Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Customer privacy on UK healthcare websites

Privacy has been and continues to be one of the key challenges of an age devoted to the accumulation, processing, and mining of electronic information. In particular, privacy of healthcare-related information is seen as a key issue as health organizations move towards the electronic provision of services. The aim of the research detailed in this paper has been to analyse privacy policies on popular UK healthcare-related websites to determine the extent to which consumer privacy is protected. The author has combined approaches (such as approaches focused on usability, policy content, and policy quality) used in studies by other researchers on e-commerce and US healthcare websites to provide a comprehensive analysis of UK healthcare privacy policies. The author identifies a wide range of issues related to the protection of consumer privacy through his research analysis using quantitative results. The main outcomes from the author's research are that only 61% of healthcare-related websites in their sample group posted privacy policies. In addition, most of the posted privacy policies had poor readability standards and included a variety of privacy vulnerability statements. Overall, the author's findings represent significant current issues in relation to healthcare information protection on the Internet. The hope is that raising awareness of these results will drive forward changes in the industry, similar to those experienced with information quality.
Virtual Reality Software and Technology

This special issue is dedicated to highlighting recent advances in VR software and technology. The issue received 16 submissions, and some of which were significant extensions of the best papers from the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) 2014, which was held in Edinburgh, on 11–13 November 2014. All the submissions went through strict peer review, and five were ultimately selected to be included here. Many VR/AR applications use marker/tag tracking (such as probe tracking and calibration). The article “Illumination Independent and Accurate Marker Tracking Using Cross-Ratio Invariance” by Vincent Agnus, Stéphane Nicolau, and Luc Soler presents a novel method that focuses on accurately locating the corners of markers or tags using crossratio invariance. Cross-ratio invariance defines a ratio based on the intensity of collinear points that should remain constant, regardless of illumination changes. This approach improves tracking accuracy, particularly along the camera depth axis, up to several millimeters, depending on the marker depth. The advent of consumer stereoscopic headmounted displays (HMDs) like Oculus Rift opens up hitherto unexplored ways to use them in VR/ AR applications. However, 80 percent of users still report adverse physical discomfort or “simulator (motion) sickness” when using such devices. In “Reducing Visual Discomfort in HMDs Using Dynamic Depth of Field,” Kieran Carnegie and Taehyun Rhee study the use of blur effects in decreasing viewer discomfort. Depth of focus blur effects has been studied not only for general visual discomfort as well as symptoms such as fatigue, headache, and eye strain. Their study shows that DoF blur can considerably alleviate most of these discomforts, thereby reducing simulator sickness on the whole. This work has the potential to advance the widespread adoption of VR. Digitap is an eyes-free, wrist-worn input device that can robustly detect thumb-to-finger taps at different locations on the fingers. In “Sensing Thumb-to-Finger Taps for Symbolic Input in VR/AR Environments,” Manuel Prätorius, Ulrich Burgbacher, Dimitar Valkov, and Klaus Hinrichs present an advanced version of the DigiTap device
Mental Health Challenges and Parenting Attributes in a Rural Early Head Start Sample 1

This research is supported by a grant awarded to Drs. Susan Sheridan and Carolyn Pope Edwards by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE); and the Department of Education (DOE) Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. The opinions expressed herein are those of the investigators and do not reflect the funding agencies (Grant# 1R01H00436135). Abstract The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between maternal mental health (stress and depression) and parental competence and relationships with supportive caregivers. The sample is comprised of 242 parents with children under the age of three in highly impoverished rural communities. Parental stress was negatively related to parent-caregiver relationships and parental sense of competence, while parental sense of competence was negatively related to parental depression and positively related to parent-caregiver relationships. These findings demonstrate the importance of promoting parental engagement and providing support for impoverished rural parents with young children.
miRNAs at the interface of cellular stress and disease

microRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of small, non‐coding RNAs, which provides broad silencing activity of mRNA targets in a sequence‐dependent fashion. This review explores the hypothesis that the miRNA machinery is intimately linked with the cellular stress pathway and apparatus. Stress signaling potentially alters the function of the miRNA‐bioprocessing core components and decompensates regulation. In addition, dysregulation of miRNA activity renders the cell more prone to stress and emerges as a new pathway for age‐related insults and diseases, such as neurodegeneration.
Using "Focused Word Recognition Method" to teach a student with reading difficulties in Hong Kong

