Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sociodemographic Correlates of Modifiable Risk Factors for Hypertension in a Rural Local Government Area of Oyo State South West Nigeria

Modifiable risk factors of hypertension contribute significantly to all-cause morbidity and mortality worldwide. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of and the association of modifiable risk factors with hypertension in rural community. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 166 male and 201 female adults of 18 years and above using cluster sampling technique. Data were collected using modified WHO STEPS instrument and hypertensive subjects were defined as those with systolic greater than or equal to 140 and diastolic of 90 mmHg. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 17 with level of significance at P < 0.05. The mean age of the subjects was 36.36 (±16.88) years and mean systolic and diastolic pressures were 124 (±16.93) and 76.32 (±11.85) mmHg, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension was high (22.9%) in this rural communities but awareness was low, 10.71%. The prevalence of alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, abnormal weight, inadequate sleep, smoking, significant stress, and female use of hormonal contraceptives was 149 (40.6%), 91 (24.8%), 88 (24.0%), 122 (33.2%), 14 (3.8%), 65 (17.7%), and 53 (26.5%), respectively. Overweight, sex, inadequate sleep, and stress were established as positive predictors of hypertension. The rising prevalence of hypertension and its modifiable risk factors in rural communities require prompt interventions directed at reversing these trends.
General knowledge overconfidence : Cross-national variations, response style, and reality

Abstract Overconfidence in general knowledge is typically stronger among Asian than among Western subject groups. The research described here examined the possibility that such differences might be a manifestation of previously reported extreme response styles on the part of Asian respondents. This hypothesis was evaluated by comparing overconfidence implicit in directly reported judgments and judgments inferred from decisions Chinese and American subjects made about wagers in which they could earn actual, material goods. Contrary to the response style hypothesis, indications of extreme Chinese overconfidence were unaffected by whether judgments were direct or inferred from decisions. However, American subjects' inferred judgments were even more overconfident than their direct judgments. The bias in all subjects' inferred judgments indicates that, in disagreement with some interpretations of recent developments in the literature, overconfidence is indeed a “real,” consequential phenomenon, not a data-analytic artifact. An additional, serendipitous finding was that the inferred judgments of both Chinese and American subjects were far less variable than their direct judgments.
Follow‐up mapping supports the evidence for linkage in the candidate region at 9q22 in the NIMH Alzheimer's disease Genetics Initiative cohort

Other than the APOE peak at 19q13, the 9q22 region was identified in our original genomic scan as the candidate region with the highest multipoint lod score (MLS) in the subset of late onset Alzheimer's Disease (AD) families (MLS = 2.9 at 101 cM) from the NIMH Genetics Initiative sample. We have now genotyped an additional 12 short tandem repeats (STR) in this region. Multipoint analysis shows the region remains significant with an increase in the peak MLS from 2.9 to 3.8 at 95 cM near marker D9S1815, and the 1 LOD interval narrows from 21.5 to 11 cM. HLOD scores also provide evidence for significant linkage (4.5 with an α = 31%) with a further narrowing of the region to 6.6 cM (92.2–98.8 cM). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Ubiquilin1 gene (UBQLN1), located at 83.3 cM, have been reported to be significantly associated to AD, accounting for a substantial portion of the original linkage signal [Bertram et al., 2005 ]. Our analyses of the higher resolution genotype data generated here provide further support for the existence of a least one additional locus on chromosome 9q22. In an effort to pinpoint this putative AD susceptibility gene, we have begun to analyze SNPs in other candidate genes in and around this narrowed region to test for additional associations to AD. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Accounting for the public interest: public ineffectuals or public intellectuals?

