Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parental attitudes about sexually transmitted infection vaccination for their adolescent children.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate parental attitudes about adolescent vaccination as a function of vaccine characteristics, including whether the vaccine prevented a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and to explore possible sociodemographic predictors of acceptability of STI vaccines. DESIGN Participants were 278 parents who accompanied their children (69.1% female, aged 12-17 years) to appointments at medical clinics. By using computer-based questionnaires, parents rated 9 hypothetical vaccine scenarios, each of which was defined along 4 dimensions: mode of transmission (STI or non-STI), severity of infection (curable, chronic, or fatal), vaccine efficacy (50%, 70%, or 90%), and availability of behavioral methods for prevention (available or not available). Willingness by parents to vaccinate their adolescents under each vaccine scenario was assessed on a scale that ranged from 0 to 100. Conjoint analysis was used to determine the relative contribution of each dimension to the ratings. RESULTS The mean vaccine scenario rating was 81.3. Sexually transmitted infection vaccines (mean, 81.3) were not rated differently than non-STI vaccines (mean, 80.0). Conjoint analysis indicated that severity of infection and vaccine efficacy had the strongest influence on ratings, followed by availability of behavioral prevention. Mode of transmission had a negligible effect on ratings. Child age (P = .08) and sex (P = .77), parent age (P = .32) and education (P = .34), insurance status (P = .08), and data collection site (P = .48) were not significantly associated with STI vaccine acceptability. CONCLUSIONS Parents were accepting of the idea of vaccinating their adolescent children against STIs. The most salient issues were severity of infection and vaccine efficacy, not sexual transmissibility. Parents also favored vaccines for infections that had no method of behavioral prevention available.
representation using nonorthogonal basis images

| Though image-coding techniques that employ subsets of nonorthogonal basis images chosen from two or more transform domains have been shown consistently to yield higher image quality than those based on one transform for a (cid:12)xed compression ratio, they have not been widely employed due to their very high computational complexity of existing realization approaches. This paper presents a new realization approach for mixed-transform image representation. Computational complexity can be greatly reduced compared with existing approaches.
Caring for the carer: The lessons of research*

Abstract There is a cost to persons who counsel or work with individuals who are ill, dying, or bereaved. Frequently, they can experience grief reactions that can negatively affect a personal sense of well-being, and relationships with others both within and outside of their workplace. This paper explores the phenomenon of carer grief. The paper also identifies strategies – both individual and organizational – that assist carers in coping with the experience of grief.
Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) of Gram-negative Bacteria: A Perspective Update

Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) of Gram-negative bacteria are spherical membrane-enclosed entities of endocytic origin. Reported in the consortia of different bacterial species, production of OMVs into extracellular milieu seems essential for their survival. Enriched with bioactive proteins, toxins, and virulence factors, OMVs play a critical role in the bacteria-bacteria and bacteria-host interactions. Emergence of OMVs as distinct cellular entities helps bacteria in adaptating to diverse niches, in competing with other bacteria to protect members of producer species and more importantly play a crucial role in host-pathogen interaction. Composition of OMV, their ability to modulate host immune response, along with coordinated secretion of bacterial effector proteins, endows them with the armory, which can withstand hostile environments. Study of the OMV production under natural and diverse stress conditions has broadened the horizons, and also opened new frontiers in delineating the molecular machinery involved in disease pathogenesis. Playing diverse biological and pathophysiological functions, OMVs hold a great promise in enabling resurgence of bacterial diseases, in concomitance with the steep decline in the efficiency of antibiotics. Having multifaceted role, their emergence as a causative agent for a series of infectious diseases increases the probability for their exploitation in the development of effective diagnostic tools and as vaccines against diverse pathogenic species of Gram-negative origin.
Autism Associated Gene, ENGRAILED2, and Flanking Gene Levels Are Altered in Post-Mortem Cerebellum