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of “Focused Word Recognition Method” in teaching a student with reading difficulties in Hong Kong. “Focused Word Recognition Method” is considered as a structured and systematic instruction for word identification. The Chinese characters are grouped for instruction by making use of their phonological, orthographic or semantic features. The participant in this study was an 11-year-old student in the Intensive Remedial Teaching Programme in Primary Schools (IRTP). He had difficulties in reading and writing Chinese characters. The stimulus materials of this study were five lists of Chinese characters. Each list consisted of characters with similar orthographic features. This training programme lasted for four weeks. Comparison of the results of pre-tests and post-tests showed that the student made significant improvement in the performances of dictation, reading aloud and fill-in the blanks activities. Peter is 11 years of age. He is now in Primary 5. His parents are able to give support to Peter in his learning problems. Peter once repeated his Primary 2 study for one more year. He has been arranged to receive intensive remedial support since Primary 3. The major subjects for remediation are Chinese and English. The psychological report shows that Peter’s achievement in Chinese is at only Primary 1 level. The initial assessment of the reading and writing problems shows that Peter found difficulties in reading, writing and dictation.
Decoding Spontaneous Brain Activity from fMRI Using Gaussian Processes: Tracking Brain Reactivation

While Multi-Variate Pattern Analysis techniques based on machine learning have now been regularly applied to neuroimaging data, decoding brain activity is usually performed in highly controlled experimental paradigms. In more realistic conditions, the number, sequence and duration of mental states are unpredictably generated by the individual, resulting in complex and imbalanced fMRI data sets. Moreover, in the case of spontaneous brain activity, the mental states can not be linked to any external or internal stimulation, which makes it a highly difficult condition to decode. This study tests the classification of brain activity, acquired on 14 volunteers using fMRI, during mental imagery, a condition in which the number and duration of mental events were not externally imposed but self-generated. Application of the obtained model on rest sessions allowed classifying spontaneous brain activity linked to the task which, overall, correlated with their behavioural performance to the task.
Compressive sensing with frequency warped compensation for damage detection in composite plate

This work focuses on an ultrasonic guided wave structural health monitoring (SHM) system development for composite plate inspection. The development of an in situ health monitoring system that can inspect large areas and communicate remotely to the inspector is highly computational demanding due to both the huge number of piezoelectric sensors needed and the high sampling frequency. To address this problem, a general approach for low rate sampling is developed. Compressive Sensing (CS) has emerged as a potentially viable technique for the efficient acquisition that exploits the sparse representation of dispersive ultrasonic guided waves in the frequency warped basis. The framework is applied to lower the sampling frequency and to enhance defect localization performances of Lamb wave inspection systems. As a result, an automatic detection procedure to locate defect-induced reflections was demonstrated and successfully tested on simulated Lamb waves propagating in a carbon fiber plate using PZFlex software. The proposed method is suitable for defect detection and can be easily implemented for real application to structural health monitoring.
Roles of lipoxin A4 receptor activation and anti-interleukin-1β antibody on the toll-like receptor 2/mycloid differentiation factor 88/nuclear factor-κB pathway in airway inflammation induced by ovalbumin

