Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pre-commitment in gambling: a review of the empirical evidence

Norway, a Canadian province and Australia have introduced, or are considering introducing, voluntary or mandatory pre-commitment systems for electronic gaming machines. This paper critically reviews the empirical literature evaluating the effectiveness of such systems as a responsible gambling strategy. A literature search identified 17 relevant peer- and non-peer-reviewed publications. Self-report data suggests the majority of gamblers are positively predisposed to the concept of pre-commitment but non-problem and low-risk gamblers regard the system as personally unnecessary. Overall, studies reported variable findings relating to adherence to money limits and expenditure. Few gamblers appear to use options to set time limits. Methodological flaws such as low participation rates, compromised data integrity resulting from card sharing and failure to control for concurrent gambling outside trials limit conclusions drawn regarding the effectiveness of pre-commitment. It is recommended that further systematic trials should be implemented to determine the impact of pre-commitment systems on gamblers' behaviour.
How to Surgically Reduce Ileal Impactions Using Intraluminal Injection of Commercially Available Carboxymethylcellulose

Ileal impactions have previously been described as a common cause of colic, seen most notably in the southeastern United States. The impaction occurs within the ileum at the level of the ileocecal orifice and may extend up to 90 cm in an oral direction. Ileal impactions have been reported as the most frequent cause of non-strangulating small intestinal obstructions and account for 6.5–7.4% of all colic cases and 2.2–23% of small intestinal colic cases. A strong association has been made between the development of ileal impactions and the feeding of Coastal Bermudagrass hay, accounting for the regional distribution of the disease. Ileal impactions have varying degrees of pain as manifested by typical signs of colic in a horse. The disease process is unique in that the pain cycle is biphasic. The first phase of pain is actually caused by intense muscle spasms that occur within the ileum in response to the formation of the developing impaction. In cases where the spasm is ineffective in moving the impaction through the ileocecal orifice, the impaction is compressed and becomes more firm and dry. As the impaction remains unresolved, fluid begins to accumulate oral to the impaction, resulting in subsequent small intestinal and gastric distension, giving rise to the second phase of the pain cycle. Depending on the progression of the impaction and individual variation, these horses present with widely varying levels of pain. Medical treatment of ileal impactions has been previously described and is considered preferable to surgical treatment in most cases. For this reason, it is imperative to differentiate ileal impactions from strangulating diseases of the small intestine as quickly as possible. If caught early, a diagnosis by transrectal palpation of the impaction is possible, assuming that significant small intestinal distension has not occurred yet. In the presence of small intestinal distension confirmed by rectal palpation or abdominal ultrasonography, a presumptive diagnosis is possible by attaining a normal peritoneal fluid sample in conjunction with a history of ingestion of Coastal Bermudagrass. In many cases, however, when medical management fails or when a diagnosis cannot be made by examination and history alone, a definitive diagnosis is made during an exploratory celiotomy. Sur-
Inheritance of Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy.

Two pedigrees contain seven individuals with documented Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy. A review of all previously reported familial cases reveals one pedigree with sufficient useful data for genetic analysis. Study of these three pedigrees together with segregation analysis suggests an autosomal dominant mutation as the most likely etiology, although alternative etiologies cannot be ruled out for other cases. An apparent female predilection for this disorder is present in the two reported sibships, which is similar to previously reported cases, but reduced penetrance of the gene cannot be documented.
Somnogenic activity of O-acetylated and dimeric muramyl peptides

Slow-wave sleep-promoting factors in brain and urine were identified as muramyl peptides (MPs), the building blocks of bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan. In this study, structural variations of MPs that occur naturally in bacterial peptidoglycan were investigated for somnogenic activity. Monomeric and dimeric MPs were isolated and purified from Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Actinomadura sp. strain R39. The structures of these MPs were verified by fast atom bombardment mass spectroscopy and tandem mass spectroscopy. After intracerebroventricular administration of MPs, electroencephalograms and brain temperatures of rabbits were recorded for 6 h and were analyzed to determine durations of slow-wave sleep, rapid-eye-movement sleep, and wakefulness. The 6-O acetylation of muramic acid enhanced the somnogenic effects of certain monomeric MPs relative to their non-O-acetylated (but otherwise identical) counterparts. Two monomeric MPs containing an unsubstituted amide (i.e., Iso-Gln) were inactive, thus confirming previous results showing that amidation of a variety of MPs can block somnogenic activity. Two peptide-cross-linked MP dimers tested had no effect on slow-wave sleep, although a third peptide-cross-linked MP containing a 1,6-anhydro muramyl end on one of its monomeric subunits, a structure that enhances somnogenic potency of un-cross-linked monomers, was somnogenic. Two dimers connected by glycosidic bonds and containing an Iso-Gln moiety were inactive. Two other glycosidically linked dimers that also contained an Iso-Gln moiety, but were of lower molecular weight, were somnogenic. In summary, 6-O acetylation of muramic acid in somnogenic MPs enhances activity, and as a class, peptide-linked dimeric MPs tend to be less active than their constituent monomers.
A Solvent-Exposed Patch in Chaperone-Bound YopE Is Required for Translocation by the Type III Secretion System