Purpose – To present a case for accounting and finance academics to have a more active social role.Design/methodology/approach – A range of published works by “public intellectuals” on praxis is presented. Each theorist could be considered to be an eminent theoretician in their own right; what marks them out is that they have developed their theories by active engagement.Findings – The economic and political interests of the world in which academics operate are perpetuated by the creation of a breed of intellectuals who encounter significant challenges not only to questioning the status quo but, perhaps more importantly, to venturing outside of the academy. Yet, arguably there has never been a more important time for academics to do just that. Academics are armed with the necessary theoretical and research skills to bring coherence to fledgling movements and to enable them to overcome the barriers created by the myths perpetuated to hamper social protest.Originality/value – This paper offers practical and.
Development and validation of the GP frequency of interprofessional collaboration instrument (FICI-GP) in primary care

Existing validated measures of pharmacist–physician collaboration focus on measuring attitudes toward collaboration and do not measure frequency of interactions that comprise actual collaborative behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to measure the frequency of collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists from the GP's perspective. An 11-item Frequency of Interprofessional Collaboration Instrument for GPs (FICI-GP) was developed and administered to 1118 GPs in eight divisions of general practice in New South Wales, Australia. Two hundred and fifty-eight (23%) GP surveys were completed and returned. Principal component analysis suggested removal of one item for a final one-factor solution. The refined 10-item FICI-GP had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.87. After collapsing the original five-point response scale to a three-point response scale, the refined FICI-GP demonstrated fit to the Rasch model. Criterion validity of the FICI-GP was supported by the correlation of FICI-GP scores with scores on a previously validated physician–pharmacist collaboration instrument as well as by predicted differences in FICI-GP scores between subgroups of respondents stratified on age, co-location with pharmacists and interactions during residency. The refined 10-item FICI-GP was shown to have good internal consistency, criterion validity and fit to the Rasch model.
T Cell Receptor Specificity Is Critical for the Development of Epidermal γδ T Cells

A particular feature of γδ T cell biology is that cells expressing T cell receptor (TCR) using specific Vγ/Vδ segments are localized in distinct epithelial sites, e.g., in mouse epidermis nearly all γδ T cells express Vγ3/Vδ1. These cells, referred to as dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC) originate from fetal Vγ3+ thymocytes. The role of γδ TCR specificity in DETC's migration/localization to the skin has remained controversial. To address this issue we have generated transgenic (Tg) mice expressing a TCR δ chain (Vδ6.3-Dδ1-Dδ2-Jδ1-Cδ), which can pair with Vγ3 in fetal thymocytes but is not normally expressed by DETC. In wild-type (wt) Vδ6. 3Tg mice DETC were present and virtually all of them express Vδ6. 3. However, DETC were absent in TCR-δ−/− Vδ6. 3Tg mice, despite the fact that Vδ6. 3Tg γδ T cells were present in normal numbers in other lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues. In wt Vδ6. 3Tg mice, a high proportion of in-frame Vδ1 transcripts were found in DETC, suggesting that the expression of an endogenous TCR-δ (most probably Vδ1) was required for the development of Vδ6. 3+ epidermal γδ T cells. Collectively our data demonstrate that TCR specificity is essential for the development of γδ T cells in the epidermis. Moreover, they show that the TCR-δ locus is not allelically excluded.
Prolonged exercise to fatigue in humans impairs skeletal muscle Na+-K+-ATPase activity, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release, and Ca2+ uptake.