Previous studies investigating the role of toll-like receptors (TLRs) in asthma have been inconclusive. It has remained elusive whether the toll-like receptors (TLR2)/mycloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)/nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling pathway is involved in lipoxin A4 (LXA4)-induced protection against asthma. Therefore, the present study investigated whether ovalbumin (OVA)-induced airway inflammation is mediated by upregulation of the TLR2/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway, and whether it proceeds via the inhibition of the activation of the LXA4 receptor and anti-interleukin (IL)-1β antibodies. Mice with airway inflammation induced by OVA administration were treated with or without a LXA4 receptor agonist, BML-111 and anti-IL-1β antibody. Serum levels of IL-1β, IL-4, IL-8 and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were assessed, and levels of IL-1β, IL-4, IL-8 and OVA-immunoglobulin (Ig)E, as well as leukocyte counts in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured. Pathological features and expression of TLR2, MyD88 and NF-κB in the lungs were analyzed. Expression of TLR2 and MyD88, and activation of NF-κB in leukocytes as well as levels of IL-4, IL-6 and IL-8 released from leukocytes exposed to IL-1β were assessed. OVA treatment increased the levels of IL-1β, IL-4 and IL-8 in the serum and BLAF, the number of leukocytes and the levels of OVA-IgE in the BALF, the expression of TLR2 and MyD88, and the activation of NF-κB in the lung. These increments induced by OVA were inhibited by treatment with BML-111 and anti-IL-1β antibodies. Treatment of the leukocytes with BML-111 or TLR2 antibody, or MyD88 or NF-κB inhibitor, all blocked the IL-1β-triggered production of IL-4, IL-6 and IL-8 and activation of NF-κB. Treatment of the leukocytes with BML-111 or TLR2 antibody suppressed IL-1β-induced TLR2 and MyD88 expression. The present study therefore suggested that OVA-induced airway inflammation is mediated by the TLR2/MyD88/NF-κB pathway. IL-1β has a pivotal role in the airway inflammation and upregulation of the TLR2/MyD88/NF-κB pathway induced by OVA. BML-111 and anti-IL-1β antibody restrains the OVA-induced airway inflammation via downregulation of the TLR2/MyD88/NF-κB pathway.
Understanding Urban Teachers' Perceptions for Professional Development in Classroom Management

114 school teachers from two urban schools participated in an online survey focusing on classroom management skills. Results were analyzed using a mixed method approach. Teachers reported confidence in general classroom management skills. Hierarchical regression results indicated significant gender difference in favor of female teachers and positive correlations between perceived value of professional development (PD) and teacher confidence in general classroom management, addressing specific challenging behaviors, and motivating learners. Furthermore, the teachers favored face-to-face methods as compared to web-based options. Implications for developing an understanding of teacher manageability to provide PD experiences to improve day-to-day classroom management practice are discussed.
Rich Medium Composition Affects Escherichia coli Survival, Glycation, and Mutation Frequency during Long-Term Batch Culture

ABSTRACT Bacteria such as Escherichia coli are frequently grown to high density to produce biomolecules for study in the laboratory. To achieve this, cells can be incubated in extremely rich media that increase overall cell yield. In these various media, bacteria may have different metabolic profiles, leading to changes in the amounts of toxic metabolites produced. We have previously shown that stresses experienced during short-term growth can affect the survival of cells during the long-term stationary phase (LTSP). Here, we incubated cells in LB, 2× yeast extract-tryptone (YT), Terrific Broth, or Super Broth medium and monitored survival during the LTSP, as well as other reporters of genetic and physiological change. We observe differential cell yield and survival in all media studied. We propose that differences in long-term survival are the result of changes in the metabolism of components of the media that may lead to increased levels of protein and/or DNA damage. We also show that culture pH and levels of protein glycation, a covalent modification that causes protein damage, affect long-term survival. Further, we measured mutation frequency after overnight incubation and observed a correlation between high mutation frequencies at the end of the log phase and loss of viability after 4 days of LTSP incubation, indicating that mutation frequency is potentially predictive of long-term survival. Since glycation and mutation can be caused by oxidative stress, we measured expression of the oxyR oxidative stress regulator during log-phase growth and found that higher levels of oxyR expression during the log phase are consistent with high mutation frequency and lower cell density during the LTSP. Since these complex rich media are often used when producing large quantities of biomolecules in the laboratory, the observed increase in damage resulting in glycation or mutation may lead to production of a heterogeneous population of plasmids or proteins, which could affect the quality of the end products yielded in some laboratory experiments.
Discrete Contributions of Elastic Fiber Components to Arterial Development and Mechanical Compliance

