Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of communication, life participation and psychological well‐being in chronic aphasia: The influence of group intervention

Background: The impact of change in communication, life participation, and psychological well‐being in aphasia is recognised but still not fully explored. Further, considerable scope exists to address these factors within the context of intervention. Innovative practices and group intervention are advocated for people with chronic aphasia but detail and evidence remains limited. We are grateful to Leeds Health Authority, the Leeds Speech and Language Therapy Service, Leeds Social Services, Leeds Metropolitan University and the Leeds Modernisation Team ‐ Disability for funding and other resources for the group and the research. Our thanks in particular are conveyed to the group participants. Additionally we thank the reviewers for their guidance. Aims: To explore the experience of aphasia within the context of communication, life participation and psychological well‐being and evaluate the outcomes of these phenomena in people with chronic aphasia following participation in a group intervention involving a social model approach. Methods & Procedures: A group of seven people with chronic moderate aphasia were assessed on communication measures, by means of the Conversational Analysis Profile for People with Aphasia (CAPPA), and aspects of psychological well‐being, by means of The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and The Visual Analogue Self‐esteem Scale (VASES) pre, post, and at 3‐month follow‐up of a group intervention. The group involved a social model approach and the use of Total Communication to support conversation. Speech and language therapy and social care personnel, including an equality disability trainer, contributed to the group. Outcomes & Results: Although variation in individual participants was demonstrated, results showed evidence of statistically significant beneficial change in conversation experiences (many of these related to life participation) and, to a lesser degree, beneficial change in conversation abilities. Additionally there were beneficial changes for some participants on psychological well‐being measures. Due to the small sample, participant variation, and (in the case of psychological well‐being measures) the lack of evidence of serious reduction in psychological well‐being at the outset, the results have to be evaluated with caution. Conclusions: Appropriately planned group intervention can produce benefits in conversation, life participation, and psychological well‐being in chronic aphasia.
Relay scheduling and interference cancellation for quantize-map-and-forward cooperative relaying

This paper presents system design aspects of a multi-relay half-duplex QMF cooperative system. We propose two simple algorithms that address the design of relay scheduling and inter-relay interference schemes. Proposed linear-complexity scheduling algorithm is proven to be optimal for a multi-relay diamond network under specific channel conditions. We demonstrate through simulations that for typical channel conditions, the achievable QMF rate of a five-relay cooperative system is up to 3 times higher compared to a system without cooperation.
Impulsivity in Binge Eating Disorder: Food Cues Elicit Increased Reward Responses and Disinhibition

Background Binge eating disorder (BED) represents a distinct eating disorder diagnosis. Current approaches assume increased impulsivity to be one factor leading to binge eating and weight gain. We used eye tracking to investigate both components of impulsivity, namely reward sensitivity and rash-spontaneous behaviour towards food in BED for the first time. Methods Overweight and obese people with BED (BED+; n = 25), without BED (BED−; n = 26) and healthy normal-weight controls (NWC; n = 25) performed a free exploration paradigm measuring reward sensitivity (experiment 1) and a modified antisaccade paradigm measuring disinhibited, rash-spontaneous behaviour (experiment 2) using food and nonfood stimuli. Additionally, trait impulsivity was assessed. Results In experiment 1, all participants located their initial fixations more often on food stimuli and BED+ participants gazed longer on food stimuli in comparison with BED− and NWC participants. In experiment 2, BED+ participants had more difficulties inhibiting saccades towards food and nonfood stimuli compared with both other groups in first saccades, and especially towards food stimuli in second saccades and concerning sequences of first and second saccades. BED− participants did not differ significantly from NWC participants in both experiments. Additionally, eye tracking performance was associated with self-reported reward responsiveness and self-control. Conclusions According to these results, food-related reward sensitivity and rash-spontaneous behaviour, as the two components of impulsivity, are increased in BED in comparison with weight-matched and normal-weight controls. This indicates that BED represents a neurobehavioural phenotype of obesity that is characterised by increased impulsivity. Interventions for BED should target these special needs of affected patients.
Reflections on Doing the Expat Show: Performing the Global Mobility Industry

This paper argues that we need to pay more attention to the spaces in which the (knowledge) economy operates and industry sectors are brought into being. Following research that examines the performative nature of the economy, the paper sees the trade show as not merely a reflection of an industry sector, but as a space that produces it into being. Looking at the Global Mobility Industry, an industry directed towards the management of expatriates, the paper uses narratives to uncover performance as a way to understand the practice of knowledge, specifically benchmarking about talent management, at the Expat Show.
Gay Surrogacy, Intentionality and Tahitian Parenting

