Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors influencing speech and language outcomes of children with early identified severe/profound hearing loss: Clinician-identified facilitators and barriers

Abstract Purpose: Early identification of severe/profound childhood hearing loss (HL) gives these children access to hearing devices and early intervention to facilitate improved speech and language outcomes. Predicting which infants will go on to achieve such outcomes remains difficult. This study describes clinician identified malleable and non-malleable factors that may influence speech and language outcomes for children with severe/profound HL. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six experienced auditory verbal clinicians. A collective case study design was implemented. The interviews were transcribed and coded into themes using constant comparative analysis. Result: Clinicians identified that, for children with severe/profound HL, early identification, early amplification and commencing auditory-verbal intervention under 6 months of age may facilitate child progress. Possible barriers were living in rural/remote areas, the clinicians’ lack of experience and confidence in providing intervention for infants under age 6-months and belonging to a family with a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background. Conclusion: The results indicate that multiple factors need to be considered by clinicians working with children with HL and their families to determine how each child functions within their own environment and personal contexts, consistent with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework. Such an approach is likely to empower clinicians to carefully balance potential barriers to, and facilitators of, optimal speech and language outcomes for all children with HL.
GeoAttn: Localization of Social Media Messages via Attentional Memory Network

Recent studies have demonstrated inspiring success in leveraging geo-tagged social media data for applications such as event detection, location recommendation and mobile healthcare. However, in most real-life social media streams, only a small percentage of data have explicit geo-location metadata, which hinders the power of social media from being fully unleashed. We study the problem of inferring geo-locations from social media messages. While a number of textbased geo-locating techniques have been proposed, they either fall short of automatically identifying indicative keywords from noisy social media posts or do not integrate rich prior knowledge of geological regions. We propose an attentive memory network called GeoAttn for localization of social media messages. To capture indicative keywords for location inference, GeoAttn consists of an attentive message encoder, which selectively focuses on location-indicative terms to derive a discriminative message representation. The message embedding is then fed into a memory network, which selectively attends to relevant Points-of-Interest (POIs) for location prediction. The message encoder and keyvalue memory network are jointly trained in an end-toend manner. The attention mechanisms in GeoAttn not only alleviate noisy information for higher prediction accuracy, but also provide interpretable attention scores that rationalize the predictions. Our experiments on a million-scale geo-tagged tweet dataset show that GeoAttn outperforms previous state-of-the-art location prediction methods by 15.5% in mean error distance, and is capable of locating over half of the tweets within 5km.
Inducible cell labeling and lineage tracking during fracture repair

Mouse models incorporating inducible Cre‐ERT2/LoxP recombination coupled with sensitive fluorescent reporter lines are being increasingly used to track cell lineages in vivo. In this study we use two inducible reporter strains, Ai9iCol2a1 (Ai9 × Col2a1‐creERT2) to track contribution of chondrogenic progenitors during bone regeneration in a closed fracture model and Ai9iUBC (Ai9 × UBC–creERT2) to examine methods for inducing localized recombination. By comparing with Ai9 littermate controls as well as inducible reporter mice not dosed with tamoxifen, we revealed significant leakiness of the CreERT2 system, particularly in the bone marrow of both lines. These studies highlight the challenges associated with highly sensitive reporters that may be activated without induction in tissues where the CreERT2 fusion is expressed. Examination of the growth plate in the Ai9iCol2a1 strain showed cells of the osteochondral lineage (cell co‐staining with chondrocyte and osteoblast markers) labeled with the tdTom reporter. However, no such labeling was noted in healing fractures of Ai9iCol2a1 mice. Attempts to label a single limb using intramuscular injection of 4‐hydroxytamoxifen in the Ai9iUBC strain resulted in complete labeling of the entire animal, comparable to intraperitoneal injection. While a challenge to interpret, these data are nonetheless informative regarding the limitations of these inducible reporter models, and justify caution and expansive controls in future studies using such models.
RNA–DNA Interactions and DNA Methylation in Post-Transcriptional Gene Silencing

Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) is a homology-dependent process that reduces cytoplasmic RNA levels. In several experimental systems, there is also an association of PTGS with methylation of DNA. To investigate this association, we used plants carrying a transgene encoding the green fluorescent protein (GFP). Gene silencing was induced using potato virus X RNA vectors carrying parts of the coding sequence or the promoter of the GFP transgene. In each instance, homology-based, RNA-directed methylation was associated with silencing. When the GFP-transcribed region was targeted, PTGS affected both transgene and viral RNA levels. When methylation was targeted to a promoter region, transgene RNA levels were reduced; however, viral RNA levels were unaffected. For comparison, we induced PTGS of the gene encoding the endogenous ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (Rubisco) small subunit (rbcS) by inoculation with potato virus X–rbcS. In this example, no methylation of the rbcS DNA was associated with the reduction in rbcS transcript levels, and viral RNA levels were unaffected. Finally, we investigated DNA methylation by using GFP-transformed plants in which PTGS was induced by localized introduction of a T-DNA carrying GFP sequences. In these plants, there was methylation of a GFP transgene associated with systemic spread of a gene-silencing signal from the infiltrated part of the plant. This transgene methylation was not affected when systemic PTGS was blocked by suppressors of silencing encoded by potato virus Y and cucumber mosaic virus. Combined, these data support an epigenetic model of PTGS in which transgene methylation is associated with an RNA–DNA interaction that ensures that PTGS is maintained.
Altered miR-29 Expression in Type 2 Diabetes Influences Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in Skeletal Muscle

MicroRNAs have emerged as important regulators of glucose and lipid metabolism in several tissues; however, their role in skeletal muscle remains poorly characterized. We determined the effects of the miR-29 family on glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, and insulin responsiveness in skeletal muscle. We provide evidence that miR-29a and miR-29c are increased in skeletal muscle from patients with type 2 diabetes and are decreased following endurance training in healthy young men and in rats. In primary human skeletal muscle cells, inhibition and overexpression strategies demonstrate that miR-29a and miR-29c regulate glucose uptake and insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism. We identified that miR-29 overexpression attenuates insulin signaling and expression of insulin receptor substrate 1 and phosphoinositide 3-kinase. Moreover, miR-29 overexpression reduces hexokinase 2 expression and activity. Conversely, overexpression of miR-29 by electroporation of mouse tibialis anterior muscle decreased glucose uptake and glycogen content in vivo, concomitant with decreased abundance of GLUT4. We also provide evidence that fatty acid oxidation is negatively regulated by miR-29 overexpression, potentially through the regulation of peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ coactivator-1α expression. Collectively, we reveal that miR-29 acts as an important regulator of insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism and lipid oxidation, with relevance to human physiology and type 2 diabetes.
Application of the noise power spectrum in modern diagnostic MDCT: part II. Noise power spectra and signal to noise

Balancing dose and image quality requires signal-to-noise (SNR) metrics which incorporate both the variance and the spatial frequency characteristics of noise. In this study, the non-prewhitening matched filter SNR metric is calculated for 2 mm slices of a 1 cm diameter sphere under three different conditions: (1) constant pixel standard deviation, (2) constant dose and (3) constant reconstruction filter. For the constant pixel standard deviation condition, an increase of 260% in SNR was found with increasing filter sharpness. For constant dose, the SNR remained level for smooth to medium filters, then declined by up to 55% with increasing filter sharpness. For a constant reconstruction filter, the SNR increased with dose, but not as high as photon statistics would predict. However, when structured noise was removed from the noise power spectrum, the SNR did vary with quanta statistics. These results offer protocol design guidance for low-frequency-dominated objects.
Jurassic to Eocene plate tectonic reconstructions in the Kerguelen Plateau region

We present a series of preliminary reconstructions for the Kerguelen Plateau region from the Late Jurassic to the Eocene that summarize and review the outstanding questions about its plate tectonic evolution. The development of the Indian and adjacent Southern oceans began in Middle to Late Jurassic time with the breakup of Gondwana. Marine magnetic anomalies and limited Deep Sea Drilling Project and Ocean Drilling Program core samples have been used to date the oceanic crust. Fracture zone trends interpreted from satellite (SEASAT and GEOSAT) altimetry, and marine seismic, gravity, and magnetic data have been combined with crustal dates to produce kinematic models of the plates through time. Between the Jurassic and the Late Cretaceous, time controls on the plate tectonic evolution of the region are few. Mesozoic marine magnetic anomalies off the shore of East Africa, Antarctica, and Western Australia document plate motions during the interval; however, extensive areas of oceanic crust from which no anomalies have been identified, including that created during the Cretaceous Long Normal Polarity Interval, and a dearth of fracture zones prevent detailed links with the much better defined plate kinematic synthesis for the past 84 m.y. The Kerguelen Plateau/Broken Ridge complex was emplaced at ~ 110 Ma in a region flanked by Greater India, Australia, and Antarctica. Between then and —43 Ma, when seafloor spreading between the Kerguelen Plateau and Broken Ridge began, our model includes transform motions between the northern and southern sectors of the Kerguelen Plateau.
Aligning Digital Health to Services: A Case of Leadership for Transformation

