Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depletion of RT6.1+ T lymphocytes induces diabetes in resistant biobreeding/Worcester (BB/W) rats

To investigate the role of RT6+ T cells in the pathogenesis of diabetes in BB/W rats, we treated animals from the diabetes-resistant (DR) subline with anti-RT6.1 lymphocytotoxic mAb. This depleted greater than 95% of peripheral RT6+ T cells but did not substantially reduce levels of circulating T cells or the in vitro response of spleen cells to mitogen. Treatment of 30-d-old DR BB/W rats in this way: induced insulitis and diabetes, rendered nondiabetic RT6-depleted DR rats susceptible to the adoptive transfer of diabetes by spleen cells from acutely diabetic BB/W rats, and yielded DR spleen cell populations capable of the adoptive transfer of diabetes to diabetes-prone (DP) or DR recipients. Treatment of DR rats beginning at 60 d of age failed to produce these effects. These results suggest that both susceptibility and resistance to diabetes in the BB/W rat are in part regulated by the RT6+ T cell subset and provide evidence for the importance of regulatory T lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity and diabetes in BB/W rats.
Membrane thinning effect of the beta-sheet antimicrobial protegrin.

Lipid bilayers containing the antimicrobial peptide protegrin-1 (PG-1) were studied by lamellar X-ray diffraction. Previously, we have shown that the peptide exists in two distinct states when associated with lipid bilayers depending on the peptide concentration [Heller, W. T. , Waring, A. J., Lehrer, R. I. , and Huang, H. W. (1998) Biochemistry 37, 17331-17338]. For concentrations below a lipid-dependent threshold, PG-1 exhibits a unique oriented circular dichroism spectrum called the S state. X-ray experiments show that in this state PG-1 decreases the thickness of the lipid bilayer in proportion to the peptide concentration, similar to alamethicin's membrane thinning effect. This indicates that the S state is adsorbed in the headgroup region of the lipid bilayer, where the peptide is in an inactive state. For PG-1 above the threshold concentration, X-ray diffraction shows that the interaction between the peptide and the bilayer changes significantly. These results suggest that PG-1 has the same concentration-gated mechanism of action as alamethicin.
The Lexical Competence Hypothesis: A Cognitive Account of the Relationship Between Vernacularization and Grammatical Expansion in Creolization

Incipient and basic pidgins typically lack grammatical/functional structures (GFS) and have little in the way of complex sentence structures (CSSs). Over time, however, pidgins may expand and gain GFS and CSSs. Researchers have linked this expansion to the social process of vernacularization. We propose that this expansion actually results from a cognitive process driven by vernacularization, namely increased lexical competence. Lexical competence is a speaker's facility with the content lexical items in a language, and includes overall vocabulary size as well as ease of lexical access. Speakers with high competence are predicted to use more GFS and CSS than speakers with low competence. Importantly, frequent of use of the language increases competence. Vernacularization includes increased use; thus, as the lexical competence of its speakers increases more GFS and CSS emerge in their speech. We conducted a short-term language creation experiment to test this hypothesis. Results show that as participants' lexical competence increased, so did the amount of GFS and CSS in their speech, supporting the proposed relationship between lexical competence and the expression of grammatical structures.
Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of the mainstream teachers of children with a preschool diagnosis of speech/language impairment

Severalfactors have been shown to influence inclusion of children with special educational needs. This paper reports on findings from a questionnaire investigating training, specialist knowledge, confidence, attitudes and beliefs of the Reception class, Year 1, and Year 2 teachers of a cohort of children with a preschool diagnosis of moderate or severe speech/language impairment. While teacher attitudes to mainstream inclusion of children with speech and language difficulties were generally positive, many of them reported having little or no training on speech and language impairment, with knowledge acquired mainly through ‘hands on’ experience and books. Overall, levels of confidence in their ability to meet the educational needs of such pupils were low, and mechanisms were not always in place to ensure that information regarding their pupils was shared amongst professionals, particularly when these children entered schoolfor the first time.
Security in e-Business - Understanding Customers Perceptions and Concerns

It has become apparent to many security researchers that traditional security approaches are not sufficient to provide adequate security for today's pervasive electronic business environment. We and others argue that security is a socio-technical problem in which its social components are not sufficiently addressed or understood. Our contribution aims to overcome this problem situation, by developing a better understanding of online customers’ security perceptions in Jordan. An interpretive approach is employed and general inductive coding process is used to analyse the collected data. On the basis of these study's findings we argue that many customers’ related aspects need to be considered in order to elevate e-Business security. These aspects include perceptions and concerns as well knowledge of and interaction with other
Is a New Worldwide Web Possible? An Explorative Comparison of the Use of ICTs by Two South African Social Movements