Background Previous genetic studies demonstrated association between the transcription factor ENGRAILED2 (EN2) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Subsequent molecular analysis determined that the EN2 ASD-associated haplotype (rs1861972-rs1861973 A-C) functions as a transcriptional activator to increase gene expression. EN2 is flanked by 5 genes, SEROTONIN RECEPTOR5A (HTR5A), INSULIN INDUCED GENE1 (INSIG1), CANOPY1 HOMOLOG (CNPY1), RNA BINDING MOTIF PROTEIN33 (RBM33), and SONIC HEDGEHOG (SHH). These flanking genes are co-expressed with EN2 during development and coordinate similar developmental processes. To investigate if mRNA levels for these genes are altered in individuals with autism, post-mortem analysis was performed. Methods qRT-PCR quantified mRNA levels for EN2 and the 5 flanking genes in 78 post-mortem cerebellar samples. mRNA levels were correlated with both affection status and rs1861972-rs1861973 genotype. Molecular analysis investigated whether EN2 regulates flanking gene expression. Results EN2 levels are increased in affected A-C/G-T individuals (p = .0077). Affected individuals also display a significant increase in SHH and a decrease in INSIG1 levels. Rs1861972-rs1861973 genotype is correlated with significant increases for SHH (A-C/G-T) and CNPY1 (G-T/G-T) levels. Human cell line over-expression and knock-down as well as mouse knock-out analysis are consistent with EN2 and SHH being co-regulated, which provides a possible mechanism for increased SHH post-mortem levels. Conclusions EN2 levels are increased in affected individuals with an A-C/G-T genotype, supporting EN2 as an ASD susceptibility gene. SHH, CNPY1, and INSIG1 levels are also significantly altered depending upon affection status or rs1861972-rs1861973 genotype. Increased EN2 levels likely contribute to elevated SHH expression observed in the post-mortem samples
The continued effects of home intervention on child development outcomes in the Kingdom of Bahrain

This article presents the continued effects of a home-based intervention programme on child development outcomes and parenting practices in Bahrain. The intervention is the Mother–Child Home Education Programme (MOCEP) which was implemented in Arabic in the Kingdom of Bahrain beginning in 2001. One hundred and sixty-seven poor, disadvantaged families were randomly recruited from the 1996 birth cohort; 92 families for the home intervention group and 75 families for the control group. Data were collected over two subsequent testing intervals in 2004 and 2008 when the children were in Primary II and Primary VI levels, respectively. Several child development outcomes and parenting practices and belief measures were compared. Impact study results immediately following the intervention yielded the highest effects on outcomes, and these findings are reported elsewhere. This study reports the effects sustained on some child development outcomes and parenting beliefs well into primary school.
Neural Substrates for Motor Imagery in Severe Hemiparesis

Background. The beneficial effects of imagined movements on motor learning and performance suggest that motor imagery is functionally close to preparatory and executive motor processes. Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the cortical processes associated with imagery of movement of the wrist in subjects with severe hemiparesis. Methods. During fMRI, subjects with stroke performed alternating blocks of imagining wrist-tracking movements with the hemiparetic hand, active wrist-tracking movements with the unaffected hand, and resting. Control subjects performed the same tasks using an assigned hand. Cortical activation in the primary motor (M1), primary sensory (S1), supplementary motor area (SMA), and pre-SMA regions was determined through a laterality index of active voxels and signal intensity. Ability to imagine was assessed with an Imagery Rating Scale. Results.All subjects displayed primarily contralateral control during the track condition. Healthy subjects demonstrated contralateral control in all areas during the imagine condition, whereas subjects with stroke displayed primarily contralateral activation in S1 but ipsilateral in M1 and SMA. The percentage change in signal intensity was greater in the ipsilateral hemisphere in subjects with stroke than in the ipsilateral hemisphere in healthy subjects during the imagine condition. Additionally, subjects with self-reported low ability to imagine displayed no difference in activation compared to those with high imagery ability. Conclusions. These findings are consistent with other works demonstrating primarily ipsilateral control of the hemiparetic hand in subjects with functional movement and lay the groundwork for further investigation into the ability of mental imagery to affect functionally relevant cortical control in subjects recovering from stroke.
Roomprints for forensic audio applications

