Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Packing volume of sedimented microtubules: regulation and potential relationship to an intracellular matrix

To determine the contribution of microtubules to a hypothetical intracellular matrix, we have analyzed the space occupied by microtubules in vitro. Taxol-stabilized microtubules assembled from purified (three-times-cycled) bovine brain microtubule protein were pelleted by centrifugation under standardized conditions. The specific volume of the pellet, defined as the microliter volume per milligram protein, was 22.4. As suggested by others, this volume was strongly dependent on microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), as shown by quantitation of the effects of purified MAP supplementation on specific volume. The specific volumes of microtubule pellets stripped of MAPs by high salt or chymotryptic digestion approached the mathematically optimal (least occupied space) and increased 14-fold with the highest MAP concentrations employed. Packing was also dependent on pH. Specific volumes comparable to those of MAP-depleted microtubules were attainable at pH's from 5.5 to 6.0, and specific volumes more than doubled at pH 7.5. MAP content was unaffected by pH. We present a theoretical analysis that suggests that as microtubules are centrifuged the mixture behaves as a liquid crystal. With packing, the mixture undergoes an isotropic-nematic phase transition in which the microtubules become oriented principally as parallel rods, mimicking their orientation in vivo. From the known concentration of microtubules in vivo, it can be inferred from our measurements that in some cells a large fraction, perhaps 40-50% of the cytosolic volume, is occupied by microtubules that form a mechanically irreducible space. Further theoretical analysis employing Ogston's formulation of the penetrability of fibrous networks suggests that the space between microtubules (in contrast to the extracellular matrix) imposes little barrier to the diffusion of macromolecules. A microtubule array thus achieves mechanical stability without affecting transport by diffusion. The space can accommodate other fibrous networks that could then affect transport, and, as we show, the space itself may be regulated by MAP content and intracellular pH.
Effects of a Community Intervention on HIV Prevention Behaviors among Men Who Experienced Childhood Sexual or Physical Abuse in Four African Settings: Findings from NIMH Project Accept (HPTN 043)

Background There is increased focus on HIV prevention with African men who report experiencing childhood sexual (CSA) or physical abuse (CPA). Objective To better understand the effects of a community-based intervention (Project Accept HPTN 043) on HIV prevention behaviors among men who report CSA or CPA experiences. Methods Project Accept compared a community-based voluntary mobile counseling and testing (CBVCT) intervention with standard VCT. The intervention employed individual HIV risk reduction planning with motivational interviewing in 34 African communities (16 communities at 2 sites in South Africa, 10 in Tanzania, and 8 in Zimbabwe). Communities were randomized unblinded in matched pairs to CBVCT or SVCT, delivered over 36 months. The post-intervention assessment was conducted using a single, cross-sectional random survey of 18-32 year-old community members (total N = 43,292). We analyzed the effect of the intervention on men with reported CSA or CPA across the African sites. Men were identified with a survey question asking about having experienced CSA or CPA across the lifespan. The effect of intervention on considered outcomes of the preventive behavior was statistically evaluated using the logistic regression models. Results Across the sites, the rates of CSA or CPA among men indicated that African men reflected the global prevalence (20%) with a range of 13–24%. The statistically significant effect of the intervention among these men was seen in their increased effort to receive their HIV test results (OR 2.71; CI: (1.08, 6.82); P: 0.034). The intervention effect on the other designated HIV prevention behaviors was less pronounced. Conclusion The effect of the intervention on these men showed increased motivation to receive their HIV test results. However, more research is needed to understand the effects of community-based interventions on this group, and such interventions need to integrate other keys predictors of HIV including trauma, coping strategies, and intimate partner violence.
The Financial Policy During Depression and Boom