Objective—Even though elastin and fibrillin-1 are the major structural components of elastic fibers, mutations in elastin and fibrillin-1 lead to narrowing of large arteries in supravascular aortic stenosis and dilation of the ascending aorta in Marfan syndrome, respectively. A genetic approach was therefore used here to distinguish the differential contributions of elastin and fibrillin-1 to arterial development and compliance. Methods and Results—Key parameters of cardiovascular function were compared among adult mice haploinsufficient for elastin (Eln+/−), fibrillin-1 (Fbn1+/−), or both proteins (dHet). Physiological and morphological comparisons correlate elastin haploinsufficiency with increased blood pressure and vessel length and tortuosity in dHet mice, and fibrillin-1 haploinsufficiency with increased aortic diameter in the same mutant animals. Mechanical tests confirm that elastin and fibrillin-1 impart elastic recoil and tensile strength to the aortic wall, respectively. Additional ex vivo analyses demonstrate additive and overlapping contributions of elastin and fibrillin-1 to the material properties of vascular tissues. Lastly, light and electron microscopy evidence implicates fibrillin-1 in the hypertension-promoted remodeling of the elastin-deficient aorta. Conclusions—These results demonstrate that elastin and fibrillin-1 have both differential and complementary roles in arterial wall formation and function, and advance our knowledge of the structural determinants of vascular physiology and disease.
Water Use Dynamics in Double Cropping of Rainfed Upland Rice and Irrigated Melons Produced Under Drought‐Prone Tropical Conditions

Agricultural expansion and intensification is occurring in seasonally dry regions of Central America, while droughts are intensifying due to increasing water demand and climatic change. Empirical measurements of water consumption of major crops in this region are scarce but crucial to assess agricultural water use dynamics in the light of increasing regional water conflicts. We empirically quantify total crop water use (CWU) and water footprints (WFs) of rainfed upland rice (wet season) and groundwater‐irrigated melons (dry season) grown sequentially as a double cropping system, one of the major cropping systems in the seasonally dry province of Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica. Data for this study cover 2 years and were measured with a state‐of‐the‐art eddy covariance water and carbon flux station. Upland rice only consumed green water (CWUgreen = 383 L/m2), while melons only consumed blue water (CWUblue = 177 L/m2). Irrigation was found to be 1.5 times larger than the actual melon water consumption, with better irrigation efficiencies than reported for melon farms in Brazil but slightly inferior to farms in Spain. Melon WFblue was 79 m3/t, a much lower value than global and regional estimates reported but similar to values reported for melons produced in Brazil or Spain. Upland rice WFgreen (681 m3/t) was reported for the first time and was proven to be much lower than flood irrigated‐rice WFblue‐green. Our results demonstrated lower overall water demand for upland rice‐melon double crop compared to the two other major monocultures of the region (flood‐irrigated rice and irrigated sugar cane).
Dynamical properties of fMRI functional connectivity in neuronal networks mediating consciousness

Raphaël Liégeois1, Mohamed Bahri2, Mattia Zorzi1,3, Steven Laureys2 and Rodolphe Sepulchre1,3 1 Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Liège, Belgium 2 Coma Science Group, Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, Belgium 3 Department of Engineering, Trumpington Street, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Email : {R.Liegeois, M.Bahri, MZorzi, Steven.Laureys}@ulg.ac. be, R.Sepulchre@eng.cam. ac.uk
Development and Characterization of a Preclinical Model of Breast Cancer Lung Micrometastatic to Macrometastatic Progression