Health IT investments are often criticized for their size and bias towards broad organizational objectives, not to mention their potential for disruption. This is especially true of the United States healthcare sector, which has seen external mandates dictate several IT investments, mostly focused on electronic medical records. Such IT investments, without appropriate transformation and digitization of patient care services, will not have the desired impact on patient and organizational outcomes. We describe how leadership at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland hospital (SJMO) is transforming patient care through digitization of critical patient service encounters by aligning this effort with core performance measures using architectural and resource agility.
Image denoising with parametric wavelet dictionary

In this paper we will introduce a new method on designing overcomplete dictionary from known wavelet function for the purpose of image denoising with sparse and redundant representation. Our work wants to show if a specific wavelet function is used for image denoising which set of these functions are optimized for image denoising using sparse approximation methods. In the context of sparse approximation, a suitable dictionary is a dictionary that is close to Equiangular Tight Frame (ETF) but for the purpose of image denoising with specific wavelet the variance and mean value of columns of Gram matrix of designed dictionary should be bounded; the bound value depends on desired functions. We formulate specific objective function with nonlinear constraint and then used Genetic Algorithm (GA) in order to find an optimum set of parameters for desired function in our goal. The algorithm is applied on Bspline wavelet function and the performance of our design has shown on image denoising.
Efficient calculation of one-loop QCD amplitudes.

We present the outline of a new and efficient technique for the calculation of loop amplitudes in a gauge theory. The technique is based on the technology of four-dimensional heterotic strings. We display here the application to the calculation of the one-loop corrections to gluon-gluon scattering, in ordinary dimensional regularization. We find complete agreement with the previous Feynman-diagram calculation of Ellis and Sexton.
A General Framework for the Annotation of Causality Based on FrameNet

We present here a general set of semantic frames to annotate causal expressions, with a rich lexicon in French and an annotated corpus of about 5000 instances of causal lexical items with their corresponding semantic frames. The aim of our project is to have both the largest possible coverage of causal phenomena in French, across all parts of speech, and have it linked to a general semantic framework such as FN, to benefit in particular from the relations between other semantic frames, e.g., temporal ones or intentional ones, and the underlying upper lexical ontology that enable some forms of reasoning. This is part of the larger ASFALDA French FrameNet project, which focuses on a few different notional domains which are interesting in their own right (Djemma et al., 2016), including cognitive positions and communication frames. In the process of building the French lexicon and preparing the annotation of the corpus, we had to remodel some of the frames proposed in FN based on English data, with hopefully more precise frame definitions to facilitate human annotation. This includes semantic clarifications of frames and frame elements, redundancy elimination, and added coverage. The result is arguably a significant improvement of the treatment of causality in FN itself.
AN ADAPTIVELY STIMULATED O-DEMETHYLATING SYSTEM IN RAT LIVER MICROSOMES AND ITS KINETIC PROPERTIES.

The microsomal O-demethylation of p - nitroanisole to p -nitrophenol can be stimulated by pretreatment of rats with phenobarbital and other drugs. Normal and induced microsomal O-demethylases have the same overall substrate constants. Inhibition of the stimulated enzyme by the microsome inhibitor SKF 525-A shows the same kinetic characteristics as does the control demethylase, namely noncompetitive inhibition. Available evidence may suggest the identity of original and induced O-demethylase protein.
Communicating Breast Cancer Screening With Young Women: An Experimental Test of Didactic and Narrative Messages Using Video and Infographics

