Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Concurrent validity of the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test and the Leiter International Performance Scale–Revised

One hundred elementary- and middle-school students were administered the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT; B.A. Bracken & R.S. McCallum, 1998) and the Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised (Leiter-R; G.H. Roid & L.J. Miller, 1997). Correlations between UNIT and Leiter-R scores were statistically significant ( p < .001), ranging from . 33 to . 74. The UNIT Full Scale score was 5 points higher than the Leiter-R Full Scale score, t = 4.73, p < . 001. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 143–148, 2006.
A connected tale of claudins from the renal duct to the sensory system

Claudins are tight junction membrane proteins that regulate paracellular permeability to ions and solutes in many physiological systems. The electric property of claudin is the most interesting and pertains to two important organ functions: the renal and sensorineural functions. The kidney comprises of three major segments of epithelial tubules with different paracellular permeabilities: the proximal tubule (PT), the thick acending limb of Henle’s loop (TALH) and the collecting duct (CD). Claudins act as ion channels allowing selective permeation of Na+ in the PT, Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the TALH and Cl− in the CD. The inner ear, on the other hand, expresses claudins as a barrier to block K+ permeation between endolymph and perilymph. The permeability properties of claudins in different organs can be attributed to claudin interaction within the cell membrane and between neighboring cells. The first extracellular loop of claudins contains determinants of paracellular ionic permeability. While analogous to transmembrane ion channels in many ways, the biophysical and biochemical properties of claudin based paracellular channels remain to be fully characterized.
Relative Relevance Feedback in Image Retrieval

We propose a relative relevance feedback method for image retrieval systems. Relevance feedback is an effective method to modify a user's query by selecting relevant and irrelevant items in the search result. However, users cannot always find exactly relevant items in the first few search result pages, especially when the initial query is not specified due to the lack of user's knowledge. Thus, we propose relative relevance feedback in the present paper, which allows users to select relatively relevant and irrelevant items, and modifies a query by taking into account the relativity of user's feedback. Our experimental result shows that the relative relevance feedback outperforms a conventional relevance feedback for image retrieval tasks.
Graduate students' perception of curriculum-based efficacy of the acquisition of multicultural counseling skills

GRADUATE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF CURRICULUM-BASED EFFICACY OF THE ACQUISITION OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING SKILLS By Demond Ethridge Bledsoe August 2014 Dissertation supervised by Lisa Lopez Levers, Ph.D. The United States is undergoing a period in which the demographics of the population are shifting drastically. The profession of counseling is tasked with providing services to diverse groups of clients, many of whom may have experienced racism, prejudice, and oppression as a result of their cultural or ethnic identity. Literature suggests that cultural and ethnic minority clients have poorer outcomes than their majority counterparts, and a significant factor in gaining positive treatment outcomes is the multicultural skill development in the clinician; however, little research focusing on effective delivery methods for multicultural skill development in counselor trainees has been conducted. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain which components of a multicultural counseling course have been found effective for increasing multicultural
A comprehensive in silico expression analysis of RNA binding proteins in normal and tumor tissue; identification of potential players in tumor formation

RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are involved in several post-transcriptional stages of gene expression and dictate the quality and quantity of the cellular proteome. When aberrantly expressed, they can lead to disease states as well as cancers. A basic requirement to understand their role in normal tissue development and cancer is the build of comprehensive gene expression maps. In this direction, we generated a list with 383 human RBPs based on the NCBI and EMSEMBL databases. SAGE and MPSS were then used to verify their levels of expression in normal tissues while SAGE and microarray datasets were used to perform comparisons between normal and tumor tissues. As main outcomes of our studies, we identified clusters of co-expressed or co-regulated genes that could act together in the development and maintenance of specific tissues; we also obtained a high confidence list of RBPs aberrantly expressed in several tumor types. This later list contains potential candidates to be explored as diagnostic and prognostic markers as well as putative targets for cancer therapy approaches.
Low driving power integrated tuneable filter using composite holographic grating on glass waveguides

Experimental findings on a novel, compact, low cost tuneable and switchable guided wave optical filter using a composite holographic Bragg grating as the perturbation element of the guided optical field is summarized. The optical transmittance of the filter is measured by an optical spectrum analyzer. The tuning of the filter reflection response is also obtained.
Comparing aerobic adaptations with a running based high intensity interval training (HIIT) and a continuous endurance training (CET) protocol in relatively healthy adults

