3,556 research outputs found
Psychological experiences of Korean missionary âkidsâ (MKs): A qualitative inquiry
The present study is a qualitative investigation of the psychological experiences of children of Korean missionaries, through the eyes of Korean missionary kids (MKs) and missionary workers. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 11 MKs and MK workers, and data were analysed using the Consensual Qualitative Research method. Several domains emerged: challenges associated with the MK experience, resiliency of MKs, intrapersonal and interpersonal coping skills, mental health concerns, religion and spirituality, a complex cultural identity, preparation for college transition, and hopes for MKs and their missionary parents. Categories corresponding to the domains are highlighted. The present study addresses a need for more attention paid to the non-American MK experience, and it presents some implications for the church and higher educational institutions
Memory-Efficient Fine-Tuning of Compressed Large Language Models via sub-4-bit Integer Quantization
Large language models (LLMs) face the challenges in fine-tuning and
deployment due to their high memory demands and computational costs. While
parameter-efficient fine-tuning (PEFT) methods aim to reduce the memory usage
of the optimizer state during fine-tuning, the inherent size of pre-trained LLM
weights continues to be a pressing concern. Even though quantization techniques
are widely proposed to ease memory demands and accelerate LLM inference, most
of these techniques are geared towards the deployment phase. To bridge this
gap, this paper presents Parameter-Efficient and Quantization-aware Adaptation
(PEQA) - a simple yet effective method that combines the advantages of PEFT
with quantized LLMs. By updating solely the quantization scales, PEQA can be
directly applied to quantized LLMs, ensuring seamless task transitions.
Parallel to existing PEFT methods, PEQA significantly reduces the memory
overhead associated with the optimizer state. Furthermore, it leverages the
advantages of quantization to substantially reduce model sizes. Even after
fine-tuning, the quantization structure of a PEQA-tuned LLM remains intact,
allowing for accelerated inference on the deployment stage. We employ
PEQA-tuning for task-specific adaptation on LLMs with up to 65 billion
parameters. To assess the logical reasoning and language comprehension of
PEQA-tuned LLMs, we fine-tune low-bit quantized LLMs using a instruction
dataset. Our results show that even when LLMs are quantized to below 4-bit
precision, their capabilities in language modeling, few-shot in-context
learning, and comprehension can be resiliently restored to (or even improved
over) their full-precision original performances with PEQA.Comment: Published at NeurIPS 2023. Camera-ready versio
Surgical repair of descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm involving the distal arch: Open proximal anastomosis under deep hypothermia versus arch clamping technique
BackgroundSurgical repair of a descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (DTA/TAAA) involving the distal arch is challenging and requires either deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) or crossclamping of the distal arch. The aim of this study was to compare these 2 techniques in the treatment of DTA/TAAA involving the distal arch.MethodsFrom 1994 to 2012, 298 patients underwent open repair of DTA/TAAA through a left thoracotomy. One hundred seventy-four patients with distal arch involvement who were suitable for either DHCA (n = 81) or arch clamping (AC; n = 93), were analyzed. In-hospital outcomes were compared using propensity scores and inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting adjustment to reduce treatment selection bias.ResultsEarly mortality was 11.1% in the DHCA group and 8.6% in the AC group (P = .58). Major adverse outcomes included stroke in 16 patients (9.2%), low cardiac output syndrome in 15 (8.6%), paraplegia in 10 (5.7%), and multiorgan failure in 10 (5.7%). After adjustment, patients who underwent DHCA were at similar risk of death (odds ratio [OR], 1.14; P = .80) and permanent neurologic injury (OR, 0.95; P = .92) to those who underwent AC. Although prolonged ventilator support (>24 hours) was more frequent with DHCA than with AC (OR, 2.60; P = .003), DHCA showed a tendency to lower the risk of paraplegia (OR, 0.15; P = .057).ConclusionsCompared with AC, DHCA did not increase postoperative mortality and morbidity, except for prolonged ventilator support. However, DHCA may offer superior spinal cord protection to AC during repair of DTA/TAAA involving the distal arch
Double Glomus Tumors Originating in the Submandibular and Parotid Regions
Glomus tumors are rare neoplasms that originate from the glomus bodies, an arteriovenous anastomosis with a specialized vascular structure. The most common site for these tumors is the subungal region of the fingers. Occasionally, glomus tumors are found in the middle ear, trachea, nasal cavities, stomach, and lungs. The occurrence in the parotid regions is very rare. While multiple glomus tumors in the whole body are thought to represent only 10% of all cases, instances of multiple tumors in the neck have not yet been reported in the literature. We report a case of double glomus tumors in the submandibular and parotid regions
Good Glycemic Control Is Associated with Better Survival in Diabetic Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis: A Prospective Observational Study