Abstract: In this article the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially new media technologies such as e-mail and the Internet, by postapartheid South African social movements is explored. Following a discussion of the use of these technologies by activist groupings in international contexts, a typology suggested by Rheingold (2003) is used as a framework for comparing two South African social movements: the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the Anti-Privatization Forum (APF).
An Update on the Pathogenesis of Osteochondrosis

Osteochondrosis is defined as a focal disturbance in endochondral ossification. The cartilage superficial to an osteochondrosis lesion can fracture, giving rise to fragments in joints known as osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD). In pigs and horses, it has been confirmed that the disturbance in ossification is the result of failure of the blood supply to epiphyseal growth cartilage and associated ischemic chondronecrosis. The earliest lesion following vascular failure is an area of ischemic chondronecrosis at an intermediate depth of the growth cartilage (osteochondrosis latens) that is detectable ex vivo, indirectly using contrast-enhanced micro- and conventional computed tomography (CT) or directly using adiabatic T1ρ magnetic resonance imaging. More chronic lesions of ischemic chondronecrosis within the ossification front (osteochondrosis manifesta) are detectable by the same techniques and have also been followed longitudinally in pigs using plain CT. The results confirm that lesions sometimes undergo spontaneous resolution, and in combination, CT and histology observations indicate that this occurs by filling of radiolucent defects with bone from separate centers of endochondral ossification that form superficial to lesions and by phagocytosis and intramembranous ossification of granulation tissue that forms deep to lesions. Research is currently aimed at discovering the cause of the vascular failure in osteochondrosis, and studies of spontaneous lesions suggest that failure is associated with the process of incorporating blood vessels into the advancing ossification front during growth. Experimental studies also show that bacteremia can lead to vascular occlusion. Future challenges are to differentiate between causes of vascular failure and to discover the nature of the heritable predisposition for osteochondrosis.
Study Habits as a Factor in the Locus of Control-Academic Achievement Relationship

Although several studies have shown that a relationship exists between locus of control and academic achievement as measured by grade poinr average (GPA) (Warehime, 1972; Hjelle, 19701, no attempt has been made to account for this relationship. The present investigation was conducted to determine if differential study habits between internal and external individuals could be a significant factor in the link between locus of control and academic achievement. The Internal-External (I-E) scale (Roaer, 1966) was administered to 70 female and 36 male undergraduates at Indiana State University. One extra forced-choice item added to the I-E scale required all Ss to select one of the following three alternatives: (A) I usually L e p up with course assignments as they are given, and I rarely cram for a test. (B) I rarely keep u with course assignments as they are given, and most always cram for a test. (C) I rarely teep up with my course assignments as they are given and I also do not cram before a test. Lloyd and Knutzen (1969). in a study involving programmed instruction, found that those individuals who began early and evenly spaced their studying throughout the semester achieved higher grades than those who exhibited dilatory study habits. From this finding it seems that an even distribution of study time is the more efficient mode of preparation for classroom activities. Therefore, ir was predicted that internal Ss would more often select choice A, and the external Ss would more often select choices B or C in the additional forced-choice item. The IE-GPA correlation was small but significanr for males ( r = M.28, p .05). The data were then divided at the median of the I-E scale scores (males 10.5; females 12.9). This yielded a two-way contingency table, with internals and externals on one dimension and choice A and choices B or C on the other dimension, for the analysis of the frequency data. The resulting chi squares were significant for males (x ' = 11.25, p .05). This lends strong support to the previously stated prediction, at least with respect to males. These results, along with supporting previous reports of a sex difference (e.g., Warehime, 1972), indicate that differential study habits are an important factor in the locus of control-academic achievement relationship. Although no measure was taken of the actual time spent srudying, it seems that internally oriented males use this time more efficiently than their externally oriented counterparts which aids earning higher grades. However, IQ! uncontrolled here, may be relevant. It is interesting that, despite no significant correlat~on with GPA, there seems to be no systematic relationship between the I-E scale and study habits for females. Research on the nature and antecedents of this sex difference is needed.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS OF READING DISABILITY

