Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toward a dynamic interaction model of depression and its treatment.

This paper presents a psychodynamic approach to depression based on theoretical formulations and empirical findings from diverse perspectives including developmental psychopathology, cognitive and developmental psychology, social and personality theory, and psychiatric genetics. This approach considers depression not as a disease but as distortions of the normal development of two fundamental psychological processes: the capacity for interpersonal relatedness and the establishment of self-definition or an identity. The first section of this paper discusses depression in terms of two broad types of early and later life experiences that create vulnerabilities that can lead to depression: an interpersonal or anaclitic vulnerability that includes experiences of loss and feelings of loneliness, and a self-definitional or introjective vulnerability that includes experiences of failure and loss of self-esteem and self-worth. Extensive research over the last 25 years, summarized in the second section of this paper, supports and extends these theoretical formulations about two primary nuclei in depression. The third section considers the clinical implications of these formulations, particularly the impact of patient characteristics on differential response to various types of treatments, resulting in different types of clinical outcome. These theoretically and clinically derived, and empirically supported formulations of depression have implications for the aetiology and treatment of depression and suggest the importance of focusing on the phenomenology rather than the symptoms of depression and of considering the complex interactions between genetic predispositions, personality development, and early and later life experiences in the pathogenesis and treatment of depression.
Social entrepreneurship in practice : the multifaceted nature of social entrepreneurship and the role of the state within an Islamic context

This research explores social entrepreneurship within the Islamic context through a number of perspectives. While there has been plenty of scientific research on social entrepreneurship during the last decades, non-Western settings are largely missing from academic research. Nevertheless, social entrepreneurship is also practiced in non-Western nations, no less so in the GCC countries. This research explores the multifaceted nature of social entrepreneurship within the Islamic GCC context through three qualitative research papers. The strong role and influence of social entrepreneurship was seen as the connecting theme between these three papers. Social entrepreneurship comes in many shapes and sizes and is visible at many levels of organization. Nation states display it as do even wider, shared belief systems. The multifaceted nature of social entrepreneurship is revealed when approached from several perspectives. The first paper approaches it from a social and commercial perspective, utilizing a case study method. The second paper is a conceptual paper that approaches social entrepreneurship from a more religious and philanthropic perspective by focusing on zakat. In the third paper, social entrepreneurship is studied from the perspective of leadership and state using a historical case study. The findings of these three papers reveal that the interaction between the different functions of social entrepreneurs is both complex and multifaceted. One of the reasons for this is that the boundaries within which the social entrepreneurs operate are highly multidimensional. The Islamic context encompasses both institutional entrepreneurship and Islamic philanthropy, and sees them as essential and often also inseparable parts of it perhaps even more so than in a Western context. This research shows that the state has a strong supporting role in social entrepreneurship and even acts as social entrepreneur. Thus, in the Islamic context, the effects of social entrepreneurship (through zakat institutions) actually foster the interaction and spread of social entrepreneurs, institutional entrepreneurs and Islamic philanthropists across multiple institutional spheres.
Illness As A Relational Process: Qualitative Analysis of Couples Therapy with Liver Patients

Quantitative research has provided ample evidence that couples coping with chronic illness from a relational orientation experience more positive outcomes than couples that cope individually. In this grounded theory analysis we analyzed over 20 therapy videos of couples coping with liver disease (LD). Our results identified that (a) autonomy discourse, (b) illness-related power, and (c) gendered power are barriers to couples’ relational orientation towards illness. The findings detail how therapists counterbalanced the impact of these barriers in order to help shift couples from individual to relational coping. We provide implications for practitioners working with couples and chronic illness, mainly, LD.
Accuracy of Unstimulated Basal Serum Thyroglobulin Levels in Assessing the Completeness of Thyroidectomy

Background Complete excision is important for proper surgical treatment of thyroid disorders. Functional thyroid tissue can be identified based on the level of serum thyroglobulin (Tg), which is produced only by the thyroid follicular cells, and nuclear scan. Methods Serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxin (FT4), basal (unstimulated) Tg and anti-Tg antibody (anti-Tg ab) were measured at the sixth postoperative month in 100 patients with benign thyroid disorders treated by total thyroidectomy. Thyroid nuclear scan was obtained to identify functional remnant of the thyroid gland. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the Tg levels in assessing thyroid remnant were calculated. Results Positive scan showed thyroid remnant in 23 patients, among whom 16 were Tg positive (true positive) and seven were Tg negative (< 0.5 ng/mL) (false negative). In these patients, the nuclear scan revealed pyramidal lobe remnants. In 77 patients with negative scan, the Tg levels were also negative (true negative), and the PPV, NPV, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the Tg levels were 100%, 92%, 70%, 100% and 93%, respectively. Conclusions The positive basal Tg (> 0.5 ng/mL) level accurately indicated the functional thyroid remnant after total thyroidectomy. The negative Tg (< 0.5 ng/mL) level supported complete excision of the thyroid gland. The surgical completeness of total thyroidectomy was accurately evaluated based on the serum Tg levels. Therefore, serum Tg levels should be measured in postoperative follow-up to determine the completeness of total thyroidectomy.
Linear summation of outputs in a balanced network model of motor cortex