AS BACKGROUND for a description of Swedish financial policy during the last depression and the subsequent recovery, it is appropriate to consider certain data covering the size and arrangement of the Swedish budget. For a long time the state’s revenues and disbursements have been increasing rapidly and without interruption. While the actual expenditures of the year 1900 amounted to 130,000,000 kr. and in the year just prior to the World War amounted to somewhat more than 200,000,000 kr. , the expenditures of the years from 1926 to 1930 rose to an average of about 700,000,000 kr. , and for the present budget year of 1937-1938 approach 1,150,000,000 kr. Changes in the value of money are responsible for only a minor part of these increases. Wholesale prices rose from a level of 100 in 1913 to an average of 137 in 1937. But even if one adjusts the figures to the same real value by means of an index for the cost of living -the index being 165 for the final quarter of 1937 as compared with 100 for the year 1914-then in comparison with the expenses of 1,150,000,000 kr. in 1937-1938, the amount in 1914 would be only 380,000,000 kr. A pronounced rise in the income of the entire economy serves to explain this development in the national budget. ’ Unfortunately, all calculations of the national income contain some uncertainties. A recently completed estimate, based upon statistical data f or production, results in a figure of about 2,000,000,000 kr. for the year 1900; 3,000,000,000 kr. for 1910; 7,300,000,000 for 1925; 8,300,000,000 for 1930; and-after a decline in 1932 and 1933 to 7,000,000,000 kr. -over 9,000,000,000 kr. in 1936. For the year 1937, the national income should prove to be higher by a considerable amount. The figures derived by this method substantially exceed those obtained from annual assessed incomes for the country. The latter, for many different reasons, are certainly much too low. But since the estimates of the national income in different countries are often based only upon income
Lay people’s and experts’ risk perception and acceptance of vaccination and culling strategies to fight animal epidemics

To fight highly infectious animal diseases, there are almost exclusively two possible strategies that can be done: vaccination and culling. For effective risk communication and management strategies during a crisis, the risk perception and beliefs of different stakeholders are essential. Risk perception and acceptance of various strategies to fight such animal epidemics are examined for the population, farmers, and veterinarians. Data were gathered from questionnaires sent out to three stakeholder groups. All stakeholders clearly preferred a vaccination strategy to a culling strategy. We found that farmers, although they were expected somehow to be experts, had response patterns more similar to the population than to the veterinarians. As expected, veterinarians perceived less risk and had higher acceptance ratings than the population. We equally found gender differences for lay people and for experts. Therefore, the explanation of differences in risk perception between experts and lay people according to knowledge could clearly be ruled out. We detected differences between men and women concerning their attitudes and moral values, which were the same for lay people and for experts.
Strengthening the Social Information–Processing Skills of Children

Objective: The study had two objectives (a) to adapt for Chinese children an intervention designed to strengthen the social information–processing (SIP) skills of children in the United States, and (b) to pilot test the adapted intervention in China. Methods: Adaptation of the Making Choices program involved reviewing Chinese literature on child development, translating and back-translating a treatment manual, modifying intervention content, and engaging experts to review program materials. Children (n = 91), ages 8–10, in five after-school child care centers in Tianjin, China, received the program. After propensity score adjustments, the skills of children who received the program were compared to the skills of children (n = 123) recruited from neighborhood primary schools. Results: The adapted program appears to have strengthened encoding skills. Patterns for other information-processing skills were promising but mixed. Conclusion: The program has the potential to strengthen the SIP skills of children in China.
In vivo Binding Behavior of Dopamine Receptor Agonist (+)−PD 128907 and Implications for the “Ceiling Effect” in Endogenous Competition Studies with [11C]Raclopride—a Positron Emission Tomography Study in Macaca mulatta

In in vivo positron emission tomography (PET) studies, dopamine that is released secondary to amphetamine administration appears unable to achieve a receptor occupancy that is significantly higher than 50% (“ceiling effect”). Also with exogenous agonists no studies have reported a higher than 50% occupancy. To investigate the feasibility of exceeding 50% occupancy in vivo with a dopamine receptor agonist we administered D2/D3 agonist (+)−PD 128907 over an extensive dose range. Two anesthetised Macaca mulatta males were used in a bolus-infusion protocol for [11C]raclopride. (+)- PD 128907 was administered as an intravenous challenge during separate PET scans in a dose range of 10 to 10000 nmol/kg. Occupancy by (+)−PD 128907 was estimated by comparing the binding before and after challenge. In a striatal region of interest, receptor occupancy by (+)−PD 128907 increased in an orderly dose-dependent manner to a maximum of at least 85%. This is the first indication that virtually all dopamine D2/D3 receptors in the striatum are in principle accessible to agonist binding. In the case of dopamine a number of protective mechanisms may be responsible for the ceiling effect.
The day after drinking: interaction during hangovers among young Norwegian adults

