Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Individual Variation in Susceptibility to Extracranial Carotid Atherosclerosis

Risk factors for coronary disease were assessed and nonlnvaslve methods were used to quantltate the extent of extracranial carotid atherosclerosis In 382 patients free of cerebrovascular symptoms. The ages of the participants ranged from 27 to 80 years. There were 183 men and 199 women, 30 black and 352 white persons. All patients had heart disease symptoms and were hospitalized for coronary anglography. Correlation of risk factors with extent of extracranial carotid atherosclerosis In this series of patients undergoing coronary anglography uncovered Individual variability In relationships between risk factors and carotid atherosclerosis that depended on coronary status. Risk factors for carotid atherosclerosis In patients with and without coronary disease differed. Age and hypertension were Independently related to carotid atherosclerosis In patients with, as well as those without, coronary disease. However, other risk factors were related to carotid atherosclerosis In only one group or the other. Risk factors correlated strongly wtth carotid atherosclerosis In patients with coronary disease (r2 =0.41) but poorly In those with no coronary disease (r2=0.21). Certain risk factors (age, pack years of smoking, left ventricular hypertrophy) related differently to the extent of carotid atherosclerosis In patients with, than In those without, coronary disease. Clarification of the role of coronary status In the carotid atherosclerosis response to risk factors may partly explain the results of certain population-based studies that have related race, gender, and other risk factors to carotid atherosclerosis. The Increased response to risk factors In patients wtth coronary disease may be attributable to arterial wall factors In such patients, or, alternatively, to an Interaction of measured risk factors In coronary disease patients with other risk factors not measured In this study.
Air Pollution in Europe

Abstract In this short critical perspective, we outline the serious problems caused by air pollution in Europe. Using two types of metrics, level assessment and trend assessment, we quantify the contribution of ammonia, NOx, SOx, non‐methane volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter in terms of years of life lost per capita and explain the connection between the various pollutants and their effects on human health and the environment. This is done on the basis of data collected by individual European Union (EU) member states as well as by the EU as a whole. We examine general emission trends as well as sector‐specific emissions and discuss the effectiveness of current legislation in reducing health risks and environmental damage. By combining these results with a cost–benefit analysis, we show that a further reduction in NOx emissions is the most urgent and potentially the most beneficial.
The interhemispheric functional organization on human visuo-spatial perception

To investigate the number of correct responses (NCR), the reaction time (RT) and the event-related potentials (ERPs), the visuo-spatial perception of geometric figures in conditions of backward masking was studied in healthy subjects and patients with chronic alcoholism. The performance of a visuo-spatial task of mentally constructing geometric figures was found to be achieved better if a figure-standard could be formed from the presented fragments. The NCR was significantly lower and the RT longer in patients than in healthy subjects. During the solution of this task in controls the RT was shorter if the stimuli were presented in the left visual field. No interhemispheric differences were observed in alcoholics. The late components of ERPs N200 and P300 occurred with a longer latency and lesser amplitudes in patients than in normal controls. Smaller ERP amplitudes were observed in the right hemisphere. The findings support the view that in chronic alcoholism the hemispheric interaction is disturbed due to predominant deficiency of the visuo-spatial function in the right hemisphere.
Risks for peroperative excessive blood loss in cesarean delivery