Given the non-linearities of the neural circuitry's elements, we would expect cortical circuits to respond non-linearly when activated. Surprisingly, when two points in the motor cortex are activated simultaneously, the EMG responses are the linear sum of the responses evoked by each of the points activated separately. Additionally, the corticospinal transfer function is close to linear, implying that the synaptic interactions in motor cortex must be effectively linear. To account for this, here we develop a model of motor cortex composed of multiple interconnected points, each comprised of reciprocally connected excitatory and inhibitory neurons. We show how non-linearities in neuronal transfer functions are eschewed by strong synaptic interactions within each point. Consequently, the simultaneous activation of multiple points results in a linear summation of their respective outputs. We also consider the effects of reduction of inhibition at a cortical point when one or more surrounding points are active. The network response in this condition is linear over an approximately two- to three-fold decrease of inhibitory feedback strength. This result supports the idea that focal disinhibition allows linear coupling of motor cortical points to generate movement related muscle activation patterns; albeit with a limitation on gain control. The model also explains why neural activity does not spread as far out as the axonal connectivity allows, whilst also explaining why distant cortical points can be, nonetheless, functionally coupled by focal disinhibition. Finally, we discuss the advantages that linear interactions at the cortical level afford to motor command synthesis.
Overexpression of PKD1 Causes Polycystic Kidney Disease

ABSTRACT The pathogenetic mechanisms underlying autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) remain to be elucidated. While there is evidence that Pkd1 gene haploinsufficiency and loss of heterozygosity can cause cyst formation in mice, paradoxically high levels of Pkd1 expression have been detected in the kidneys of ADPKD patients. To determine whether Pkd1 gain of function can be a pathogenetic process, a Pkd1 bacterial artificial chromosome (Pkd1-BAC) was modified by homologous recombination to solely target a sustained Pkd1 expression preferentially to the adult kidney. Several transgenic lines were generated that specifically overexpressed the Pkd1 transgene in the kidneys 2- to 15-fold over Pkd1 endogenous levels. All transgenic mice reproducibly developed tubular and glomerular cysts and renal insufficiency and died of renal failure. This model demonstrates that overexpression of wild-type Pkd1 alone is sufficient to trigger cystogenesis resembling human ADPKD. Our results also uncovered a striking increased renal c-myc expression in mice from all transgenic lines, indicating that c-myc is a critical in vivo downstream effector of Pkd1 molecular pathways. This study not only produced an invaluable and first PKD model to evaluate molecular pathogenesis and therapies but also provides evidence that gain of function could be a pathogenetic mechanism in ADPKD.
The Junctional Epithelium: from Health to Disease

The junctional epithelium is located at a strategically important interface between the gingival sulcus, populated with bacteria, and the periodontal soft and mineralized connective tissues that need protection from becoming exposed to bacteria and their products. Its unique structural and functional adaptation enables the junctional epithelium to control the constant microbiological challenge. The antimicrobial defense mechanisms of the junctional epithelium, however, do not preclude the development of gingival and periodontal lesions. The conversion of the junctional to pocket epithelium, which is regarded as a hallmark in disease initiation, has been the focus of intense research in recent years. Research has shown that the junctional epithelial cells may play a much more active role in the innate defense mechanisms than previously assumed. They synthesize a variety of molecules directly involved in the combat against bacteria and their products. In addition, they express molecules that mediate the migration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes toward the bottom of the gingival sulcus. Periodontopathogens—such as Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans or, in particular, Porphyromonas gingivalis—have developed sophisticated methods to perturb the structural and functional integrity of the junctional epithelium. Research has focused on the direct effects of gingipains, cysteine proteinases produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis, on junctional epithelial cells. These virulence factors may specifically degrade components of the cell-to-cell contacts. This review will focus on the unique structural organization of the junctional epithelium, on the nature and functions of the various molecules expressed by its cells, and on how gingipains may attenuate the junctional epithelium’s structural and functional integrity.
Liposomal daunorubicin as treatment for Kaposi’s sarcoma