BACKGROUND: The effect of glycemic control after starting peritoneal dialysis (PD) on the survival of diabetic PD patients has largely been unexplored, especially in Asian population. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study, in which 140 incident PD patients with diabetes were recruited. Patients were divided into tertiles according to the means of quarterly HbA1C levels measured during the first year after starting PD. We examined the association between HbA1C and all-cause mortality using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: The mean age was 58.7 years, 59.3% were male, and the mean follow-up duration was 3.5 years (range 0.4-9.5 years). The mean HbA1C levels were 6.3%, 7.1%, and 8.5% in the 1(st), 2(nd), and 3(rd) tertiles, respectively. Compared to the 1(st) tertile, the all-cause mortality rates were higher in the 2(nd) [hazard ratio (HR), 4.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.91-18.94; pâ=â0.065] and significantly higher in the 3(rd) (HR, 13.16; 95% CI, 2.67-64.92; pâ=â0.002) tertiles (p for trendâ=â0.005), after adjusting for confounding factors. Cardiovascular mortality, however, did not differ significantly among the tertiles (p for trendâ=â0.682). In contrast, non-cardiovascular deaths, most of which were caused by infection, were more frequent in the 2(nd) (HR, 7.67; 95% CI, 0.68-86.37; pâ=â0.099) and the 3(rd) (HR, 51.24; 95% CI, 3.85-681.35; pâ=â0.003) tertiles than the 1(st) tertile (p for trendâ=â0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Poor glycemic control is associated with high mortality rates in diabetic PD patients, suggesting that better glycemic control may improve the outcomes of these patients
Titanium dioxide induces apoptotic cell death through reactive oxygen species-mediated Fas upregulation and Bax activation
Background: Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been widely used in many areas, including biomedicine, cosmetics, and environmental engineering. Recently, it has become evident that some TiO2 particles have a considerable cytotoxic effect in normal human cells. However, the molecular basis for the cytotoxicity of TiO2 has yet to be defined.Methods and results: In this study, we demonstrated that combined treatment with TiO2 nanoparticles sized less than 100 nm and ultraviolet A irradiation induces apoptotic cell death through reactive oxygen species-dependent upregulation of Fas and conformational activation of Bax in normal human cells. Treatment with P25 TiO2 nanoparticles with a hydrodynamic size distribution centered around 70 nm (TiO2P25-70) together with ultraviolet A irradiation-induced caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death, accompanied by transcriptional upregulation of the death receptor, Fas, and conformational activation of Bax. In line with these results, knockdown of either Fas or Bax with specific siRNA significantly inhibited TiO2-induced apoptotic cell death. Moreover, inhibition of reactive oxygen species with an antioxidant, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, clearly suppressed upregulation of Fas, conformational activation of Bax, and subsequent apoptotic cell death in response to combination treatment using TiO2P25-70 and ultraviolet A irradiation.Conclusion: These results indicate that sub-100 nm sized TiO2 treatment under ultraviolet A irradiation induces apoptotic cell death through reactive oxygen species-mediated upregulation of the death receptor, Fas, and activation of the preapoptotic protein, Bax. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which nanosized particles induce activation of cell death signaling pathways would be critical for the development of prevention strategies to minimize the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials.This work was supported by the Korea Ministry of Environment and The Eco-Technopia 21 Project (091-091-081)
Kaempferol inhibits ILâ1βâinduced proliferation of rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts and the production of COXâ2, PGE2 and MMPs
Inflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cyclooxygenase (COX)â2 released from rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs) are involved in the destruction of both articular bone and cartilage. Kaempferol has been reported to act as an antioxidant and antiâinflammatory agent by inhibiting nitric oxide synthase and COX enzymes. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of kaempferol on the interleukinâ1β (ILâ1β)âinduced proliferation of RASFs and the production of MMPs, COX and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) by RASFs. The proliferation of the RASFs stimulated with ILâ1β and treated with/without kaempferol was evaluated by CCKâ8 assay. The expression of MMPs, TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitorâ1 (TIMPâ1), COXs, PGE2 and that of intracellular MAPK signaling molecules, including pâERK, pâp38, pâJNK and nuclear factorâÎşB (NFâÎşB) was examined by immunoblotting or semiâquantitative reverse transcriptionâpolymerase chain reaction (RTâPCR) and ELISA under the conditions described above. Kaempferol inhibited the proliferation of both unstimulated and ILâ1βâstimulated RASFs, as well as the mRNA and protein expression of MMPâ1, MMP-3, COXâ2 and PGE2 induced by ILâ1β. Kaempferol also inhibited the phosphorylation of ERKâ1/2, p38 and JNK, as well as the activation of NFâÎşB induced by ILâ1β. These results indicate that kaempferol inhibits synovial fibroblast proliferation, as well as the production of and MMPs, COXâ2 and PGE2, which is involved in articular inflammation and destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our data suggest that kaempferol may be a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of RA
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