Prolonged exhaustive submaximal exercise in humans induces marked metabolic changes, but little is known about effects on muscle Na+-K+-ATPase activity and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ regulation. We therefore investigated whether these processes were impaired during cycling exercise at 74.3 +/- 1.2% maximal O2 uptake (mean +/- SE) continued until fatigue in eight healthy subjects (maximal O2 uptake of 3.93 +/- 0.69 l/min). A vastus lateralis muscle biopsy was taken at rest, at 10 and 45 min of exercise, and at fatigue. Muscle was analyzed for in vitro Na+-K+-ATPase activity [maximal K+-stimulated 3-O-methylfluorescein phosphatase (3-O-MFPase) activity], Na+-K+-ATPase content ([3H]ouabain binding sites), sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release rate induced by 4 chloro-m-cresol, and Ca2+ uptake rate. Cycling time to fatigue was 72.18 +/- 6.46 min. Muscle 3-O-MFPase activity (nmol.min(-1). g protein(-1)) fell from rest by 6.6 +/- 2.1% at 10 min (P <0.05), by 10.7 +/- 2.3% at 45 min (P <0.01), and by 12.6 +/- 1.6% at fatigue (P <0.01), whereas 3[H]ouabain binding site content was unchanged. Ca2+ release (mmol.min(-1). g protein(-1)) declined from rest by 10.0 +/- 3.8% at 45 min (P <0.05) and by 17.9 +/- 4.1% at fatigue (P < 0.01), whereas Ca2+ uptake rate fell from rest by 23.8 +/- 12.2% at fatigue (P=0.05). However, the decline in muscle 3-O-MFPase activity, Ca2+ uptake, and Ca2+ release were variable and not significantly correlated with time to fatigue. Thus prolonged exhaustive exercise impaired each of the maximal in vitro Na+-K+-ATPase activity, Ca2+ release, and Ca2+ uptake rates. This suggests that acutely downregulated muscle Na+, K+, and Ca2+ transport processes may be important factors in fatigue during prolonged exercise in humans.
Noise Disturbance from a Developing Airport

The comparative importance of perceived risk to environmental quality and dispositions to be generally annoyed or sensitive to noise in predicting disturbance from aviation noise was investigated by distributing a mail-back questionnaire to 901 residents in neighborhoods bordering a small developing airport. An Environmental Noise Risk scale, developed by the authors, assessed how individuals appraise the trade-off between economic benefits from airport development and adverse environmental effects. Stepwise multiple regression analysis (N = 358) showed that as hypothesized, disturbance was predicted by assessment of environmental noise risk (β = .60, p < .0001) but not by general annoyance or noise sensitivity. Those disturbed by noise were also more discriminating in their evaluation of other less salient attributes of neighborhoods. Environmental noise risk is discussed as a construct that can contribute to understanding how people evaluate the consequences of a developing noise source.
Fusion of Visible and Thermal Descriptors Using Genetic Algorithms for Face Recognition Systems

The aim of this article is to present a new face recognition system based on the fusion of visible and thermal features obtained from the most current local matching descriptors by maximizing face recognition rates through the use of genetic algorithms. The article considers a comparison of the performance of the proposed fusion methodology against five current face recognition methods and classic fusion techniques used commonly in the literature. These were selected by considering their performance in face recognition. The five local matching methods and the proposed fusion methodology are evaluated using the standard visible/thermal database, the Equinox database, along with a new database, the PUCV-VTF, designed for visible-thermal studies in face recognition and described for the first time in this work. The latter is created considering visible and thermal image sensors with different real-world conditions, such as variations in illumination, facial expression, pose, occlusion, etc. The main conclusions of this article are that two variants of the proposed fusion methodology surpass current face recognition methods and the classic fusion techniques reported in the literature, attaining recognition rates of over 97% and 99% for the Equinox and PUCV-VTF databases, respectively. The fusion methodology is very robust to illumination and expression changes, as it combines thermal and visible information efficiently by using genetic algorithms, thus allowing it to choose optimal face areas where one spectrum is more representative than the other.
Lolita speaks: ‘Sexting,’ teenage girls and the law

Recently, national and local media across North America have warned against the risks of ‘sexting’ – the practice of sending, posting or possessing sexually suggestive text messages and images via cell phones or the Internet. In response to this phenomenon, Pennsylvania District Attorney Skumanick threatened to bring child pornography charges against teenagers who had been caught sexting and who refused to attend a gender-based ‘re-education’ program designed to teach them about its dangers. Three girls refused the ultimatum, resulting in Miller v. Mitchell [2010], the first case to challenge the constitutionality of prosecuting teens for their digital sexual expression. This article critically considers dominant and intersecting cultural and legal narratives about sexting and troubles the predominant construction of teenage female sexters as dupes of the ‘pornification’ of a generation and as ‘self-sexually exploiting. ’ The cultural and legal disavowal of girls’ narratives about digital sexual expression is considered through Judith Butler’s poststructural analysis of sexuality, speech and censorship. Drawing on two online studies of sexting, contributions to an online forum on the topic, and third-wave feminist writings on a generational re-envisioning of risk, respectability and privacy, I argue that that the foreclosure of the ‘domain of the sayable’ within which girls seek to speak works paradoxically to further render them fetishized sexual objects, thus engendering the very harm that criminal law seeks to remedy.
Response Styles and Academic Achievement