ABSTRACT Most effector proteins of bacterial type III secretion (T3S) systems require chaperone proteins for translocation into host cells. Such effectors are bound by chaperones in a conserved and characteristic manner, with the chaperone-binding (Cb) region of the effector wound around the chaperone in a highly extended conformation. This conformation has been suggested to serve as a translocation signal in promoting the association between the chaperone-effector complex and a bacterial component required for translocation. We sought to test a prediction of this model by identifying a potential association site for the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis chaperone-effector pair SycE-YopE. We identified a set of residues in the YopE Cb region that are required for translocation but are dispensable for expression, SycE binding, secretion into the extrabacterial milieu, and stability in mammalian cells. These residues form a solvent-exposed patch on the surface of the chaperone-bound Cb region, and thus their effect on translocation is consistent with the structure of the chaperone-bound Cb region serving as a signal for translocation.
Accurate detection of aneuploidies in array CGH and gene expression microarray data

MOTIVATION Chromosomal copy number changes (aneuploidies) are common in cell populations that undergo multiple cell divisions including yeast strains, cell lines and tumor cells. Identification of aneuploidies is critical in evolutionary studies, where changes in copy number serve an adaptive purpose, as well as in cancer studies, where amplifications and deletions of chromosomal regions have been identified as a major pathogenetic mechanism. Aneuploidies can be studied on whole-genome level using array CGH (a microarray-based method that measures the DNA content), but their presence also affects gene expression. In gene expression microarray analysis, identification of copy number changes is especially important in preventing aberrant biological conclusions based on spurious gene expression correlation or masked phenotypes that arise due to aneuploidies. Previously suggested approaches for aneuploidy detection from microarray data mostly focus on array CGH, address only whole-chromosome or whole-arm copy number changes, and rely on thresholds or other heuristics, making them unsuitable for fully automated general application to gene expression datasets. There is a need for a general and robust method for identification of aneuploidies of any size from both array CGH and gene expression microarray data. RESULTS We present ChARM (Chromosomal Aberration Region Miner), a robust and accurate expectation-maximization based method for identification of segmental aneuploidies (partial chromosome changes) from gene expression and array CGH microarray data. Systematic evaluation of the algorithm on synthetic and biological data shows that the method is robust to noise, aneuploidal segment size and P-value cutoff. Using our approach, we identify known chromosomal changes and predict novel potential segmental aneuploidies in commonly used yeast deletion strains and in breast cancer. ChARM can be routinely used to identify aneuploidies in array CGH datasets and to screen gene expression data for aneuploidies or array biases. Our methodology is sensitive enough to detect statistically significant and biologically relevant aneuploidies even when expression or DNA content changes are subtle as in mixed populations of cells. AVAILABILITY Code available by request from the authors and on Web supplement at http://function.cs. princeton.edu/ChARM/
Active Memory Cube: A processing-in-memory architecture for exascale systems

Many studies point to the difficulty of scaling existing computer architectures to meet the needs of an exascale system (i.e., capable of executing $10^{18} $ floating-point operations per second), consuming no more than 20 MW in power, by around the year 2020. This paper outlines a new architecture, the Active Memory Cube, which reduces the energy of computation significantly by performing computation in the memory module, rather than moving data through large memory hierarchies to the processor core. The architecture leverages a commercially demonstrated 3D memory stack called the Hybrid Memory Cube, placing sophisticated computational elements on the logic layer below its stack of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) dies. The paper also describes an Active Memory Cube tuned to the requirements of a scientific exascale system. The computational elements have a vector architecture and are capable of performing a comprehensive set of floating-point and integer instructions, predicated operations, and gather-scatter accesses across memory in the Cube. The paper outlines the software infrastructure used to develop applications and to evaluate the architecture, and describes results of experiments on application kernels, along with performance and power projections.
General single‐index survival regression models for incident and prevalent covariate data and prevalent data without follow‐up