Objective. To analyze risk factors for peroperative excessive blood loss at cesarean delivery. Design. Case‐control study. Setting. Twenty‐four of 26 maternity units in Norway with at least 500 expected deliveries per year. Sample. A total of 2,778 women having singleton deliveries and participating in the Norwegian Breakthrough Project on Cesarean Section. Methods. Elective and emergency operations were analyzed separately with extensive blood loss defined as hemorrhage > 1000 ml with controls defined as bleeding < 500 ml. All analyzes were done in SPSS (version 16.0) with chi‐squared tests and logistic regression. Main outcome measures. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of extensive peroperative bleeding. Results. The prevalence of excessive blood loss differed between women undergoing elective (2.1%) and emergency cesarean deliveries (3.3%). Among maternal factors, chronic maternal diseases, pregnancy and delivery related conditions, placenta previa (aOR 19.7; 95% CI 5.4–72.2) and transverse lie (aOR 4.9; 95% CI 0.9–26.5) were the only risk factors for extensive blood loss in elective operations, whereas placenta previa (aOR 8.4; 95% CI 2.4–29.9), placental abruption (aOR 2.0; 95% CI 2.0–14.5), intervention at full cervical dilation (aOR 3.2; 95% CI 1.4–7.1) and high BMI (aOR 3.4; 95% CI 1.6–7.2) were risks in emergency operations. Conclusion. The different risk pattern for excessive bleeding in cesarean deliveries should be recognized when planning available obstetric competence for surgery.
Expression of transforming growth factors alpha and beta in colonic mucosa in inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Transforming growth factors (TGFs) alpha and beta are key regulatory peptides that modulate mucosal cell populations critical to inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study was to assess TGF-alpha and TGF-beta expression in human colonic mucosa. METHODS TGF-alpha and TGF-beta expression was assessed in colonic mucosa from patients with ulcerative colitis, patients with Crohn's disease, and controls by Northern blot analysis, in situ hybridization, and bioassay. RESULTS TGF-alpha messenger RNA expression localized to the villous tips of the small intestine and the surface epithelium of the colon. TGF-alpha expression was enhanced 2.3-fold in inactive ulcerative colitis mucosa relative to active ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, or normal controls. Enhanced expression correlated with duration of disease. TGF-beta expression was increased in affected mucosa from both patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease with active disease. TGF-beta1 messenger RNA expression in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease localized mostly to cells of the lamina propria with the highest concentration in inflammatory cells closest to the luminal surface. CONCLUSIONS TGF-alpha may contribute to epithelial hyperproliferation and the increased risk of malignancy in long-standing ulcerative colitis. TGF-beta may be a key cytokine during periods of active inflammation, modulating epithelial cell restitution and functional features of cells within the lamina propria.
Children's perceptions of the natural environment: a South African perspective

This qualitative study explored the ways in which adolescents perceive the natural environment. Focus group interviews were conducted with 32 participants between the ages of 13 and 14 attending a school in a low-income area in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The findings revealed five key meanings which emerged from the themes the participants discussed, i.e. nature as a threatened place, ‘culture of inconsideration’ towards nature, nature as external to the self, nature as the dangerous other, and intrinsic care for nature. Nature as the dangerous other persisted as an overarching meaning which emerged from the participants' responses. Thus, the participants perceived the natural environment through the lens of safety as natural areas in their community are characterised by crime, violence, and pollution.
Assessing Body Awareness in Healthy Subjects ? The First Steps Towards the Construction of the BAS-Health

The aim of this study was to find out if it is possible to differentiate a group of healthy subjects, in this case general practitioners, in terms of body awareness. The Body Awareness Scale, which had previously been used and validated for psychiatric patients, was employed. The scale had to be adjusted to serve the purpose of the study. Our paper describes the changes made and the rea sons for making them. When assessed by the adjusted scale, the doctors showed substantial differences, which indicates that the scale might be a useful tool. There was also a high degree of inter-rater reliability between our two assessors. Lastly, some of the scale items were more discriminative than others and, therefore, it may be possible that only a limited number are required when assessing body awareness in healthy subjects. Further studies are needed to find out whether the scale would be useful in other contexts. The possible uses of body awareness assessments in physiotherapy and in the clinical work of doctors are discussed.
Situational Detenninants of Shame and Guilt in Young Adulthood

Undergraduates (N = 146) briefly described three shame-inducing situations and three guilt-inducing situations. Shame and guilt situations differed in both form and content. Shame dissipations were longer but less specific in content, and respondents were more likely to use the "projective"second person when describing shame than guilt. The observed content differences were generally consistent with current theory. Guilt was typically induced by specific moral transgressions, often involving harm to others. Shame was induced by specific moral transgressions as well as by nonmetal situations and issues (e.g., failure in performance situations, social{y inappropriate behavior or dress). The analysis of interpersonal concerns indicated that both shame and guilt can arise from a concern with one's effect on another person. Concern with others' evaluations, however, were almost exclusively the domain of shame. Although there appear to be some classic shame-inducing situations and some classic guilt-inducing situations, the majority of situations appear capable of engendering either emotion.
Pressures, rewards and teacher retention: a comparative study of primary teaching in England and Finland

The article presents some findings from the York‐Jyväskylä Teacher Professionalism project. The project was a follow‐up study to earlier case‐study research in six schools in Finland and six schools in England on the impact of educational reforms on teachers' work. Data were collected by re‐interviewing a sample of teachers from the original schools six years later. The views of English and Finnish teachers concerning the ways in which changes in practice, pay and working conditions affected their perception of teaching as a profession are contrasted. The crucial factors discouraging teachers from remaining in teaching were work intensification, low pay, deteriorating pupil behaviour and a decline in public respect. Positive influences on teacher retention were commitment to children, professional freedom and supportive colleagues. Suggestions are offered as to how policy makers should act to preserve the commitment of primary teachers and to promote their retention.
Synthesis of Reversible Sequential Elements