reliably and used to predict a criterion of academic achievement. Frederiksen and Messick (1959) document a variety of response sets, including: acquiescence, evasiveness, inclusiveness, and social desirability, as well as suggesting other possibilities: e.g., the set to fake on personality items, to skip difficult items, to be consistent, and one which was specifically explored, &dquo;criticalness. &dquo; Response sets have long been considered as &dquo;nuisance&dquo; variables, introducing systematic error or method variance and distorting the interpretation of content (Campbell and Fiske, 1959; Cronbach, 1946; Messick & Jackson, 1958; Vernon, 1958). The present study, on the other hand, takes as its point of departure the view (Berg, 1955; Cronbach, 1950; Frederiksen & Messick, 1959; Jackson & Messick, 1958) that these systematic biases in responding may be valid
Database compression on graphics processors

Query co-processing on graphics processors (GPUs) has become an effective means to improve the performance of main memory databases. However, this co-processing requires the data transfer between the main memory and the GPU memory via a low-bandwidth PCI-E bus. The overhead of such data transfer becomes an important factor, even a bottleneck, for query co-processing performance on the GPU. In this paper, we propose to use compression to alleviate this performance problem. Specifically, we implement nine lightweight compression schemes on the GPU and further study the combinations of these schemes for a better compression ratio. We design a compression planner to find the optimal combination. Our experiments demonstrate that the GPU-based compression and decompression achieved a processing speed up to 45 and 56 GB/s respectively. Using partial decompression, we were able to significantly improve GPU-based query co-processing performance. As a side product, we have integrated our GPU-based compression into MonetDB, an open source column-oriented DBMS, and demonstrated the feasibility of offloading compression and decompression to the GPU.
The Return of the Repressed: Dissonance Theory Makes a Comeback

In 1957, Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance burst on the scene and revitalized social psychology with its deft blend of cognition and motivation. For the next two decades, the theory inspired an extraordinary amount of exciting research leading to a burgeoning of knowledge about human social behavior. The theory has been referred to as "the most important single development in social psychology to date" (Jones, 1976, p. x). But, by the mid-1970s the allure of the theory began to wane as interest in the entire topic of motivation faded and the journals were all but overwhelmed by the incredible popularity of purely cognitive approaches to social psychology. Recently, social psychologists seem to have rediscovered motivation and several mini- theories have emerged blending cognition with motivation-in much the same way that Festinger did some 35 years ago. This article traces the history of these developments and attempts a synthesis of some of the newer theories with the dissonance research of.
Play therapy with sexually abused children: Including parents in therapeutic play

This paper draws on the author’s experience as a member of a team of social workers undertaking play therapy with sexually abused children. It outlines the theoretical rationale that informed the development of practice in which parents were included in therapeutic play sessions with their children. It goes on to examine two cases that illustrate some of the issues. Finally, this paper begins to develop a critique of practice that involves parents, highlighting potential limitations and proposing a series of questions for further research.
Social Work with Older Adults and Their Families: Changing Practice Paradigms

Given the far-reaching social, economic, and demographic changes in the aging population, the authors argue for a methodological and practice-oriented transformation in future geriatric social work. The authors suggest that if they are to maintain their independence and well-being, a resilience-enhancing social work intervention will be especially effective in fostering the specific survival skills that older adults often already utilize to help them cope with difficult situations. A risk-resilience model sensitive to ethnic difference and practiced at multiple systems levels (e.g., the community) is offered as an advancement of the traditional models of social work practice. In conclusion, the authors emphasize the value of a strengths perspective to address the pressing issues that affect the aging population.
Respiratory effects of bronchoconstriction in anesthetized dogs.