In Australia throughout the 1980s and 1990s, anxieties about new reproductive technology crystallised especially conspicuously around surrogacy, resulting in legislative disfavour for the practice. Since then there has been a partial de-problematisation of surrogacy. This article examines the extent to which the increased legal acceptability of surrogacy in Australia has extended to its use by gay men. It also examines judicial approaches to federal provisions relating to the ascription of parental status with respect to children born into surrogacy arrangements, and reflects upon their impact on gay families. Finally, because gay surrogacy foregrounds parenting intention as the decisive ground for allocation of parental status, the article reflects upon the nature of surrogacy in the West by engaging in a comparative analysis of Tahitian parenting, which traditionally has accommodated intentional parenthood on a large scale, through the institutionalisation of adoption practices. The fact that in Tahiti sexuality- and gender-variant people may figure as adoptive parents makes the comparison all the more interesting. The article elaborates on the policy implications of the insight that this comparative analysis yields into the nature of surrogacy.
Progesterone production by monkey luteal cell subpopulations at different stages of the menstrual cycle: changes in agonist responsiveness.

Small (less than or equal to 15 microns diameter) and large (greater than 20 microns diam.) luteal cells of the rhesus monkey have been separated by flow cytometry based on light scatter properties. To determine whether the steroidogenic ability and agonist responsiveness of luteal cell subpopulations vary during the life span of the corpus luteum, small and large cells were obtained at early (Days 3-5), mid (Days 7-8), mid-late (Days 11-12), and late (Days 14-15) luteal phase of the cycle. Cells (n = 4 exp./group) were incubated in Ham's F-10 medium + 0.1% BSA for 3 h at 37 degrees C with or without hCG (100 ng/ml), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2; 14 microM), dibutyryl-cAMP (db-cAMP; 5 mM), or pregnenolone (1 microM). Basal progesterone (P) production by large cells was up to 30-fold that by small cells depending on the stage of the cycle. HCG stimulated (p less than 0.05) P secretion by both small (1.8 +/- 0.2-fold) and large (3.7 +/- 0.7-fold) cells in the early luteal phase. HCG responsiveness declined during the luteal lifespan; P production by small cells was not significantly enhanced by hCG by mid luteal phase, whereas that by large cells was stimulated 1.7 +/- 0.2-fold (p less than 0.05) even at late luteal phase. Cell responses to db-cAMP were similar to those for hCG. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Testicular Adrenal Rests Tumors and Testicular Microlithiasis in a Brazilian Case Series with Classic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Background Testicular adrenal rest tumors are a benign condition characterized by the presence of remnants of adrenal tissue within the testes that can lead to infertility. Testicular microlithiasis are calculus deposits within the seminiferous tubules. Both are described in congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Objectives Describe the frequency of testicular adrenal rest tumors and testicular microlithiasis in a Brazilian case series of patients with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia and to also relate these changes to disease control and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis disorders. Methods Case series study. An ultrasound examination of the scrotum was performed on 12 patients between the ages of 5.33 to 22 (14.72 ± 5.26) years. Testicular adrenal rest tumors were classified according to the degree of testicular infiltration in stages by adapting the Grinten’s classification, ranging from the absence of testicular adrenal rests visible by ultrasound (stage ≤ 1) to chronic obstruction of the testicular parenchyma with irreversible damage of the testicle (stage 5). Results Six patients (5 salt wasting and 1 simple virilizing) with an average age of 17.27 ± 3.09 years and have gone through puberty showed testicular adrenal rest tumors (Grinten stage ≥ 3). In 2 of the patients there was a coincidence with testicular microlithiasis. The frequency of testicular adrenal rest tumors did not relate with the levels of serum 17-hydroxyprogesterone and androstenedione. In 3 patients with testicular adrenal rest tumors, gonadotropin levels were suggestive of hypergonadotropic hypogonadism and one of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Conclusions Testicular adrenal rest tumors were found in greater frequency during puberty and was not related to hormonal control in this group. Some of them happened with testicular microlithiasis.
Pathogen Identification in Suspected Cases of Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis

Pyogenic spinal infection continues to represent a worldwide problem. In approximately one-third of patients with pyogenic spondylodiscitis, the infectious agent is never identified. Of the cases that lead to organismal identification, bacteria are more commonly isolated from the spine rather than fungi and parasites. This study applied universal prokaryotic 16S rRNA PCR as a rapid diagnostic tool for the detection of bacterial agents in specimens from patients suspected of pyogenic spondylodiscitis. Gram and Ziehl-Neelsen staining were used as a preliminary screening measure for microbiologic evaluation of patient samples. PCR amplification targeting 16S rRNA gene was performed on DNA extracted from 57 cases including specimens from epidural abscesses, vertebral, and disc biopsies. Positive samples were directly sequenced. MRI findings demonstrated that disc destruction and inflammation were the major imaging features of suspected pyogenic spondylodiscitis cases, as 44 cases showed such features. The most common site of infection was the lumbar spine (66.7%), followed by thoracic spine (19%), the sacroiliac joint (9.5%), and lumbar-thoracic spine (4.8%) regions. A total of 21 samples amplified the 16S rRNA-PCR product. Sanger sequencing of the PCR products identified the following bacteriological agents: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (n = 9; 42.9%), Staphylococcus aureus (n = 6; 28.5%), Mycobacterium abscessus (n = 5; 23.8%), and Mycobacterium chelonae (n = 1; 4.8%). 36 samples displayed no visible 16S rRNA PCR signal, which suggested that non-bacterial infectious agents (e.g., fungi) or non-infectious processes (e.g., inflammatory, or neoplastic) may be responsible for some of these cases. The L3–L4 site (23.8%) was the most frequent site of infection. Single disc/vertebral infection were observed in 9 patients (42.85%), while 12 patients (57.15%) had 2 infected adjacent vertebrae. Elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) inflammatory markers were noted in majority of the patients. In conclusion, microbiological methods and MRI findings are vital components for the proper diagnosis of pyogenic spondylodiscitis. Our findings suggest that molecular methods such as clinical application of 16S rRNA PCR and sequencing may be useful as adjunctive diagnostic tools for pyogenic spondylodiscitis. The rapid turnaround time of 16S rRNA PCR and sequencing submission and results can potentially decrease the time to diagnosis and improve the therapeutic management and outcome of these infections. Although S. aureus and M. tuberculosis were the most common causes of pyogenic spinal infections in this study, other infectious agents and non-infectious etiologies should be considered. Based on study results, we advise that antibiotic therapy should be initiated after a definitive etiological diagnosis.
Centre de Referència en Economia Analítica Barcelona Economics Working Paper Series Working Paper n o 295 Financial Incentives in Academia : Research versus Development

This paper investigates the effects of monetary rewards on the pattern of research. We build a simple repeated model of a researcher capable to obtain innovative ideas. We analyse how the legal environment affects the allocation of researcher’s time between research and development. Although technology transfer objectives reduce the time spent in research, they might also induce researchers to conduct research that is more basic in nature, contrary to what the “skewing problem” would presage. We also show that our results hold even if development delays
An exploratory study of young women's use of leisure spaces and times: constrained, negotiated, or unconstrained behaviour?

Abstract How young women (18–24 years old) perceive risk and use leisure spaces is reported in this paper. The data were collected in the town of Torquay, in Southwest England, using a series of recall diaries and in-depth interviews. This work aims to expand on the suggestion that women are demonstrating spatial behaviour of an increasingly unconstrained nature. It also assesses how this hypothesis may relate to the more traditional view of women's use of leisure spaces as constrained and/or negotiated. The young women who took part in this study identified a number of ‘risks’ with going out in Torquay, especially at night. Despite this, they were willing to go almost anywhere within the town. While some women reported going out at night by themselves, others preferred to do so in groups. Although the group seems to have acted as a safety net against perceived risks, it also appears to have been used as a social tool. Overall, the results suggest that the women displayed varying degrees of negotiated and unconstrained spatial behaviour.
Changes in the Nucleotide Pool of Bacillus licheniformis During Sporulation

Leitzmann, Claus (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis), and Robert W. Bernlohr. Changes in the nucleotide pool of Bacillus licheniformis during sporulation. J. Bacteriol. 89:1506–1510. 1965. —An analysis of the amount of acid-soluble nucleotides in Bacillus licheniformis cells showed a 75% increase during presporulation over that in log-phase cells. Cultures in which presporulation was inhibited by actinomycin D showed a decrease in acid-soluble nucleotides during the same time interval. A separation and quantitative determination of the nucleotides in the pool revealed that the relative proportion of each nucleotide remained fairly constant during presporulation. The detection of an intracellular ribonuclease activity and a decrease of the total nucleic acid concentration in the cells suggest that the increased pool arises from polymer breakdown. The effect of actinomycin D on sporulation was examined on both a quantitative and a temporal basis. The data indicate that messenger ribonucleic acid is essential for the completion of the sporulation process and must be resynthesized constantly.
A small cosmological constant and backreaction of non-finetuned parameters

We include the backreaction on warped geometry induced by non-finetuned parameters in a two domain-wall set-up to obtain an exponentially small Cosmological Constant Λ4. The mechanism to suppress the Cosmological Constant involves one classical fine-tuning as compared to an infinity of finetunings at the quantum level in standard D = 4 field theory.
Learning Behaviors Mediating the Effects of Behavior Problems on Academic Outcomes