This article mainly focuses on analyzing covariate data from incident and prevalent cohort studies and a prevalent sample with only baseline covariates of interest and truncation times. Our major task in both research streams is to identify the effects of covariates on a failure time through very general single‐index survival regression models without observing survival outcomes. With a strict increase of the survival function in the linear predictor, the ratio of incident and prevalent covariate densities is shown to be a non‐degenerate and monotonic function of the linear predictor under covariate‐independent truncation. Without such a structural assumption, the conditional density of a truncation time in a prevalent cohort is ensured to be a non‐degenerate function of the linear predictor. In light of these features, some innovative approaches, which are based on the maximum rank correlation estimation or the pseudo least integrated squares estimation, are developed to estimate the coefficients of covariates up to a scale factor. Existing theoretical results are further used to establish the n ‐consistency and asymptotic normality of the proposed estimators. Moreover, extensive simulations are conducted to assess and compare the finite‐sample performance of various estimators. To illustrate the methodological ideas, we also analyze data from the Worcester Heart Attack Study and the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.
Joints under Electric Current Stresses Experimental Damage Mechanics of Micro / Power Electronics Solder

Experimental damage mechanics of flip chip solder joints under current stressing is studied using 20 test vehicle flip chip modules. Three different failure modes are observed. The dominant damage mechanism is caused by the combined effect of electromigration and thermomigration, where void nucleation and growth lead to the ultimate failure of the module. It is observed that thermomigration driving forces are stronger than electromigration; as a result thermomigration, not electromigration, determines the site of void nucleation. The void nucleation and growth modes and their preferred sites are also observed and discussed in detail. The interface between the Ni barrier layer and the solder joint is found to be the favorite site of void nucleation and growth. The effect of pre-existing voids on the failure process of a solder joint is also studied. It is observed that Black’s time to failure law for thin films is unreliable for solder joints.
Patterns in Foreign News Coverage on U.S. Network TV: A 10-Year Analysis

In recent years, coverage of foreign news by the U.S. mass media has come under increasing scrutiny. Spurred by the international debate over the flow of news and information, critics have charged that American news organizations serve the interests of capitalism by "presenting developing countries in a bad light and suppressing their authentic voices. "I Third World spokespersons, in particular, have argued that Western coverage of their countries is "disproportionate and distorted, with too little coverage and too much concentration on the violent, the bizarre and the conflictual. "2 Although recent research has cast some doubt on the validity of these claims,"Ich charges of imbalances or disparities appear particularly relevant for discussions concerning the evening newscasts of the three commercial U.S. television networks. Almost since the inception of network tele-
ATS workshop proceedings: exhaled nitric oxide and nitric oxide oxidative metabolism in exhaled breath condensate.

The field of noninvasive assessment of airway inflammation has developed rapidly since the discoveries in the late 1980s that nitric oxide (NO) is a central biological mediator and, in 1991, that exhaled breath contained NO (1). Accompanying this was the realization that asthma is an inflammatory airway syndrome, best treated by antiinflammatory agents. Subsequently, exhaled NO was found to be high in asthma (2), and to fall after antiinflammatory drugs but not bronchodilators. Today, exhaled NO (FeNO) is progressing from a research tool to clinical application in asthma (3). In the mid-1990s, the field of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) analysis, a biological sample of the airways took off rapidly, opening up another way to sample airway chemistry in a noninvasive manner. Exhaled NO measurement and NO redox assessment in EBC were the focus of an American Thoracic Society (ATS) workshop that was held in Toronto in 2002 and was divided into two sections: (1) exhaled and nasal NO and (2) lung nitrogen oxide and redox assessment using EBC. The full workshop proceedings can be accessed in the current proceedings of the ATS.
The Relationships among Singaporean Preservice Teachers’ ICT Competencies, Pedagogical Beliefs and their Beliefs on the Espoused Use of ICT

Integration of ICT into classroom teaching and learning has been a challenging task in many countries. There are many barriers that teachers have to negotiate before ICT can be employed meaningfully in the classroom. This paper investigates the relationships among Singaporean preservice teachers' ICT competencies, pedagogical beliefs, and their beliefs on the espoused use of ICT. These variables are important predictors for the preservice teacher's future use of ICT. The findings affirm that the preservice teachers' ICT competencies and their pedagogical beliefs are significantly related to their espoused use of ICT. Keywords: preservice teachers; information and communication technology (ICT); pedagogical beliefs DOI: 10.3860/taper.v19i3. 1849 The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher 19:3 (2010), pp. 387-400
The Influence of Supplier Development on Gaining a Preferential Buyer Status , Supplier Adaptation and Supplier Relational Embeddedness

