Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Randomized Trial of Off-Site Collaborative Care for Depression in Chronic Hepatitis C Virus.

OBJECTIVE To test the effectiveness of a collaborative depression care model in improving depression and hepatitis C virus (HCV) care. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING Hepatitis C virus clinic patients who screened positive for depression at four Veterans Affairs Hospitals. STUDY DESIGN We compared off-site depression collaborative care (delivered by depression care manager, pharmacist, and psychiatrist) with usual care in a randomized trial. Primary depression outcomes were treatment response (≥50 percent decrease in 20-item Hopkins Symptoms Checklist [SCL-20] score), remission (mean SCL-20 score, <0.5), and depression-free days (DFDs). Primary HCV outcome was receipt of HCV treatment. DATA COLLECTION Patient data were collected by self-report telephone surveys at baseline and 12 months, and from electronic medical records. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Baseline screening identified 292 HCV-infected patients with depression, and 242 patients completed 12-month follow-up (82.9 percent). Intervention participants were more likely to report depression treatment response, remission, and more DFDs than usual care participants. Intervention participants were more likely to receive antiviral treatment; however, the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION Off-site depression collaborative care improved depression outcomes in HCV patients and may serve as a model for collaboration between mental health and specialty physical health providers in other high co-occurring conditions.
Soyasaponins Lowered Plasma Cholesterol and Increased Fecal Bile Acids in Female Golden Syrian Hamsters

A study was conducted in hamsters to determine if group B soyasaponins improve plasma cholesterol status by increasing the excretion of fecal bile acids and neutral sterols, to identify group B soyasaponin metabolites, and to investigate the relationship between a fecal group B soyasaponin metabolite and plasma lipids. Twenty female golden Syrian hamsters, 11–12 weeks old and 85–125 g, were randomly assigned to a control diet or a similar diet containing group B soyasaponins (containing no isoflavones), 2.2 mmol/kg, for 4 weeks. Hamsters fed group B soyasaponins had significantly lower plasma total cholesterol (by 20%), non–high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (by 33%), and triglycerides (by 18%) compared with those fed casein (P < 0.05). The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol was significantly lower (by 13%) in hamsters fed group B soyasaponins than in those fed casein (P < 0.05). The excretion of fecal bile acids and neutral sterols was significantly greater (by 105% and 85%, respectively) in soyasaponin-fed hamsters compared with those fed casein (P < 0.05). Compared with casein, group B soyasaponins lowered plasma total cholesterol levels and non-HDL cholesterol levels by a mechanism involving greater excretion of fecal bile acids and neutral sterols. Hamsters fed group B soyasaponins statistically clustered into two fecal soyasaponin metabolite–excretion phenotypes: high excreters (n = 3) and low excreters (n = 7). When high and low producers of this soyasaponin metabolite were compared for plasma cholesterol status, the high producers showed a significantly lower total-cholesterol-to-HDL-cholesterol ratio compared with the low producers (1.38 ± 0.7 vs. 1.59 ± 0.13; P < 0.03). Greater production of group B soyasaponin metabolite in hamsters was associated with better plasma cholesterol status, suggesting that gut microbial variation in soyasaponin metabolism may influence the health effects of group B soyasaponins.
Requirement for deoxycytidine kinase in T and B lymphocyte development

Deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) is a rate-limiting enzyme in deoxyribonucleoside salvage, a metabolic pathway that recycles products of DNA degradation. dCK phosphorylates and therefore activates nucleoside analog prodrugs frequently used in cancer, autoimmunity, and viral infections. In contrast to its well established therapeutic relevance, the biological function of dCK remains enigmatic. Highest levels of dCK expression are found in thymus and bone marrow, indicating a possible role in lymphopoiesis. To test this hypothesis we generated and analyzed dCK knockout (KO) mice. dCK inactivation selectively and profoundly affected T and B cell development. A 90-fold decrease in thymic cellularity was observed in the dCK KO mice relative to wild-type littermates. Lymphocyte numbers in the dCK KO mice were 5- to 13-fold below normal values. The severe impact of dCK inactivation on lymphopoiesis was unexpected given that nucleoside salvage has been thought to play a limited, "fine-tuning" role in regulating deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate pools produced by the de novo pathway. The dCK KO phenotype challenges this view and indicates that, in contrast to the great majority of other somatic cells, normal lymphocyte development critically requires the deoxyribonucleoside salvage pathway.
Prevalence of antenatal depression: comparison between Pakistani and Canadian women.