A roomprint is a quantifiable description of an acoustic environment which can be measured under controlled conditions and estimated from a monophonic recording made in that space. We here identify the properties required of a roomprint in forensic audio applications and review the observable characteristics of a room that, when extracted from recordings, could form the basis of a room-print. Frequency-dependent reverberation time is investigated as a promising characteristic and used in a room identification experiment giving correct identification in 96% of trials.
Trypanosoma cruzi: Seroprevalence Detection in Suburban Population of Santiago de Querétaro (Mexico)

Objectives. To evaluate the potential of iron-oxide dismutase excreted (SODeCRU) by T. cruzi as the antigen fraction in the serodiagnosis of Chagas disease and compile new epidemiological data on the seroprevalence of this disease in the suburban population of the city of Santiago de Querétaro (Mexico). Design and Methods. 258 human sera were analyzed by the techniques of ELISA and Western blot and using the homogenate and the SODeCRU. Results. A total of 31 sera were positive against ELISA/SODeCRU (12.4%), while 30 sera proved positive by WB/SODeCRU (11.6%). The comparison between the technique of ELISA and WB showed a sensitivity of 93%, and a specificity of 99%. The positive predictive value was 93% and the negative predictive value was 99%, with a Kappa (κ) value of 1. Conclusions. These preliminary data reveal the degree of infection of nonrural areas of Mexico and demonstrated that SODeCRU is an antigen useful to diagnose Chagas disease.
The Conceptualisation and Measurement of Mega Sport Event Legacies

This paper focuses on the legacy of mega sport events. First, the concept of legacy is defined before the problems of measuring and forecasting legacy are discussed. Benchmarking and the use of macro data do not correctly reveal legacy. Hence a bottom-up approach is introduced which identifies the event legacy by evaluation of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ event-related changes in a host city. These changes are defined as ‘event-structures’ (infrastructure, knowledge, image, emotions, networks, culture). Many of them change the quality of location factors of the host city in the long-term. The benefits/costs through the transformation of the host city are the legacy of a mega sport event. Here a particular focus is put on tourism legacy.
PPARG Binding Landscapes in Macrophages Suggest a Genome-Wide Contribution of PU.1 to Divergent PPARG Binding in Human and Mouse

Background Genome-wide comparisons of transcription factor binding sites in different species can be used to evaluate evolutionary constraints that shape gene regulatory circuits and to understand how the interaction between transcription factors shapes their binding landscapes over evolution. Results We have compared the PPARG binding landscapes in macrophages to investigate the evolutionary impact on PPARG binding diversity in mouse and humans for this important nuclear receptor. Of note, only 5% of the PPARG binding sites were shared between the two species. In contrast, at the gene level, PPARG target genes conserved between both species constitute more than 30% of the target genes regulated by PPARG ligand in human macrophages. Moreover, the majority of all PPARG binding sites (55–60%) in macrophages show co-occupancy of the lineage-specification factor PU.1 in both species. Exploring the evolutionary dynamics of PPARG binding sites, we observed that PU.1 co-binding to PPARG sites appears to be important for possible PPARG ancestral functions such as lipid metabolism. Thus we speculate that PU.1 may have guided utilization of these species-specific PPARG conserved binding sites in macrophages during evolution. Conclusions We propose a model in which PU.1 sites may have served as “anchor” loci for the formation of new and functionally relevant PPARG binding sites throughout evolution. As PU.1 is an essential factor in macrophage biology, such an evolutionary mechanism would allow for the establishment of relevant PPARG regulatory modules in a PU.1-dependent manner and yet permit for nuanced regulatory changes in individual species.
Proposing, specifying, and validating a controller-based routing protocol for a clean-slate Named-Data Networking