In this paper we investigate the outcomes of supplier development as perceived by the supplier. More specifically, we investigate whether supplier adaptation occurs as a result of the interplay among supplier development, preferential buyer status and supplier relational embeddedness. Supplier relational embeddedness provides information to the buyer about the supplier’s intentions to reciprocate and stay close with the buyer. We examine the linkages between supply chain management research on supplier development, organization theory research on adaptation, social capital and networks in order to investigate how buyers can influence their competitive position in a supplier’s portfolio of competitive buyers. Furthermore, we introduce into our conceptual model a number of relational mediators (i.e. trust, commitment and satisfaction) advancing existent research on supplier development and adaptation. The results show that the relationship between supplier relational embeddedness and a buyer’s investments in supplier development are partially mediated by supplier trust, satisfaction (economic) and commitment (affective). Supplier relational embeddedness is an important mediator between investments in supplier development and gaining preferential buyer status that eventually effects in supplier adaptation.
A Comparison of Two Methods of Attitude Measurement: Likert-Type and Forced Choice

THE traditional method of attitude measurement has been to ask subjects to indicate their agreement or disagreement with statements which reflect their attitude toward some psychological object. These statements usually are selected from a larger pool of statements through the use of a scaling or rating technique. Although the subject’s response to the statements is generally assumed to be a true representation of his attitude, there is no assurance that his response actually does represent his attitude accurately. In this traditional type of attitude measurement the responses may be subject to many types of bias since no major attempt is made to control bias. Bias in attitude measurement is defined as any response to a statement that is a result of something other than agreement or disagreement with the statement itself; thus, it may take the form of deliberate faking, response set, or simple inaccurate estimation of one’s own opinions. The issue of whether the subject’s response to statements represents his true attitude is particularly crucial for the research area
Longitudinal course of posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in a community sample of adolescents and young adults.

OBJECTIVE Few studies have focused on the natural course of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its determinants in samples of the general population. The authors examined determinants of remission and chronicity of PTSD and associations with other disorders in a prospective community sample. METHOD The data were drawn from a prospective, longitudinal epidemiological study of adolescents and young adults (age 14-24 years) in Munich, Germany (N=2,548). The course of PTSD from baseline to follow-up 34-50 months later was studied in 125 respondents with DSM-IV PTSD or subthreshold PTSD at baseline. RESULTS Although 52% of the PTSD cases remitted during the follow-up period, 48% showed no significant remission of PTSD symptoms. Respondents with a chronic course were more likely to experience new traumatic event(s) during follow-up (odds ratio=5.21, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.95-13.92), to have higher rates of avoidant symptoms at baseline (odds ratio=10.16, 95% CI=1.73-59.51), and to report more help seeking (odds ratio=5.50, 95% CI=1.04-29.05), compared to respondents with remission. Rates of incident somatoform disorder (odds ratio=4.24, 95% CI=1.60-11.19) and other anxiety disorders (odds ratio=4.07, 95% CI=1.15-14.37) were also significantly associated with a chronic course. CONCLUSIONS PTSD is often a persistent and chronic disorder. Specific symptom clusters--especially avoidant symptoms--might be associated with the course of PTSD. In addition, the occurrence of new traumatic events differentiates PTSD cases with a chronic course from those with remission.
Inguinal lymph node biopsy in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus is safe.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The incidence of postoperative complications in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients remains controversial. Published data suggest that these patients are at higher risk for postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs) than are uninfected patients if the site is contaminated. To determine the incidence of postoperative SSI in HIV-infected patients undergoing aseptic surgery at uncontaminated sites, we performed a prospective case series analysis. We hypothesized that the rate of postoperative SSI would be low for this aseptic procedure, irrespective of CD4(+) lymphocyte counts. Additionally, we monitored the rates of other complications, namely, hematoma, dorsal vein thrombosis, epididymitis, lymphocele, and suture extrusion. METHODS From May 1, 2000, through January 31, 2006, we performed 137 sterile inguinal lymph node biopsies in 44 HIV-infected patients as part of a funded study evaluating the role of peripheral lymphatic tissue in the pathophysiology of HIV infection. Postoperatively, we followed all patients for a minimum of 30 days. RESULTS Postoperatively, we noted one instance each (0.7%) of infection, dorsal vein thrombosis with epididymitis (0.7%), and lymphocele and two cases each (1.4%) of hematoma and suture extrusion. The CD4(+) count at the time of biopsy did not correlate with postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS Inguinal lymph node biopsy in HIV-infected patients is safe, irrespective of CD4(+) lymphocyte count.