Most cancer patients die with metastatic disease, thus, good models that recapitulate the natural process of metastasis including a dormancy period with micrometastatic cells would be beneficial in developing treatment strategies. Herein we report a model of natural metastasis that balances time to complete experiments with a reasonable dormancy period, which can be used to better study metastatic progression. The basis for the model is a 4T1 triple negative syngeneic breast cancer model without resection of the primary tumor. A cell titration from 500 to 15,000 GFP tagged 4T1 cells implanted into fat pad number four of immune proficient eight week female BALB/cJ mice optimized speed of the model while possessing metastatic processes including dormancy and beginning of reactivation. The frequency of primary tumors was less than 50% in animals implanted with 500–1500 cells. Although implantation with over 10,000 cells resulted in 100% primary tumor development, the tumors and macrometastases formed were highly aggressive, lacked dormancy, and offered no opportunity for treatment. Implantation of 7,500 cells resulted in >90% tumor take by 10 days; in 30–60 micrometastases in the lung (with many animals also having 2–30 brain micrometastases) two weeks post-implantation, with the first small macrometastases present at five weeks; many animals displaying macrometastases at five weeks and animals becoming moribund by six weeks post-implantation. Using the optimum of 7,500 cells the efficacy of a chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer, doxorubicin, given at its maximal tolerated dose (MTD; 1 mg/kg weekly) was tested for an effect on metastasis. Doxorubicin treatment significantly reduced primary tumor growth and lung micrometastases but the number of macrometastases at experiment end was not significantly affected. This model should prove useful for development of drugs to target metastasis and to study the biology of metastasis.
Forbear is a Homophone: Lexical Prosody Does Not Constrain Lexical Access

Because stress can occur in any position within an English word, lexical prosody could serve as a minimal distinguishing feature between pairs of words. However, most pairs of English words with stress pattern opposition also differ vocalically: OBject and obJECT, CONtent and conTENT have different vowels in their first syllables as well as different stress patterns. To test whether prosodic information is made use of in auditory word recognition independently of segmental phonetic information, it is necessary to examine pairs like FORbear — forBEAR or TRUSty — trusTEE, semantically unrelated words which exhibit stress pattern opposition but no segmental difference. In a cross-modal priming task, such words produce the priming effects characteristic of homophones, indicating that lexical prosody is not used in the same way as segmental structure to constrain lexical access.
Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation In Therapy-Related Myeloid Neoplasms (t-MN) of the Adult: Monocentric Observational Study and Review of the Literature

Background Therapy related myeloid neoplasms (t-MN) occur due to direct mutational events of chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy. Disease latency, mutational events and prognosis vary with drugs categories. Methods We describe a cohort of 30 patients, 18 females and 12 males, with median age of 52.5 years (range, 20 to 64), submitted to allogeneic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in our department between September 1999 and March 2017. Patients had a history of solid tumour in 14 cases, haematological disease in 15 cases and both of them in one case. After a median of 36.5 months (range, 4 to 190) from first neoplasm, patients developed t-AML in 19 cases and t-MDS in 11 cases. Molecular abnormalities were detected in 5 patients, while karyotype aberrations were found in 17 patients. Patients received conventional chemotherapy in 14 cases, azacitidine in 10 cases and both of them in one case. Five patients were submitted to HSCT without previous treatment except for supportive therapy. Results Seventeen patients obtained sustained CR after SCT, while 8 patients showed resistant or relapsed disease. The remaining five patients died early after SCT. At follow up time (May 2017) 13 patients were alive with a median OS of 48 months (range 3–195), while 17 patients died after a median of 4 months (range 1–27) by relapse mortality in 6 cases and non-relapse mortality in the other 11 patients. Conclusions Global OS was 43%. After SCT, 72.2% of patients with t-MN maintained a sustained CR.