To construct a reversible sequential circuit, reversible sequential elements are required. This work presents novel designs of reversible sequential elements such as D latch, JK latch, and T latch. Based on these reversible latches, we also construct the designs of the corresponding flip-flops. Comparing with previous work, the implementation cost of our new designs, including the number of gates and the number of garbage outputs is considerably reduced.
Propriétés psychométriques d'une version canadienne-française du Questionnaire des expériences dépressives

Cette etude evalue les proprietes psychometriques d'une traduction canadienne-francaise du Questionnaire des experiences depressives (Depressive Experiences Questionnaire) elabore par Blatt, D'Afflitti et Quinlan (1976). Ce questionnaire mesure deux traits de personnalite predisposant a un affect depressif: la dependance et l'autocritique. Une analyse factorielle par composantes principales avec 762 etudiants universitaires de premier cycle montre, pour chacune des echelles, une grande conformite avec la version originale quant au nombre de facteurs, a la variance expliquee et a l'organisation des saturations factorielles. La congruence des scores calcules d'apres les solutions factorielles des echantillons anglophone et francophone s'avere tres elevee. Toutefois, cette congruence est legerement inferieure pour la dimension autocritique mesuree chez les participants masculins. Les echelles du Questionnaire des experiences depressives correlent comme prevu avec une mesure de symptomes depressifs et montrent une fidelite test-retest acceptable sur une periode de huit semaines.
Automotive engine control and hybrid systems: challenges and opportunities

The design of engine control systems has been traditionally carried out using a mix of heuristic techniques validated by simulation and prototyping using approximate average-value models. However, the ever increasing demands on passengers' comfort, safety, emissions, and fuel consumption imposed by car manufacturers and regulations call for more robust techniques and the use of cycle-accurate models. We argue that these models must be hybrid because of the combination of time-domain and event-based behaviors. We present a hybrid model of the engine in which both continuous and discrete time-domain as well as event-based phenomena are modeled in a separate but integrated manner. Based on this model, we formalize the specification of the overall engine control by defining a number of hybrid control problems. To cope with the difficulties arising in the design of hybrid controllers, a design methodology is proposed. This methodology consists of a relaxation of the hybrid problem by simplifying some of its components to obtain a solvable problem,and then deriving a solution to the original control problem by appropriately modifying the control law so obtained to take into consideration the original specifications and models. The effectiveness of this approach is illustrated on three challenging problems: fast force-transient control, cutoff control, and idle speed control.
Sexuality, Gender and Schooling: Shifting Agendas in Social Learning

The sexuality of young people arouses controversy and remains a source of concern for parents, teachers, policy-makers and politicians. But what young people really think about sexuality and gender and how these issues impact upon their lives is often marginalized or overlooked. Based upon extensive ethnographic research with young people and teachers, Sexuality, Gender and Schooling offers a telling and insightful account of how young people acquire sexual knowledge and how they enact their understanding of their own gender. It highlights the ways in which young people's constructions of gender and sexuality are formed outside the school curriculum, through engagements with various forms of popular culture - such as teen magazines and television programmes - and through same-sex friendship groups. Offering a fresh perspective on a subject of perennial interest and concern, Sexuality, Gender and Schooling provides accounts from the inside - some of which may challenge and eclipse current approaches to sexuality education. It has significant implications for policy and practice in Personal, Social and Health Education and is also an excellent introduction to key debates and issues in the study of gender and sexuality.
The Development of Maternal Self-Efficacy and Its Impact on Maternal Behavior.

A developmental model of the origins of maternal self-efficacy and its impact on maternal sensitivity was tested. Participants were 92 primiparous mothers and their 6-month-old infants. Mothers completed questionnaires about remembered care from their own parents and self-esteem prenatally, satisfaction with support, infant temperament, and maternal self-efficacy postnatally, and they participated in a laboratory observation with their infants. Maternal self-efficacy was predicted by remembered maternal care as mediated by global self-esteem. Infant soothability predicted maternal self-efficacy independently and in conjunction with distress to novelty and in conjunction with both distress to limits and satisfaction with support. Maternal self-efficacy interacted with distress to limits to predict maternal sensitivity during emotionally arousing activities. High infant distress was associated with less sensitive maternal behavior when maternal self-efficacy was moderately low and extremely high, but was positively associated with sensitive maternal behavior when self-efficacy was moderately high. Implications for future research are discussed.
Arguments For What No One Wants: The Narratives of Waste Storage Proponents