OBJECTIVE To study the prevalence and correlates of depression in pregnant women of different cultures. METHODS We used a score of 13 or greater on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to indicate depression status and logistic regression to determine its correlates in pregnant women from Northern Pakistan (n=128), Caucasian (n=128) and Aboriginal (n=128) women from Saskatchewan, Canada. RESULTS A higher proportion of Pakistani women (48.4%) had depression compared to their Aboriginal (31.2%) and Caucasian (8.6%) counterparts. Depression was associated with poor physical health in all women; however, there were unique correlates of antenatal depression in each group: physical abuse in Pakistani women (AOR=4.40:95% CI, 1.15-16.85), sexual abuse in Aboriginal women (AOR=3.02:95% CI, 1.09-8.40), and low income in Caucasian women (AOR=5.74:95% CI, 1.04-31.78). CONCLUSION Depression is a substantial public health problem among pregnant women, with women in Pakistan having a much higher burden of antenatal depression than their Canadian counterparts.
Reproducibility Distinguishes Conscious from Nonconscious Neural Representations

Consciousness and Reproducibility What exactly does it mean for neural information to reach subjective awareness? Previous work has suggested that the intensity and the duration of activation in brain areas that encode the contents of perception determine whether or not the information contributes directly to subjective experience. Now Schurger et al. (p. 97, published online 12 November; see the Perspective by Schwarzkopf and Rees) describe a third property that distinguishes conscious from nonconscious neural encoding reproducibility. Spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity were recorded while subjects performed a simple visual category-discrimination task. Activation patterns corresponding to conscious information were more reproducible—i.e., more reliable, across different presentations of the same stimulus category, compared to nonconscious activation patterns coding for the same perception. Analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data reveals that neural activation patterns are more reproducible for seen versus unseen objects. What qualifies a neural representation for a role in subjective experience? Previous evidence suggests that the duration and intensity of the neural response to a sensory stimulus are factors. We introduce another attribute—the reproducibility of a pattern of neural activity across different episodes—that predicts specific and measurable differences between conscious and nonconscious neural representations indepedently of duration and intensity. We found that conscious neural activation patterns are relatively reproducible when compared with nonconscious neural activation patterns corresponding to the same perceptual content. This is not adequately explained by a difference in signal-to-noise ratio.
Social Policy and Social Programming: Key Implications Concerning Development of Active Labor Market Policies and Employment

Development of a functioning labor market is an issue of special consideration in recent years of extensive attempts to make proper assessments of the effectiveness of implemented and implementing social programs and taking decisions for future specifically targeted actions putting ambitious goals in the field of social and sustainable development. The global changes in views on labor force and labor market especially considering establishment of proper social policies are connected to the development of the concept of social programming as a social phenomenon and as a part of the broader understandings of the terms of program and programming reflecting on the alterations in the points of view on employment, unemployment and human resources. Examining theoretical background in that relation, current study provides new insights into the processes of development of a functioning labor market through active policies established and implemented on the basis of the notions of social programming and social technology as progressive tools distinguished by systematic approaches in organization and management, as well as by transparency and effectiveness.
Mobile Device Accessibility for the Visually Impaired: Problems Mapping and Empirical Study of Touch Screen Gestures

Mobile devices can be a valuable in improving the quality of life of visually impaired people, enabling greater independence to perform daily tasks. A review was carried out to map the existing accessibility problems in the interaction of people with visual impairment with mobile devices. Seven groups of problems were found, which allowed establishment a set of recommendations and future studies to improve accessibility on mobile devices. A case study was planned and conducted addressing the group "gesture-based interaction", which had the highest number of problems in the literature review. The empirical study aimed to evaluate touch gestures made by 12 visually impaired people by using an application developed for this purpose. Gestures represented by the letters "V" and "Z" had performance similar to those already available on the Android Platform. Other factors have influenced the recognition with speed being the main factor in reducing the performance of gestures.
A Health Care Chaplain's Pastoral Response to Moral Distress

This article offers health care chaplains a pastoral response to moral distress experienced by health care professionals. The article offers a broad definition, explores its impact on health care professionals, and looks at various interventions to ameliorate its effects. The article goes on to clarify the concept of moral distress by differentiating it from the experience of moral dilemmas, and looking closer at the aspects of initial and reactive distress. After defining moral distress, the article explores two clinical models that create a better context to understand the phenomenon. Finally, the article proposes a pastoral response to moral distress from the integration of the five functions of pastoral care: “healing,” “sustaining,” “guiding,” “reconciling,” and “nurturing” based on the work of William Clebsch, Charles Jaekle, and Howard Clinebell. The author then applies the pastoral response to moral distress by illustrating the outcome of a scenario with a critical care nurse.
Impact of Distributive Justice on the Involvement at Work