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death around the world. Mortality from breast cancer can be reduced if the cancer is detected early enough. It is important to find effective communication that encourages early detection of breast cancer. This study aimed to measure differences between narrative and didactic communication on breast cancer awareness, knowledge of appropriate diagnostic exams, attitude toward breast self-exam, and intention to screen for breast cancer through a breast self-exam. It further aimed to test whether any differences in outcomes were associated with the format used to deliver the communication: video or infographic. The effects of the communication strategies were tested using an experimental design with a control group and four experimental groups: narrative video, didactic video, narrative infographic, or didactic infographic. A total of 194 Italian-speaking women ages 18–30 years completed questionnaires before and after exposure. Positive increases were found for all outcome variables after exposure to any communication strategy tested. The didactic message delivered in video format had the most positive effect on awareness and knowledge, whereas the narrative video message had the most positive effect on attitude and intention. For both message types, videos had a more positive influence than infographics when communicating breast cancer information for this audience. This was the first study of message effects of breast cancer communication with Italian-speaking young women. Further research is warranted to understand how to maximize communication strategies so that they are the most effective in influencing behaviors and if these results are consistent with other linguistic populations.
Formulasi Sediaan Masker Gel Peel-off Antioksidan dari Ekstrak Sari Tomat (Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cucurbita)

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh sediaan masker gel peel-off dari ekstrak sari tomat yang memiliki aktivitas antioksidan serta untuk mengetahui kestabilan fisikokimia (organoleptis, pH, viskositas dan homogenitas), waktu sediaan mengering dan uji iritasi terhadap kulit. Tomat disari dengan menggunakan juicer . Ekstrak sari tomat dikeringkan dengan menggunakan frezee drye r pada suhu -50 0 C. Formulasi masker gel peel-off antioksidan ekstrak sari tomat ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) dengan menggunakan variasi konsentrasi ekstrak sari tomat 15%, 20%, 25% dan 30%. Pengujian aktivitas antioksidan masker gel peel-off ekstrak sari tomat menggunakan metode DPPH dan metode cycling test untuk evaluasi kestabilan masker gel peel-off . Metode cycling test dilakukan sebanyak 6 siklus. Cycling test meliputi pengamatan masker gel peel-off secara organoleptis, pH, viskositas, dan homogenitas dan selanjutnya dilakukan uji waktu sediaan mengering dan uji iritasi terhadap kulit. Hasil evaluasi kestabilan fisika kimia sediaan masker gel peel-off menunjukkan bahwa semua formula stabil. Hasil uji waktu sediaan mengering masih memenuhi waktu kering masker gel peel-off yang baik. Sediaan tidak menyebabkan iritasi pada kulit. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ekstrak sari tomat memiliki aktivitas antioksidan yang paling besar pada konsentrasi 30%. Kata kunci: ekstrak sari tomat, masker gel peel-off , antioksidan, cycling test , metode DPPH
Labelling of end-of-life decisions by physicians

Objectives Potentially life-shortening medical end-of-life practices (end-of-life decisions (ELDs)) remain subject to conceptual vagueness. This study evaluates how physicians label these practices by examining which of their own practices (described according to the precise act, the intention, the presence of an explicit patient request and the self-estimated degree of life shortening) they label as euthanasia or sedation. Methods We conducted a large stratified random sample of death certificates from 2007 (N=6927). The physicians named on the death certificate were approached by means of a postal questionnaire asking about ELDs made in each case and asked to choose the most appropriate label to describe the ELD. Response rate was 58.4%. Results In the vast majority of practices labelled as euthanasia, the self-reported actions of the physicians corresponded with the definition in the Belgian euthanasia legislation; practices labelled as palliative or terminal sedation lack clear correspondence with definitions of sedation as presented in existing guidelines. In these cases, an explicit life-shortening intention by means of drug administration was present in 21.6%, life shortening was estimated at more than 24 h in 51% and an explicit patient request was absent in 79.7%. Discussion Our results suggest that, unlike euthanasia, the concept of palliative or terminal sedation covers a broad range of practices in the minds of physicians. This ambiguity can be a barrier to appropriate sedation practice and indicates a need for better knowledge of the practice of palliative sedation by physicians.
Surface water change detection using change vector analysis

Monitoring the dynamics of surface water using remote sensing technology is an essential research topic in many research areas. Change vector analysis (CVA) is a change detection method by constructing a vector of change based on multi-temporal images. It has been widely applied in land use and land cover change detection. Considering the specialty of surface water's spectral characteristics, it is anticipated that the CVA method can be revised and improved specially for monitoring surface water change. This study utilizes three Landsat images at different time phases for testing this proposed method, and uses traditional classification results for evaluation. Evaluation results demonstrate that surface water dynamic has been detected successfully using the CVA method. The proposed method along with its calibrated criteria can be applied for detecting surface water change between any other two time phases for this area. This can therefore be helpful for quick monitoring of water dynamic.