The purpose of this study was to compare a running based High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) protocol to a Continuous Endurance Training (CET) and their aerobic adaptations, such as increased VO2max and improved body composition. Recruitment of participants occured by flyers on campus. After indicating interest, volunteers answered no, to all questions on the PAR-Q to be eligible. Pre and post testing included a submaximal VO2 test, using the 12-minute cooper run test, and body composition using the BOD POD GS (COSMED USA Inc., Chicago, Illinois). After testing, the participants were randomly stratified based on matched aerobic capacity scores to either the HIIT, CET or control group. The CET and HIIT group completed 6 weeks of 3 days/week of the training protocol. The HIIT group did 10 X 60-s workload intervals with 60-s of rest in between each interval. The CET group did 40 to 60-min moderate intensity running. Pre to post test values were compared using a student t-test with p ≤ . 05, and significance between were measured us a one-way ANOVA with a Tukey post-hoc when necessary. The HIIT and CET group found significance in regards to VO2max with no difference between groups. The HIIT and CET respectively showed a 5.33 (± 4.48) ml/kg/min (t = 4.30, p = .001) and a 2.95 (± 1.82) ml/kg/min (t = -5.367, p < .000) improvement. In regards to body composition HIIT also gained significant results with % Body Fat (% BF), Body Mass (BM), and Fat Free Mass (FFM).
IE analysis of scattering from multilayered doubly periodic array of 3-D general objects using equivalence principle and connection scheme

This paper presents an IE approach in the spatial domain to analyze the multilayered doubly periodic array of general objects. This approach applies EPACS and thus can void of making use of multilayered DPGF. The developed approach is validated by comparing the numerical results with reference results. In addition, this approach has been extended to handle the semi-infinitely layered array, which will be shown in the conference.
Images and Representations of Menopause in a Malaysian Woman Magazine: An Analysis of MIDI

Magazine is one of the main sources of information on health-related issues, including menopause. Due to its format and writing style, a magazine can be regarded as an easy reading. Considered to be a taboo or non-spoken topic in some societies, menopause does not receive similar amount of coverage by the magazines as compared to business, education, beauty and fashion. In other words, it is regarded as less important women issues. The study aims to analyse the images or representations of menopause in a woman magazine. Compared to other studies on the portrayals of women and women-related issues in the mass media, this study only focuses on depictions of menopause in MIDI. The magazine is a fortnightly Malay language publication specifically targeted at female readers aged forty and above. The data for this study were gathered for several months in years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. The articles from MIDI were analysed using thematic analysis, focusing on the concepts or expressions or phrases used by the magazine to depict the concept of menopause. The findings of the study highlighted some of the common images and representations of menopause in MIDI.
Improving a Complement-fixation Test for Equine Herpesvirus Type-1 by Pretreating Sera with Potassium Periodate to Reduce Non-specific Hemolysis

Non-specific hemolysis has often been observed during complement-fixation (CF) tests for equine herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1), even when the sera have virus-specific CF antibodies. This phenomenon has also been reported in CF tests for various infectious diseases of swine. We found that the sera from 22 of 85 field horses (25.9%) showed non-specific hemolysis during conventional CF testing for EHV-1. Because pretreatment of swine sera with potassium periodate (KIO4) improves the CF test for swine influenza, we applied this method to horse sera. As we expected, horse sera treated with KIO4 did not show non-specific hemolysis in the EHV-1 CF test, and precise determination of titers was achieved.
A Hierarchical Algorithm for Indoor Mobile Robot Localization Using RFID Sensor Fusion

This paper addresses a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based mobile robot localization which adopts RFID tags distributed in a space. Existing stand-alone RFID systems for mobile robot localization are hampered by many uncertainties. Therefore, we propose a novel algorithm that improves the localization by fusing an RFID system with an ultrasonic sensor system. The proposed system partially removes the uncertainties of RFID systems by using distance data obtained from ultrasonic sensors. We define a global position estimation (GPE) process using an RFID system and a local environment cognition (LEC) process using ultrasonic sensors. Then, a hierarchical localization algorithm is proposed to estimate the position of the mobile robot using both GPE and LEC. Finally, the utility of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through experiments.
Landscape genetic structure of coastal tailed frogs (Ascaphus truei) in protected vs. managed forests