This study focuses on the impact of the distributive justice on the involvement of the staff from Sylvanus Olympio Teaching Hospital (CHU SO) in the work. It covered a sample of 110 employees paid by the self-supporting budget of the CHU SO. A data processing and analysis through quantitative and qualitative methods were carried out to verify the influence of the distributive justice on the involvement of the CHU SO employees. The results of this study suggest a relationship between the different elements (wage policy, work environment, participation in training .) of the distributive justice mechanism and the involvement in the work. All the relationships are significant and confirm the importance of the distributive justice in the involvement of the employees in the workplace.
THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SELECT SITUATIONAL AND DISPOSITIONAL CONSTRUCTS AND INFORMAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR OTHERS

This paper further enhances the fieldâ€™s understanding of informal accountability for others (IAFO) by examining both its antecedents and some possible mediating and moderating conditions. In this paper, we test a model wherein employeesâ€™ value congruence and position (embeddedness), as well as their senses of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), predicts IAFO. In addition, and consistent with existing literature on accountability, we examine the degree to which control (defined here in terms of self-regulation) influences individualsâ€™ senses of whether or not they feel accountable for the attitudes and behaviors of others in their organizations. Our results indicate that a partially mediated condition exists between embeddedness, organization-based self-esteem and IAFO. Furthermore, our results identify a statistically significant moderating effect for control on the OBSE - IAFO relationship.
The Application of Technology in Intercultural Language Learning: International Students Program at a University in Yogyakarta

— As a part of global movement and digitalized technology in this 21th century, massive interaction of different people from different cultural background becomes an integral system of life. Though English plays role as a global language for a number of years, learning other foreign languages in intercultural perspective is essential to overcome unnecessary intra –person and interpersonal conflicts when interacting with different people from variety of cultural backgrounds. However, intercultural language learning cannot be successful without utilization of technology. Hence, this study presents how the international students (BIPA Program)
An agent-based model of the risk-based spectrum auction in the Cognitive Radio Networks

In this paper, we propose an agent-based model for spectrum trading in the shared use model of dynamic spectrum access. Spectrum trading is employed using the single-unit sealed-bid first-price auction, which takes into the account risk due to the imperfect spectrum sensing. Bidding strategies of the bidder are controlled by the reinforcement learning algorithm. We consider cooperative energy-based spectrum sensing as a spectrum sensing mechanism. Two different decision fusion strategies, which provide different levels of risk are discussed. The results demonstrate that in risky environment, total revenue and total payoff of the auctioneer and bidder respectively is higher, than in the case of system with lower level of risk. On the other hand, normalized revenue and payoff per a single auction round is higher in the case with lower level of risk. Moreover, the results have shown that the optimum sensing time for maximizing revenue and payoff is different.
Clinical wound assessment using DESIGN‐R total score can predict pressure ulcer healing: Pooled analysis from two multicenter cohort studies

There are few clinical tools with both predictive validity for pressure ulcer healing and availability in broad populations. We evaluated whether the total scores from DESIGN‐R tool could predict pressure ulcer healing. We followed 3,196 patients with pressure ulcers from two multicenter cohort studies until wound healing, patient death, or discharge. Wound severity was evaluated by DESIGN‐R tool from 0 (healed) to 66 (greatest severity). In the multivariate Cox proportional hazard model, higher DESIGN‐R total scores at baseline were associated with lower healing rates (hazard ratio 0.90, 95% confidence interval 0.89–0.92), independent of the patient's characteristics, setting types, and wound depth or location. DESIGN‐R had discriminative value for wound healing up to 90 days; the area under the receiver‐operating characteristics curve from univariate analysis was 0.81 for healing within 30 days and 0.74 for healing within 30–90 days. The cutoff points were 9 for healing within 30 days and 18 within 30–90 days (positive and negative predictive value 78.8 and 74.1%; 63.9 and 81.1%, respectively). These points were validated for both superficial and deep ulcers. DESIGN‐R can be a useful tool to predict pressure ulcer healing for a wide range of patient populations, settings, and wound locations.
Uncertainty is the Other Side of the Coin of Information Online Search

Consumers pre-purchase information search is an essential part of consumers' online buying and decision making process. There are nearly 60 factors that have been found to have an influence on consumer pre-purchase information search. In the literature, uncertainty has been established as the motive of consumer search. Uncertainty is a concept that provides a theoretical frame to link online search research to consumer buying behaviour research, and decision making research. We base our study on Beatty and Smith 's (1987) research of External search determinants. In this paper, we studied 1) how uncertainty is related to the external search determinants in online purchase and 2) what kind of uncertainty consumers perceive when purchasing online.We found that experience, education or demographic background does not have an influence on consumer perceived uncertainty. All consumers perceive uncertainty in the general decision making phases by Simon 1957.
Comparing Micro and Macro Sources for Household Accounts in the United States: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances

Household income, spending, and net worth are key inputs in macroeconomic forecasting and economic research. Macro-level data sources are often used to measure household accounts, but lack important information about heterogeneity across different types of households that can be found in micro-level data sources. This paper compares aggregates computed based on one micro-level data source--the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF)--with macro-level sources of information on household accounts. We find that on most measures, aggregates computed from the SCF line up well with macro-level data sources once we construct comparable series. Our results imply that researchers and policy makers can be confident in making macroeconomic inferences from household-level surveys like the SCF.
Strata and Stability: Reputations of American Political Scientists

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. ” The aptness of Orwell's observation is not confined to the community of Animal Farm, but extends to the “community of scholars” which constitutes the “learned discipline” of political science as well. In fact, as conceptualized by Albert Somit and Joseph Tanenhaus in their seminal study of American Political Science, a “gallery of great men” is one of the characteristics of such a discipline, serving (inter alia) “… both as a sign of professional kinship and as a means of cementing these bonds. ” As an organized human activity, political science possesses a number of formal and informal stratification systems. The former reflect the decentralized nature of the discipline and include the various departmental structures as well as the hierarchies of the specialized and regional associations and of APSA. The informal stratification systems—essentially the considered assessment of the significance of individual contributions to the discipline—are substantially more subjective. These diverge along idiosyncratic as well as along the institutional, geographic, and subfield dimensions of the formal stratification systems. Moreover, the formal and informal systems will depart to some extent, since they are based upon different and sometimes contradictory criteria. Frequently, a particularly prominent contributor to the discipline will be elevated to the Association's presidency in recognition of these activities. In other cases, however, the nature of the contribution precludes such formal acknowledgment.
Biosynthesis, Characterization, and Efficacy in Retinal Degenerative Diseases of Lens Epithelium-derived Growth Factor Fragment (LEDGF1–326), a Novel Therapeutic Protein*

Background: There is no FDA-approved drug therapy for blinding retinal degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and dry age-related macular degeneration. Results: LEDGF1–326 increased viability of retinal cells subjected to mutant rhodopsin aggregation stress and reduced loss of photoreceptors, thereby improving retinal function. Conclusion: LEDGF1–326 reduced retinal degeneration. Significance: LEDGF 1–326 is a new protein therapeutic to treat vision loss. For vision-threatening retinitis pigmentosa and dry age-related macular degeneration, there are no United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatments. We identified, biosynthesized, purified, and characterized lens epithelium-derived growth factor fragment (LEDGF1–326) as a novel protein therapeutic. LEDGF1–326 was produced at about 20 mg/liter of culture when expressed in the Escherichia coli system, with about 95% purity and aggregate-free homogeneous population with a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 9 ± 1 nm. The free energy of unfolding of LEDGF1–326 was 3.3 ± 0.5 kcal mol−1, and melting temperature was 44.8 ± 0.2 °C. LEDGF1–326 increased human retinal pigment epithelial cell viability from 48.3 ± 5.6 to 119.3 ± 21.1% in the presence of P23H mutant rhodopsin-mediated aggregation stress. LEDGF1–326 also increased retinal pigment epithelial cell FluoSphere uptake to 140 ± 10%. Eight weeks after single intravitreal injection in Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats, LEDGF1–326 increased the b-wave amplitude significantly from 9.4 ± 4.6 to 57.6 ± 8.8 μV for scotopic electroretinogram and from 10.9 ± 5.6 to 45.8 ± 15.2 μV for photopic electroretinogram. LEDGF1–326 significantly increased the retinal outer nuclear layer thickness from 6.34 ± 1.6 to 11.7 ± 0.7 μm. LEDGF1–326 is a potential new therapeutic agent for treating retinal degenerative diseases.
A model of teacher agency in professional development and school reform

ABSTRACT In research on teacher professional development and school reform attention for the role of teacher agency has been growing significantly during the last decade. The objective of this study is to create a model with the potential to view professional development and school reform from a teacher agency perspective at multiple levels. The model of teacher agency in professional development and school reform is built on five characteristics; it (1) presents the teacher as an actor, (2) depicts dynamic relationships, (3) treats professional development and school reform as inherently contextualized, including multiple levels, (4) includes the professional development and school reform content as variable and (5) considers outcomes as part of a continuing cycle. To illustrate the usefulness of the model as an analytical tool 36 research articles on professional development and school reform were selected. These articles shared a focus on teacher agency. The analysis showed that research on teacher agency varies in how these five characteristics are elaborated. Moreover, the model demonstrated to be a promising tool to research multilevel complexity by integrating theoretical insights in, and empirical research results of school reform and professional development.