This study examined the relationships between behavior problems, learning behaviors, and educational outcomes for at-risk preschool children. A sample of Head Start children (N = 196) was selected in the southeast United States. Behavior problems were assessed using the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (LeBuffe & Naglieri, 1999) and learning behaviors were assessed using the Preschool Learning Behavior Scale (McDermott, Leigh, & Perry, 2002). Academic outcomes included measures of literacy and mathematics, collected using subscales from the Galileo System for the Electronic Management of Learning (Bergan et al., 2003). Children's behavior problems were found to predict their learning behaviors as well as their mathematics and literacy yearly gains. Furthermore, learning behaviors were found to mediate the effect of behavior problems on literacy and mathematics. The findings of the study provide a preliminary explanation regarding the mechanism through which behavior problems relate to academic outcomes.
The lightspeed automatic interactive lighting preview system

We present an automated approach for high-quality preview of feature-film rendering during lighting design. Similar to previous work, we use a deep-framebuffer shaded on the GPU to achieve interactive performance. Our first contribution is to generate the deep-framebuffer and corresponding shaders automatically through data-flow analysis and compilation of the original scene. Cache compression reduces automatically-generated deep-framebuffers to reasonable size for complex production scenes and shaders. We also propose a new structure, the indirect framebuffer, that decouples shading samples from final pixels and allows a deep-framebuffer to handle antialiasing, motion blur and transparency efficiently. Progressive refinement enables fast feedback at coarser resolution. We demonstrate our approach in real-world production.
Advances in adjuvant hormonal therapy for postmenopausal women.

INTRODUCTION Since George Beatson and A. Schinzinger produced remissions of advanced breast cancer by performing bilateral oophorectomy in premenopausal patients more than 100 years ago, the effect of antihormonal therapy on breast cancer has been known. Initial endocrine therapy included oophorectomy, hypophysectomy, and adrenalectomy. The latter two were abandoned when tamoxifen citrate was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in advanced breast cancer in 1978. Selective estrogen receptormodulators (SERMs), such as tamoxifen, antagonize estrogen receptor (ER) function by binding competitively to it. Since 1978, more than 40,000 breast cancer patients, most of them postmenopausal, have been treated with tamoxifen, either in the context of clinical research studies or in clinical practice.
Cone-specific measures of human color vision.

PURPOSE To describe a new test of color vision (cone-specific contrast sensitivity) and to evaluate its sensitivity in comparison to standard clinical tests. METHODS Cone-specific colored letter charts were generated by computer and displayed on a color monitor. Each chart consists of colored letters that are most visible at the top but that gradually fade into a gray background. Cone contrast varies systematically on each chart so that letters are visible to only one cone type (L, M, or S cone). Cone-specific letter contrast sensitivity was measured in 30 color normals and 13 subjects with hereditary color deficiency. Values were compared to standard measures of color vision. RESULTS In color normals, mean log contrast sensitivity was approximately the same on L-cone (1.84 +/- 0.08 log contrast sensitivity) and M-cone (1.87 +/- 0.08) tests but was reduced on the S-cone test (0.89 +/- 0.15) because of the fewer number of S-cones in the human retina. Subjects with red color deficiency showed significantly reduced contrast sensitivity on the L-cone test but normal performance on M- and S-cone tests. Subjects with green color deficiency showed decreased contrast sensitivity limited to the M-cone test. When standardized relative to variability, cone contrast sensitivity identified color deficiency unequivocally in all subjects, whereas FM 100 hue error scores detected 9 of 13 subjects with color deficiency. CONCLUSIONS Cone-specific contrast sensitivity provides a quantitative measure of normal color vision and indicates both type and severity of color deficiency. It is useful for diagnosing hereditary color deficiency and for monitoring early color vision loss in ocular and systemic disease.
Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Abdominal Wall Pain Following Surgery: A Case Series

The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a relatively simple regional anesthesia technique which entails the injection of local anesthetics (LA) into the interfascial plane between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles, where nerves supplying the anterolateral abdominal wall course. It is widely used for acute pain management following abdominal surgical procedures. We describe a series of cases in which TAP blocks were used to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic abdominal wall pain (CAWP).
Supervision as a reciprocal learning process

Within educational psychology, as in other professions, there is a pervasive view of supervision as a one‐way learning process, with knowledge and skills being passed from supervisor to supervisee in a linear fashion. It is proposed that we need to shift our perspective in order to acknowledge the rich learning opportunities for both participants involved. This view is illustrated by an analysis of the author's own learning gains while supervising an Educational Psychologist in Training. It is suggested that viewing supervision as a reciprocal learning process has potential benefits for supervisors, supervisees and the profession as a whole.