Loading of the respiratory muscles either by the use of external resistance or by bronchoconstriction increases occlusion pressure. The present study compared the action of these loads on the respiratory motor activity more directly by examining their effects on the pattern of phrenic nerve discharge. Neural activity was related to changes in lung mechanics and ventilation. Spontaneously breathing dogs, anesthetized with chloralose or pentobarbital, were studied while breathing 100% O2. Phrenic nerve activity was rectified and integrated by the moving averaged method. Air flow, volume, transpulmonary pressure, and end-tidal PCO2 were continuously monitored. Graded external resistive loads applied throughout the breathing cycle decreased breathing frequency, tidal volume, and minute ventilation without augmentation of phrenic nerve activity. End-tidal CO2 tended to increase. However, methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction significantly increased the rate of rise of phrenic activity, decreased inspiratory.
Acute renal failure following cardiac surgery: incidence, outcomes and risk factors.

BACKGROUND Acute renal failure (ARF) is a recognised complication following cardiac surgery, but the incidence varies widely in the published literature and there are no Australian data available to help predict the risks of ARF in patients with pre-existing renal disease. AIM To determine the incidence, outcome and risk factors for ARF following cardiac surgery. METHODS A retrospective case control analysis of 903 consecutive patients who had cardiac surgery (795 CABG, 68 valve/septal surgery, 40 combined valve/CABG) in 1992-93. ARF was defined as doubling of serum creatinine concentration (Cr) to > 0.13 mmol/L if serum Cr was < or = 0.13 mmol/L pre-operatively, or else a rise in serum Cr of > or = 0.10 mmol/L after cardiac surgery. For each subject with ARF, two case control subjects were matched for date of surgery, surgeon, age, sex, type of surgery and pre-operative serum Cr to permit analysis of the influence of pre-operative factors (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, left ventricular systolic dysfunction) and for the comparison of cardiopulmonary bypass time upon the development of ARF. Subsidiary endpoints were mortality, need for dialysis and length of hospital stay. RESULTS ARF developed in only 1.1% of patients with 'normal' pre-operative renal function (creatinine < or = 0.13 mmol/L) and none required dialysis. ARF developed in 16% of those with impaired pre-operative renal function, 20% of whom required dialysis. Mortality from ARF was 13%. The risk of ARF rose from 10.4% in those with pre-operative serum Cr 0.14-0.20 mmol/L to 36.8% if the serum Cr was > 0.20 mmol/L (p < 0.01). Mortality was higher (4.2% vs 0.7%, p < 0.01) and length of hospital stay longer (14.5 vs nine days [median], p < 0.001) in those with impaired pre-operative renal function. ARF was more likely in those over 65 years, if valve surgery was included and where there was prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass time. CONCLUSIONS These data confirm that ARF following cardiac surgery is uncommon without pre-operative impairment of renal function but currently carries a mortality rate of 13%. Impaired renal function alone is associated with higher mortality and prolonged hospital stay. Studies to prevent ARF in this setting should focus on the high risk subsets described in this study.
Public arguments for and against the establishment of community mental health facilities: Implications for mental health practice

As the drive towards community care has increased in momentum, organisations involved in the establishment of community mental health facilities have encountered public opposition. It has been argued that this resistance is due to the attitudes held by the public towards people with mental health problems. This paper reports findings from a study of community attitudes towards mentally ill people. Discourse analysis was used to explore people's views about this client group by examining the ways in which they were expressed in letters to the local press and in subsequent discussions and interviews, when arguing for or against a community mental health facility in their community. The findings demonstrate how participants formulate their arguments for and against the location of a new mental health facility in the neighbourhood around particular argumentative topics. Participants deployed a range of argumentative forms and rhetorical devices. The implications of these findings for mental health practice are discussed.