Even though reading instruction had been historically the most important academic responsibility of schools, recently, it has drawn much greater attention because language processing has become the backbone of the unprecedented advancement in information technology. In light of this background, specific reading disability (RD, hereafter) has become the focus of intense research efforts. As the most commonly encountered variety of Learning Disability, RD is almost always identified on the basis of a discrepancy seen between the IQ score of the at-risk reader and his or her reading achievement score. In general, poor readers who have a “significant” discrepancy between IQ and achievement are classified as having learning disability (LD, hereafter); poor readers whose reading score and IQ are on par with each other are identified as not having a learning disability. This procedure, in essence, classifies children who experience difficulty in learning to read into two categories: poor readers with reading disability and poor readers without reading disability. This approach is based on the assumption that poor readers identified as having reading disability are qualitatively different from poor readers who are not so identified. This paper examines the validity of this form of classification and offers a new approach for dealing with children with reading problems. The proposed approach utilizes a method of diagnosis which is based on the Componential Model of reading which, instead of categorizing poor readers into the two categories, focuses on the cause of the reading difficulty and targets remedial instruction at the source of the reading problem.
Understanding parental views of adolescent sexuality and sex education in Ecuador: a qualitative study

Parents' contribution to sex education is increasingly receiving research attention. This growing interest stems from recognition of the influence that parental attitudes may have both on young people's sexual attitudes and behaviour, and on school-based sex education. Studies regarding parental attitudes towards sexuality are, however, still rare. The two main objectives of this study were to explore parental views about sexuality and to understand parental attitudes towards sex education. Four focus group discussions were conducted with parents from high schools in Cuenca, Ecuador. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The study revealed that parents held a restricted view about sex education, grounded in traditional religious ideas about sexuality, which led parents to understand it as a morally and physically dangerous activity. Although parents expressed a willingness to make good quality sex education available to their children, they reported having insufficient personal resources to fulfil that objective. The results of this study provide important information about the need to develop and adapt sex education to each specific cultural context, thereby confirming the importance of knowing about the cultural traditions and religious beliefs that may form obstacles to effective sex education for young people in Ecuador.
Learning From History Text: The Interaction of Knowledge and Comprehension Skill with Text Structure

Although prior knowledge and reading-comprehension skill have both been shown to influence learning from text, recent research based on the Kintsch (1988) model of text understanding leads to the hypothesis that the development of the text-base representation of text contents should be a function of reading-comprehension skill and not of prior knowledge, whereas the development of a situation model should be a function of the individual's prior knowledge and not of the reader's comprehension skill. Furthermore, the extent to which knowledge and comprehension skill influence learning from text was hypothesized to be a function of text contents. Using fictitious historical accounts, it was found that learning from an expanded text in which causal relations were made explicit was related to reading-comprehension skill and not to prior knowledge, whereas learning from an unexpanded text that did not spell out causes was a function of prior knowledge and not of reading-comprehension skill. The results were con.
Cystatins Up-regulate Nitric Oxide Release from Interferon-γ- activated Mouse Peritoneal Macrophages*

Up-regulation of nitric oxide (NO) production by activated murine macrophages was observed during infection by Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas' disease. Cell infection by T. cruzi depends at least in part on cruzipain, a membrane-associated papain-related proteinase which is sensitive to inhibition by synthetic inhibitors of cysteine proteinases. Using the natural cysteine proteinase inhibitor chicken cystatin, a representative member of cystatin family 2, to investigate the effect of cruzipain on macrophage infection and NO release, we found that the inhibitor alone up-regulated NO release from interferon-γ-activated macrophages. A 12-fold increase in NO production was observed in the presence of 1 μM chicken cystatin. This overproduction was concentration-dependent and could be detected at concentrations as low as 10 nM and remained in the presence of polymyxin B. Representative members of the other cystatin families, i.e. stefin B (family 1), T-kininogen, and its inhibitory domains (family 3), were also able to enhance NO production from interferon-γ-activated macrophages. Neither E64, an irreversible inhibitor of cysteine proteinases, nor inhibitors of aspartyl and serine proteinases (aprotinin, pepstatin, and soybean trypsin inhibitor) enhanced NO production. Upon complexation with saturating amounts of reduced-alkylated papain, cystatins still remained active in increasing NO production, suggesting that the cystatin inhibitory site was not involved in the mechanism. The results demonstrate that members of all 3 cystatin families share another common property unrelated to their function of cysteine proteinase inhibitors, i.e. up-regulation of NO production, which biological significance remains to be elucidated.
Association between left ventricular global longitudinal strain, health‐related quality of life and functional capacity in chronic kidney disease patients with preserved ejection fraction