Anthracycline compounds including daunorubicin are the foundation of many modern chemotherapeutic regimens. However, the side-effects of these compounds can be severe, leading to alopecia, nausea, immune deficiency, and cardiotoxicity. For immunocompromised patients with aggressive Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), these complications often preclude the completion of appropriate chemotherapeutic regimens. This review focuses on the development and efficacy of liposomal daunorubicin (DaunoXome®; DNX) carriers for the treatment of KS. Encouragingly, DNX demonstrated increased in vivo stability and specificity. As a result, KS patients benefit from higher cumulative chemotherapeutic doses without significant cardiotoxicity. Tumor response to DNX treatment surpasses that of non-encapsulated daunorubicin and is similar to that observed with conventional multi-drug therapies such as ABV (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vincristine). Moreover, some reports indicate the patient quality of life during therapy may improve with DNX treatment. Although the development of DNX represents a significant advance in KS therapy, recent data suggest that additional modification of the liposomal carrier to include pegylation or target specific antibodies may further increase daunorubicin efficacy in the future.
Multi-atlas based pathological stratification of D-TGA congenital heart disease

One of the main sources of error in multi-atlas segmentation propagation approaches comes from the use of atlas databases that are morphologically dissimilar to the target image. In this work, we exploit the segmentation errors associated with poor atlas selection to build a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system for pathological classification in post-operative dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA). The proposed approach extracts a set of features, which describe the quality of a segmentation, and introduces them into a logical decision tree that provides the final diagnosis. We have validated our method on a set of 60 whole heart MR images containing healthy cases and two different forms of post-operative d-TGA. The reported overall CAD system accuracy was of 93.33%.
Who will Divorce: A 14-Year Longitudinal Study of Black Couples and White Couples

The present study examines the early development of marriage for a representative sample of urban white couples and black couples. We are interested in predicting the stability of these marriages over the first 14 years of marriage. First, we assess whether objective social and economic conditions account for divorce over time. These factors focus on oppressive social conditions, lower status positions in society, and challenges of parenthood and family responsibilities. Next, we concentrate on perceived interactive processes between spouses that are critical for maintaining a relationship over time. We postulate that race, gender, and time act as contexts in which to understand the quality and impact of structure and the perceptions of interaction in predicting divorce. Results indicate that both race and education are critical to the risk of divorce over 14 years. Perceived interactional processes are also important to divorce, but often depend on the contexts of race and gender.
Security Analysis of Server-Aided Public Key Generation Protocols on Low-Power Devices for Ad-Hoc Networks

In ITST2006, Chen et al. presented two server-aided public key generation protocols for low-power devices and claimed that their protocols secure against collusion attack. In this paper, we point that if the servers collude with each other, those servers could obtain low-power devices' secret information, and they can get the plaintext from any ciphertext. We also present an improved server-aided standard RSA key generation protocol against the collusion attack.
Energy Drinks And Caffeine: The Science Behind The Billion- Dollar Industry

Ask any college student how he or she gets through long study sessions, all-nighters, and the always grueling finals week and he or she will most likely reference some caffeine-containing beverage as the antidote, with energy drinks becoming an ever increasing option. The effects, both physiological and psychological, of the ingredients in energy drinks (caffeine and, to a lesser degree, glucose) dictate their usefulness to consumers. A review of the available research literature from http://scholar.google. com using the following keywords: “caffeine,” “energy drink,” “Red Bull,” “caffeinated beverage,” “caffeine drink,” “energy drink industry,” “energy drink company,” and “glucose” yielded the references that have been aggregated, synthesized, and summarized in this thesis. Caffeine’s ability to improve one’s subjective mood, reaction time, memory, and attention has been scientifically verified by the available research literature; in essence, then, caffeine is a legal, low-grade stimulant. The ubiquity of caffeine in everyday life has made its consumption a part of everyday life and a normal means of self-medication. This ubiquity in today’s society has also been promoted by the lax regulatory structure regarding the compound – a regulatory structure that has allowed EDs manufacturers to include five times more caffeine in their products than in a can of Coca-Cola. EDs manufacturers have embraced caffeine’s stimulatory effects in such an atmosphere of lax regulation and high demand produced by environmental and societal factors to produce high-caffeine, high-sugar products uniquely suited to their target demographic – twenty year olds. However, they also dictate the negative side effects that can harm consumer health over the short or long-term.
The Living Arrangements of Children and Their Educational Well-Being

The author uses data from the 1997 and 1999 rounds of the National Survey of America's Families to estimate a set of descriptive regression equations examining the relationship between a detailed measure of childhood living arrangements and the educational well-being of children measured as their engagement in school and participation in extracurricular activities. He considers three dimensions of family environment linked to childhood living arrangements that might generate differences in school engagement and participation in extracurricular activities. These dimensions of family environment are turbulence (degree of instability in children's social and physical environment), parenting context (parental activities experienced by children), and economic resources (family income relative to poverty). The author finds strong bivariate relationships between childhood living arrangements and the measures of educational well-being that are reduced and sometimes eliminated when differences in turbulence, parenting, and economic resources are controlled.
Criminal Offending and Learning Disabilities in New Zealand Youth

