m(2)/d for 2 days); AZA 5-2-5 (50 mg/m(2)/d subcutaneously for 5 days, followed by 2 days no treatment, then 50 mg/m(2)/d for 5 days); or AZA 5 (75 mg/m(2)/d subcutaneously for 5 days). RESULTS Of patients randomly assigned to AZA 5-2-2 (n = 50), AZA 5-2-5 (n = 51), or AZA 5 (n = 50), most were French-American-British (FAB) lower risk (refractory anemia [RA]/RA with ringed sideroblasts/chronic myelomonocytic leukemia with < 5% bone marrow blasts, 63%) or RA with excess blasts (30%), and 79 (52%) completed > or = six treatment cycles. Hematologic improvement (HI) was achieved by 44% (22 of 50), 45% (23 of 51), and 56% (28 of 50) of AZA 5-2-2, AZA 5-2-5, and AZA 5 arms, respectively. Proportions of RBC transfusion-dependent patients who achieved transfusion independence were 50% (12 of 24), 55% (12 of 22), and 64% (16 of 25), and of FAB lower-risk transfusion-dependent patients were 53% (nine of 17), 50% (six of 12), and 61% (11 of 18), respectively. In the AZA 5-2-2, AZA 5-2-5, and AZA 5 groups, 84%, 77%, and 58%, respectively, experienced > or = 1 grade 3 to 4 adverse events. CONCLUSION All three alternative dosing regimens produced HI, RBC transfusion independence, and safety responses consistent with the currently approved AZA regimen. These results support AZA benefits in transfusion-dependent lower-risk MDS patients.
DNA methylation as an intermediate biomarker in colorectal cancer: modulation by folic acid supplementation

Several studies have suggested that DNA hypomethylation is an early step in colorectal carcinogenesis. However, it is not clear at which stage in carcinogenesis this hypomethylation occurs, what promotes it, the extent to which it can be reversed and the consequences of such reversal in affecting tumour development. In an attempt to address some of these questions, we studied three groups of subjects with similar age and gender distributions: a group of 12 patients with colorectal carcinomas; a group of 12 patients with colorectal adenomas; and a group of eight healthy control subjects. Two experimental protocols were employed. In the first protocol, intrinsic DNA methylation was evaluated in neoplastic and in normal-appearing rectal mucosa of patients with colonic carcinomas or adenomas, compared with a group of healthy controls. In the second protocol, we examined, in a prospective and controlled fashion, the effect of folic acid supplementation (10 mg/day) on the degree of DNA methylation of rectal mucosa from those same patients after removal of the neoplasms. The degree of intrinsic DNA methylation was assessed on the basis of the capacity of the DNA isolates to serve as methyl acceptors in in vitro incubations that contained DNA methylase and [3H-methyl] S-adenosylmethionine. Intrinsic DNA methylation was significantly lower in carcinomas than in adenomas (P < 0.005). In addition, normal-appearing rectal mucosa from patients with carcinomas was significantly less methylated than in healthy controls (P < 0.005); the mean value found in the latter was also greater than the value observed in patients with adenomas, but not significantly so (P > 0.05). Patients with resected neoplasms who received folk acid supplementation for 6 months had a marked increase in the degree of intrinsic DNA methylation in the rectal mucosa (P < 0.002). Three months after cessation of treatment, DNA methylation decreased substantially (P < 0.05), but remained significantly greater than baseline values (P < 0.02). In contrast, DNA methylation values remained stable throughout the study in placebo-treated patients (P = 0.40). Our study demonstrates that global DNA hypomethylation occurs in normal rectal mucosa from patients with colorectal neoplasms as compared with controls, and that it was significantly reduced with pharmacological doses of folk add. It remains to be determined whether the risk of tumour recurrence is affected as well.