In this essay, the authors examine the public discourse of three different proponent groups (Native Americans, Industry, and Community Advocates) to gain insight into the narratives used to justify the decision to support a typically unwanted land use. The questions they ask are: first, who are the actors, what is their agency, and what is their purpose, as revealed through an analysis of the compiled text? Second, in what ways do their stories combine into a coherent narrative of support for the project; and, finally, does the meta-narrative resonate with their primarily western states audience? They conclude with suggestions as to how this project informs participants in other waste management controversies.
Stable transfection of cDNAs targeting specific steps of glycogen metabolism supports the existence of active gluconeogenesis in mouse cultured astrocytes

In order to assess the participation of astrocytic gluconeogenesis in the synthesis of glycogen, mouse astrocytes were stably transfected with antisense cDNA of fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase (FBPase) and with sense and antisense cDNAs of glycogen synthase (GS). The antisenses of FBPase and GS have similar significant effect in decreasing astrocyte glycogen content by 60%, while sense GS significantly increased glycogen content by 100%. The FBPase activity was decreased by all three cDNAs used, while glycogen phosphorylase was not altered. The activity of GS was decreased by the antisense GS and increased by the sense GS. These data demonstrate that the gluconeogenesis in astrocytes is involved in the glycogenesis modulation. GLIA 37:379–382, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor treatment does not improve functional recovery after hair cell regeneration in the pigeon

Conclusions. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) supply to the inner ear does not improve the time course or the extent of functional recovery after hair cell regeneration. Specifically it does not improve the residual threshold elevation observed after the completion of spontaneous recovery. Objective.The avian inner ear is capable of hair cell regeneration and substantial functional recovery, but residual hearing deficits remain. We investigated whether functional recovery can be improved by intracochlear application of BDNF, which plays an important role in auditory ontogenesis and maintenance during adult life. Methods. Hair cells in adult pigeons were destroyed by local application of gentamicin. After 3 days either BDNF or control solution was administered to the scala tympani by implanted osmotic minipumps for 8 weeks. Auditory brain stem responses (ABR) to tone pips were used to assess recovery of hearing thresholds in both groups. Results. The application of gentamicin caused a frequency-dependent hearing loss that ranged from 24.8 dB SPL at low frequencies to 66.2 dB SPL at high frequencies. After day 10 substantial recovery was observed, but a significant threshold shift remained. The time course of recovery in the control and BDNF-treated groups was similar, without significant residual threshold differences in any frequency range.
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Today

The Sapir-Whorf's Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis provokes intellectual discussion about the strong impact language has on our perception of the world around us. This paper intends to enliven the still open questions raised by this hypothesis. This is done by considering some of Sapir’s, Whorf’s, and other scholar’s works.
Green tea polyphenols potentiate the action of nerve growth factor to induce neuritogenesis: Possible role of reactive oxygen species

Exogenously administered nerve growth factor (NGF) repairs injured axons, but it does not cross the blood–brain barrier. Thus, agents that could potentiate the neuritogenic ability of endogenous NGF would be of great utility in treating neurological injuries. Using the PC12 cell model, we show here that unfractionated green tea polyphenols (GTPP) at low concentrations (0.1 μg/ml) potentiate the ability of low concentrations of NGF (2 ng/ml) to induce neuritogenesis at a level comparable to that induced by optimally high concentrations of NGF (50 ng/ml) alone. In our experiments, GTPP by itself did not induce neuritogenesis or increase immunofluorescent staining for β‐tubulin III; however, it increased expression of mRNA and proteins for the neuronal markers neurofilament‐L and GAP‐43. Among the polyphenols present in GTPP, epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG) alone appreciably potentiated NGF‐induced neurite outgrowth. Although other polyphenols present in GTPP, particularly epigallocatechin and epicatechin, lack this activity, they synergistically promoted this action of EGCG. GTPP also induced an activation of extracellular signal‐regulated kinases (ERKs). PD98059, an inhibitor of the ERK pathway, blocked the expression of GAP‐43. K252a, an inhibitor of TrkA‐associated tyrosine kinase, partially blocked the expression of these genes and ERK activation. Antioxidants, catalase (cell‐permeable form), and N‐acetylcysteine (both L and D‐forms) inhibited these events and abolished the GTPP potentiation of NGF‐induced neuritogenesis. Taken together, these results show for the first time that GTPP potentiates NGF‐induced neuritogenesis, likely through the involvement of sublethal levels of reactive oxygen species, and suggest that unfractionated GTPP is more effective in this respect than its fractionated polyphenols. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.