Named-Data Networking (NDN) is the most prominent proposal for a clean-slate proposal of Future Internet. Nevertheless, NDN routing schemes present scalability concerns due to the required number of stored routes and of control messages. In this work, we present a controller-based routing protocol using a formal method to unambiguously specify, and validate to prove its correctness. Our proposal codes signaling information on content names, avoiding control message overhead, and reduces router memory requirements, storing only the routes for simultaneously consumed prefixes. Additionally, the protocol installs a new route on all routers in a path with a single route request to the controller, avoiding replication of routing information and automating router provisioning. As a result, we provide a protocol proposal description using the Specification and Description Language and we validate the protocol, proving that CRoS behavior is free of dead or live locks. Furthermore, the protocol validation guarantees that the scheme ensures a valid working path from consumer to producer, even if it does not assure the shortest path.
The Response to Intervention Instructional Model: Some Outcomes From a Large‐Scale Implementation in Reading First Schools

—The Reading First program in Florida has attempted to implement the response to intervention instructional model in a large number of schools. This has involved (a) increasing the quality of classroom instruction, (b) monitoring student response to instruction with frequently administered progress monitoring measures, and (c) providing tailored interventions to students who are not making adequate progress. Over 3 years of implementation in 318 schools, rates of identification of students with learning disabilities (LDs) have dropped dramatically. Percentages of students who actually have serious reading difficulties have also dropped during this period, although not as dramatically as for rates of LD identification. It is possible that LD identification rates in Grades K–3 are lower because teachers and schools are exploring other intervention options before referring for special education. Implications of this possibility for timeliness of LD diagnosis are discussed.
Characterization of Bacteria Isolation of Bacteria from Pinyon Rhizosphere, Producing Biosurfactants from Agro-Industrial Waste

Abstract Two hundred and fifty bacterial strains were isolated from pinyon rhizosphere and screened for biosurfactants production. Among them, six bacterial strains were selected for their potential to produce biosurfactants using two low cost wastes, crude glycerol and lactoserum, as raw material. Both wastes were useful for producing biosurfactants because of their high content in fat and carbohydrates. The six strains were identified by 16S rDNA with an identity percentage higher than 95%, three strains belonged to Enterobacter sp. , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus pumilus and Rhizobium sp. All strains assayed were able to grow and showed halos around the colonies as evidence of biosurfactants production on Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide agar with crude glycerol and lactoserum as substrate. In a mineral salt liquid medium enriched with both wastes, the biosurfactants were produced and collected from free cell medium after 72 h incubation. The biosurfactants produced reduced the surface tension from 69 to 30 mN/m with an emulsification index of diesel at approximately 60%. The results suggest that biosurfactants produced by rhizosphere bacteria from pinyon have promising environmental applications.
Working memory and specific language impairment: an update on the relation and perspectives on assessment and treatment.

PURPOSE Children with specific language impairment (SLI) demonstrate significant language impairments despite normal-range hearing and nonverbal IQ. Many of these children also show marked deficits in working memory (WM) abilities. However, the theoretical and clinical characterization of the association between WM and language limitations in SLI is still sparse. Our understanding of this association would benefit greatly from an updated and thorough review of the literature. METHOD We review the newest developments in these areas from both a theoretical and clinical perspective. Our intent is to provide researchers and practicing clinicians (a) a conceptual framework within which the association between WM and language limitations of children with SLI can be understood and (b) potentially helpful suggestions for assessing and treating the memory-language difficulties of children with SLI. CONCLUSIONS In the past 10 years, important new theoretical insights into the range and nature of WM deficits and relation between these limitations and the language difficulties in SLI have occurred. New, robust diagnostic assessment tools and computerized treatment methods designed to enhance children's WM functioning have also been developed. The assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of the language difficulties in SLI should consider the potential influence of WM.
A Contract-Based Incentive Mechanism for Delayed Traffic Offloading in Cellular Networks