Sixty youth (16-19 years) from two youth prison sites participate in a prospective study examining criminal offending and learning disabilities (LD), completing measures of estimated IQ, attention, reading, and mathematical and oral language abilities. Prevalence rates of LDs exceed those of international studies, with 91.67% of the offenders showing significant difficulties in at least one area of achievement (defined as 1 SD or more below the normative mean), the mean reading comprehension score falling at the 4th percentile. Four years post assessment, recidivism rates among released youth (n = 51) are investigated. After the investigators control for other known risk factors (including delinquency and estimated IQ), reading comprehension predicts future offending across measures, capturing rate, seriousness, and persistence of offending post release.
Phonological and lexical effects in verbal recall by children with specific language impairments.

BACKGROUND & AIMS The present study examined how phonological and lexical knowledge influences memory in children with specific language impairments (SLI). Previous work showed recall advantages for typical adults and children due to word frequency and phonotactic pattern frequency and a recall disadvantage due to phonological similarity among words. While children with SLI have well-documented memory difficulties, it is not clear whether these language knowledge factors also influence recall in this population. METHODS & PROCEDURES Sixteen children with SLI (mean age = 10;2) and chronological age-matched typically developing children (CAM) controls recalled lists of words differing in phonological similarity, word frequency and phonotactic pattern frequency. While previous studies used a small set of words appearing in multiple word lists, the current study used a larger set of words, without replacement, so that children could not gain practice with individual test items. OUTCOMES & RESULTS All main effects were significant. Interactions revealed that children with SLI were affected by similarity, but less so than their peers, comparably affected by word frequency and unaffected by phonotactic pattern frequency. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS Results due to phonological similarity suggest that children with SLI use less efficient encoding, while results due to word frequency and phonotactic pattern frequency were mixed. Children with SLI used coarse-grained language knowledge (word frequency) comparably with peers, but were less able to use fine-grained knowledge (phonotactic pattern frequency). Paired with phonological similarity results, this suggests that children with SLI have difficulty establishing robust phonological knowledge for use in language tasks.
Long-Term Cardiac Allograft Survival across an MHC Mismatch after “Pruning” of Alloreactive CD4 T Cells1

Specific tolerance to allografts has been achieved by a variety of means. We have previously shown that ex vivo removal of dividing CD4+ T cells from an MLR or “pruning” delays skin allograft rejection. We tested pruning of alloreactive T cells as a strategy for retaining a broad T cell repertoire while removing alloreactive T cells in a model of cardiac allograft transplant. Using CFSE staining of responder BALB/c cells with stimulator C57BL/6 cells in an MLR, SCID mice were reconstituted with either dividing (D) or nondividing (ND) CD4+ T cells derived from an MLR and then challenged with heterotopic cardiac allografts. Mice reconstituted with D CD4+ T cells rejected cardiac allografts from the stimulator strain with a median survival time (MST) of 29 days, while mice reconstituted with ND CD4+ T cells maintained allografts from the stimulator strain (MST of >100 days) while rejecting third-party allografts (B10.BR) (MST = 11 days). ELISPOT assays demonstrate donor-specific hyporesponsiveness of the ND CD4+ T cells. TCR β-chain V region (TRBV) repertoire analysis demonstrates clonal expansion within both rejecting D cardiac allografts and ND cardiac allografts surviving for the long-term. Histology showed greater allograft infiltration by the D CD4+ T cells. The surviving ND cardiac allografts demonstrated reduced cellular infiltration and reduced incidence of allograft vasculopathy, but with the development of chronic fibrosis. Thus, pruning of alloreactive T cells allows long-term-specific cardiac allograft survival while retaining the ability to reject third-party allografts.
Quantitative and Qualitative Adjustment of Thymic T Cell Production by Clonal Expansion of Premigrant Thymocytes1

In normal mice, single-positive thymocytes proliferate before being exported into the peripheral T cell pool. We measured the in vivo proliferation rates of mature thymocytes in several TCR transgenic mice. Different monoclonal TCR transgenic single-positive thymocytes proliferated at different rates in a given MHC context. Conversely, mature thymocytes expressing a given TCR, generated in mice of different MHC haplotypes, also showed different rates of proliferation. In p59fyn-deficient mice, the proliferation rate of mature thymocytes was diminished. Thus, premigrant thymocyte expansion is TCR mediated and depends on TCR affinity for self peptide/MHC ligands. In addition, we show that mature thymocyte expansion is clonotypic, increases the daily thymic T cell output, and modifies the TCR repertoire of newly produced T cells.