Habitat loss and fragmentation are the leading causes of species’ declines and extinctions. A key component of studying population response to habitat alteration is to understand how fragmentation affects population connectivity in disturbed landscapes. We used landscape genetic analyses to determine how habitat fragmentation due to timber harvest affects genetic population connectivity of the coastal tailed frog (Ascaphus truei), a forest‐dwelling, stream‐breeding amphibian. We compared rates of gene flow across old‐growth (Olympic National Park) and logged landscapes (Olympic National Forest) and used spatial autoregression to estimate the effect of landscape variables on genetic structure. We detected higher overall genetic connectivity across the managed forest, although this was likely a historical signature of continuous forest before timber harvest began. Gene flow also occurred terrestrially, as connectivity was high across unconnected river basins. Autoregressive models demonstrated that closed forest and low solar radiation were correlated with increased gene flow. In addition, there was evidence for a temporal lag in the correlation of decreased gene flow with harvest, suggesting that the full genetic impact may not appear for several generations. Furthermore, we detected genetic evidence of population bottlenecks across the Olympic National Forest, including at sites that were within old‐growth forest but surrounded by harvested patches. Collectively, this research suggests that absence of forest (whether due to natural or anthropogenic changes) is a key restrictor of genetic connectivity and that intact forested patches in the surrounding environment are necessary for continued gene flow and population connectivity.
Local Administration of Tranexamic Acid During Prostatectomy Surgery: Effects on Reducing the Amount of Bleeding

Background One of the issues in prostatectomy surgery is bleeding. Although tranexamic acid (TRA) is an antifibrinolytic agent for reducing bleeding, controversies surround its use. Objectives In this study, the effect of local administration of TRA on reducing bleeding during prostatectomy surgery was evaluated. Methods A total of 186 patients who underwent prostatectomy surgery were assessed in this clinical trial study. Patients were divided randomly into two groups. After prostate removal, TRA (500 mg TRA with 5 mL total volume) to the intervention group and normal saline to the control group were sprayed with the same volume. At the end of surgery, the prescribed blood bags were measured and recorded. Hemoglobin and platelet levels were recorded 6 hours after the test. Moreover, the amounts of blood inside the blood bags in the first 24 hours, the second 24 hours, and the total length of hospital stay were recorded and compared in each group. Results By comparing the measured values before and after surgery, we found that the amounts of hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelet decreased. The mean blood loss in the intervention group was recorded at 340 mL and that in the control group was 515 mL. The maximum bleeding in the control group was almost twice as much as that in the intervention group. Blood loss in the intervention group with the administration of TRA was significantly lesser than that in the control group (P = 0.01). The decrease in platelet level in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P = 0.03). Conclusions The present study showed that local administration of TRA significantly reduces bleeding after prostatectomy surgery and is effective in preventing postoperative hemoglobin decrease.
Investigating the nature of body representations and their use in pair matching and mental rotation tasks

Two computer based stimulus-response experiments were conducted with the aim of finding whether Body Representations aid pair matching and mental rotations of 'same‘ or 'different‘ Bodies in comparison to Bicycles. Also to find whether 'disconnecting‘ Body Stimuli would disrupt the BSD and increase RTs. Sixteen different University of Plymouth students took part in each experiment, 32 overall. No significant effects were found for pair matching alone. Body Stimuli were rotated significantly more quickly than Bicycle Stimuli in Experiment 2. This effect was attributed to participants utilising their Body Representations to perform the rotations in a more holistic way. No effect of Connection was found. The researcher proposed that this was due to stimuli limitations and other theories are presented.
A Comparison of Linear and Nonlinear Factor Analysis in Examining the Effect of a Calculator Accommodation on Math Performance

Calculator Accommodation 2 2 Abstract In a statewide achievement test, the use of a calculator is often allowed as an accommodation for students with disabilities (SWD). The purpose of the accommodation is to eliminate the disadvantage faced by SWDs relative to peers without disabilities with the same level of overall mathematics proficiency. However, it is important to determine if the accommodation has changed the construct and meaning of the test scores. One way of examining whether the construct has changed due to the accommodation is to compare performance on the assessment for SWDs to peers without disabilities, controlling for differences in proficiency. In this study, measurement invariance of a statewide 8 th-grade mathematics test was explored to evaluate the comparability of the scores obtained by examinees who were accommodated with calculators and those who were not. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess measurement invariance at the content strand level. Also, nonlinear factor analysis (NFLA) was used to assess the invariance at the item level and the solution was compared to the SEM results. Results indicate the accommodation tended to make items in the content strand Number Sense and Operations easier. The relative strengths and limitations of using SEM and NLFA to evaluate test accommodations is discussed. Standardized tests are designed to promote fairness in testing by keeping the test content, administration conditions, and scoring processes consistent for all examinees. However, for examinees with disabilities, one or more features of the standardized conditions may make it more difficult for the student to demonstrate their true knowledge and skills. For this reason, many testing programs offer accommodations to the standard testing conditions to students with disabilities. The purpose of these accommodations is to remove any barrier to valid assessment of students' knowledge and skills. However, concerns over the degree to which the accommodation may change what is measured by the test, warrant research into the degree to which test accommodations affect the validity of the interpretations derived from test scores. For students who are unable to calculate at any level of difficulty, one common nonstandard accommodation is the provision of a calculator. In order to receive this accommodation, the students must be virtually unable to perform calculation. Without this accommodation, the scores for these students may lead to underestimates of their true mathematics proficiency. In this study, we examine whether a calculator accommodation changes the measurement properties of a large-scale, …
Treatment of HEV Infection in Patients with a Solid-Organ Transplant and Chronic Hepatitis