Delayed traffic offloading is a promising paradigm to alleviate the cellular network congestion caused by explosive traffic demands. As we all know, in mobile networks, the delay profile for traffic is remarkable due to users' mobility. How to exploit user delay tolerance to improve the profit of operator as well as mobile users becomes a big challenge. In this paper, we model this delayed offloading process as a monopoly market based on contract theory, where operator acts as the monopolist setting up the optimal contract by statistical information on user satisfaction. We propose an incentive mechanism to motivate users to leverage their delay and price sensitivity in exchange for service cost. To capture the heterogeneity of user satisfaction, we classify users into different types. Each user chooses a proper quality-price contract item according to its type. More specifically, we investigate this delayed offloading scheme under strongly incomplete information scenario, where user type is private information. We derive an optimal contract, which maximizes operator's profit for both the continuous-user-type model and the discrete-user-type model. Numerical results validate the effectiveness of our incentive mechanism for delayed traffic offloading in cellular networks.
Identification of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron on the Basis of an Unexpected Specific Amplicon of Universal 16S Ribosomal DNA PCR

ABSTRACT We applied a set of commonly used universal primers (primers RW01 and DG74) to amplify partial fragments of 16S ribosomal DNA for bacterial identification and found an unexpected amplicon (547 bp), in addition to the expected 362-bp product, in samples containing Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. It was demonstrated that the internal sequence (508 bp, excluding the primers) of the 547-bp amplicon was identical to the genomic sequence from nucleotide positions 165800 to 166307 of B. thetaiotaomicron type strain VPI-5482 by a BLAST search of the sequences in the GenBank database. The existence of this unexpected yet specific amplicon strongly indicated the presence of B. thetaiotaomicron in the sample, and it was found that it could be used to discriminate B. thetaiotaomicron from closely related species. Another set of PCR primers specific for B. thetaiotaomicron was developed on the basis of the sequence of this 547-bp genomic fragment. Both PCR-based assays showed the same sensitivity (88%) and specificity (100%).
Temporal Coherence, Natural Image Sequences, and the Visual Cortex

We show that two important properties of the primary visual cortex emerge when the principle of temporal coherence is applied to natural image sequences. The properties are simple-cell-like receptive fields and complex-cell-like pooling of simple cell outputs, which emerge when we apply two different approaches to temporal coherence. In the first approach we extract receptive fields whose outputs are as temporally coherent as possible. This approach yields simple-cell-like receptive fields (oriented, localized, multiscale). Thus, temporal coherence is an alternative to sparse coding in modeling the emergence of simple cell receptive fields. The second approach is based on a two-layer statistical generative model of natural image sequences. In addition to modeling the temporal coherence of individual simple cells, this model includes inter-cell temporal dependencies. Estimation of this model from natural data yields both simple-cell-like receptive fields, and complex-cell-like pooling of simple cell outputs. In this completely unsupervised learning, both layers of the generative model are estimated simultaneously from scratch. This is a significant improvement on earlier statistical models of early vision, where only one layer has been learned, and others have been fixed a priori.
On the Metric Properties of Visual Images Generated from Verbal Descriptions: Evidence for the Robustness of the Mental Scanning Effect

When subjects mentally scan across visual images of spatial configurations, the “mental scanning effect” is said to occur when there is a linear relationship between distances scanned and scanning times. This effect has been documented in studies where configurations were learned perceptually, and also when mental images of spatial configurations were constructed from verbal descriptions. The scanning effect is generally taken to indicate that visual images incorporate the metric structure of represented objects or configurations in an analog fashion. This article reports three experiments designed to test whether the cognitive salience of landmarks in a configuration can alter the mental scanning effect. Three manipulations of landmark salience were used, but there was no evidence of such an alteration. The scanning times towards salient and non-salient landmarks were quite similar, and the experimental manipulations had no effect on the timedistance correlation coefficients. We conclude that the structu.