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a significant burden of dyspnoea and fatigue in spite having normal left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF). Global longitudinal strain (GLS) can detect subtle changes in LV function. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between LV function, functional capacity and quality of life (QOL) in CKD patients with preserved EF.
Consciousness as a Problem in the Psychology of Behavior

The article that follows is both a historical landmark and a theoretical discussion of unusual contemporary value to psychology. It is the written version of a speech delivered by L. S. Vygotsky at the Second All-Union Congress of Psychoneurologists, held in Leningrad in 1924. This was Vygotsky's first major contribution to Soviet psychology, and it came at a critical time in the history of Soviet science.
Cortical responses elicited by luminance and compound stimuli modulated by pseudo-random sequences: comparison between normal trichromats and congenital red-green color blinds

Conventional pattern-reversal visual evoked cortical potential (VECP) shows positivity for luminance and chromatic equiluminant stimuli while conventional pattern-onset VECP shows positivity for luminance pattern-onset and negativity for chromatic pattern-onset. We evaluated how the presentation mode affects VECPs elicited by luminance and compound (luminance plus chromatic) pseudo-random stimulation. Eleven normal trichromats and 17 red-green color-blinds were studied. Pattern-reversal and pattern-onset luminance and compound (luminance plus red-green) gratings were temporally modulated by m-sequence. We used a cross-correlation routine to extract the first order kernel (K1) and the first and second slices of the second order kernel (K2.1 and K2.2, respectively) from the VECP response. We integrated the amplitude of VECP components as a function of time in order to estimate its magnitude for each stimulus condition. We also used a normalized cross-correlation method in order to test the similarity of the VECP components. The VECP components varied with the presentation mode and the presence of red-green contrast in the stimuli. In trichromats, for compound conditions, pattern-onset K1, K2.1, and K2.2, and pattern-reversal K2.1 and K2.2 had negative-dominated waveforms at 100 ms. Small negativity or small positivity were observed in dichromats. Trichromats had larger VECP magnitude than color-blinds for compound pattern-onset K1 (with large variability across subjects), compound pattern-onset and pattern-reversal K2.1, and compound pattern-reversal K2.2. Trichromats and color-blinds had similar VECP amplitude for compound pattern-reversal K1 and compound pattern-onset K2.2, as well as for all luminance conditions. The cross-correlation analysis showed high similarity between waveforms of compound pattern-onset K2.1 and pattern-reversal K2.2 as well as pattern-reversal K2.1 and K2.2. We suggest that compound pattern-reversal K2.1 is an appropriate response to study red-green color-opponent activity.
Agrobacterium-mediated Transformation of the Winter Mushroom, Flammulina velutipes

Flammulina velutipes was transformed efficiently’ by Agrobacterium-medmted transformation system. The transformation frequency was about 16% with the gill tissues of the fungal fruiting body. Southern hybridization and genetic analysis suggest that the introduced DNA was inserted onto different locations of the fungal genome, and inherited stably to the next generation via basidiospores. Transformation or gene tagging with Agrobacterium T-DNA based vector should be useful for wide ranges of genetic or molecular biological studies of the mushroom.
Children's talk and social competence

This article reviews research on the organisation of children's talk. It outlines the range of disciplinary concerns that contribute to the study of children's talk, and focuses on a range of work which foregrounds linkages between children's talk, social interaction and wider social processes. Paying particular attention to studies in conversation analysis, the emphasis is on how talk in peer-group and in child-adult interaction contributes to various theoretical and practical interests in children and society.
The changing ‘nature’ of Tiwanaku religion and the rise of an Andean state

Abstract The means by which past complex societies thrived at high altitudes remain puzzling. In this paper I suggest that religious ideology and ritual practice shaped the cultural processes that fostered Tiwanaku state rise in the south-central Andean highlands. Physical changes in the monumental core of the state's principal centre are particularly revealing. Material transformations in monumental axiality, spatiality, materiality and iconography were critical elements in a changing religion that sought to integrate the symbolism of prominent generative forces such as mountains, vital elements such as water and recurring celestial cycles. After ad 500, Tiwanaku's innovative religion meshed imposing natural features with timeless solar cycles. This embodiment and objectification of nature was increasingly critical for a polity that thrived precariously on an effective coordination of fishing, herding and new technologies of high-altitude farming. The symbolic appropriation of the natural world and its immanent spiritual forces was constitutive of Tiwanaku's political integration of diverse societies and productive landscapes.