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection can cause hepatic and extra-hepatic manifestations. Treatment of HEV infection has been thoroughly studied in solid-organ-transplant patients who have developed a chronic HEV infection. In this review, we report on our current knowledge regarding treatment of HEV infection.
Predictors of Treatment Outcomes in Anxious Children Receiving Group Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy: Pretreatment Attention Bias to Threat and Emotional Variability During Exposure Tasks

Background and objectives: Pretreatment attention bias towards threat stimuli has been shown to predict treatment outcomes following exposure-based treatments. The extent of emotional variability experienced during exposure therapy has also been found to predict better treatment outcomes in anxious adults. The present study examined whether pretreatment attention bias towards threat stimuli and greater emotional variability during exposure activities were associated with stronger treatment outcomes in anxious children receiving group-based cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). Methods: Twenty-six anxious children completed a visual probe task with emotional faces, followed by a 10-week CBT program in a group format. Children completed weekly within-session exposure activities during the last 5 weeks of group CBT. Results: Pretreatment attention bias towards threat stimuli, greater emotional variability and within-session habituation during exposure activities were significantly associated with reductions in clinician- and/or parent-rated anxiety symptoms after the 10-week CBT program. Treatment responders had significantly higher peak emotional distress ratings during exposure activities. However, threat attention bias and within-session exposure measures were not significantly related. Conclusions: Pre-existing individual differences in attention bias to threat cues and the degree of emotional reactivity experienced during exposure activities are both important independent predictors of treatment outcomes for anxious children receiving group-based CBT.
Structure of the intracellular defective viral RNAs of defective interfering particles of mouse hepatitis virus

The intracellular defective RNAs generated during high-multiplicity serial passages of mouse hepatitis virus JHM strain on DBT cells were examined. Seven novel species of single-stranded polyadenylic acid-containing defective RNAs were identified from passages 3 through 22. The largest of these RNAs, DIssA (molecular weight [mw], 5.2 X 10(6)), is identical to the genomic RNA packaged in the defective interfering particles produced from these cells. Other RNA species, DIssB1 (mw, 1.9 X 10(6) to 1.6 X 10(6)), DIssB2 (mw, 1.6 X 10(6)), DIssC (mw, 2.8 X 10(6)) DIssD (mw, 0.82 X 10(6)), DIssE (mw, 0.78 X 10(6)), and DIssF (mw, 1.3 X 10(6)) were detected at different passage levels. RNase T1-resistant oligonucleotide fingerprinting demonstrated that all these RNAs were related and had multiple deletions of the genomic sequences. They contained different subsets of the genomic sequences from those of the standard intracellular mRNAs of nondefective mouse hepatitis virus JHM strain. Thus these novel intracellular viral RNAs were identified as defective interfering RNAs of mouse hepatitis virus JHM strain. The synthesis of six of the seven normal mRNA species specific to mouse hepatitis virus JHM strain was completely inhibited when cells were infected with viruses of late-passage levels. However, the synthesis of RNA7 and its product, viral nucleoprotein, was not significantly altered in late passages. The possible mechanism for the generation of defective interfering RNAs was discussed.
Interleukin-8 in sepsis: relation to shock and inflammatory mediators

Because of its neutrophil-activating properties, interleukin-8 (IL-8) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of sepsis. We measured circulating IL-8 levels in 47 patients with clinical sepsis. Levels on admission were elevated in 42 of the 47 patients (89%) and were comparable in patients with gram-positive or gram-negative infections. Patients with shock had significantly higher IL-8 levels than normotensive patients (P = 0.0014, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test), whereas no differences in IL-8 levels were found between patients with or without adult respiratory distress syndrome. Patients who died had higher IL-8 levels on admission than the patients who survived. The largest differences in IL-8 levels between survivors and nonsurvivors was found when only patients with positive cultures were considered (P = 0.0342). IL-8 levels appeared to correlate significantly with lactate levels and inversely with leukocyte and platelet numbers and mean arterial pressure. In addition, the IL-8 level in the sepsis patients was found to correlate significantly with levels of IL-6, elastase-alpha 1-antitrypsin, and C3a. Serial observations revealed that in most patients IL-8 levels decreased, irrespective of the outcome. Thus, our results demonstrate that IL-8 levels are increased in most patients with sepsis and correlate with some important clinical, biochemical, and inflammatory parameters. These findings suggest a role for IL-8 in the pathophysiology of sepsis.