Studies of young people's drinking habits tend to focus on the drinking situation, and ignore the temporal aspects of drinking in general and the day after drinking in particular. Studies of hangovers, on the other hand, tend to ignore the social context in which hangovers are experienced and dealt with. In reply to this empirical hiatus, I explore in this article some social aspects of the interaction between party participants the day after drinking. Through an analysis of the accounts of the social aspects of hangover days given in 10 qualitative interviews with young Norwegian adults, I show that the days after drinking are often organized and experienced as a closure of the party and a physical, emotional, and social return to everyday life.
Effects of FTY720 on Lung Injury Induced by Hindlimb Ischemia Reperfusion in Rats

Background Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a biologically active lysophospholipid mediator involved in modulating inflammatory process. We investigated the effects of FTY720, a structural analogue of S1P after phosphorylation, on lung injury induced by hindlimb ischemia reperfusion (IR) in rats. Methods Fifty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into groups SM, IR, F3, F5, and F10. Group SM received sham operation, and bilateral hindlimb IR was established in group IR. The rats in groups F3, F5, and F10 were pretreated with 3, 5, and 10 mg/kg/d FTY720 for 7 days before IR. S1P lyase (S1PL), sphingosine kinase (SphK) 1, and SphK2 mRNA expressions, wet/dry weight (W/D), and polymorphonuclear/alveolus (P/A) in lung tissues were detected, and the lung injury score was evaluated. Results W/D, P/A, and mRNA expressions of S1PL, SphK1, and SphK2 were higher in group IR than in group SM, while these were decreased in both groups F5 and F10 as compared to IR (p < 0.05). The lung tissue presented severe lesions in group IR, which were attenuated in groups F5 and F10 with lower lung injury scores than in group IR (p < 0.05). Conclusions FTY720 pretreatment could attenuate lung injury induced by hindlimb IR by modulating S1P metabolism and decreasing pulmonary neutrophil infiltration.
Prehospital epinephrine use and survival among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

CONTEXT Epinephrine is widely used in cardiopulmonary resuscitation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). However, the effectiveness of epinephrine use before hospital arrival has not been established. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between epinephrine use before hospital arrival and short- and long-term mortality in patients with cardiac arrest. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective, nonrandomized, observational propensity analysis of data from 417 188 OHCAs occurring in 2005-2008 in Japan in which patients aged 18 years or older had an OHCA before arrival of emergency medical service (EMS) personnel, were treated by EMS personnel, and were transported to the hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Return of spontaneous circulation before hospital arrival, survival at 1 month after cardiac arrest, survival with good or moderate cerebral performance (Cerebral Performance Category [CPC] 1 or 2), and survival with no, mild, or moderate neurological disability (Overall Performance Category [OPC] 1 or 2). RESULTS Return of spontaneous circulation before hospital arrival was observed in 2786 of 15,030 patients (18.5%) in the epinephrine group and 23,042 of 402,158 patients (5.7%) in the no-epinephrine group (P < .001); it was observed in 2446 (18.3%) and 1400 (10.5%) of 13,401 propensity-matched patients, respectively (P < .001). In the total sample, the numbers of patients with 1-month survival and survival with CPC 1 or 2 and OPC 1 or 2, respectively, were 805 (5.4%), 205 (1.4%), and 211 (1.4%) with epinephrine and 18,906 (4.7%), 8903 (2.2%), and 8831 (2.2%) without epinephrine (all P <.001). Corresponding numbers in propensity-matched patients were 687 (5.1%), 173 (1.3%), and 178 (1.3%) with epinephrine and 944 (7.0%), 413 (3.1%), and 410 (3.1%) without epinephrine (all P <.001). In all patients, a positive association was observed between prehospital epinephrine and return of spontaneous circulation before hospital arrival (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 2.36; 95% CI, 2.22-2.50; P < .001). In propensity-matched patients, a positive association was also observed (adjusted OR, 2.51; 95% CI, 2.24-2.80; P < .001). In contrast, among all patients, negative associations were observed between prehospital epinephrine and long-term outcome measures (adjusted ORs: 1-month survival, 0.46 [95% CI, 0.42-0.51]; CPC 1-2, 0.31 [95% CI, 0.26-0.36]; and OPC 1-2, 0.32 [95% CI, 0.27-0.38]; all P < .001). Similar negative associations were observed among propensity-matched patients (adjusted ORs: 1-month survival, 0.54 [95% CI, 0.43-0.68]; CPC 1-2, 0.21 [95% CI, 0.10-0.44]; and OPC 1-2, 0.23 [95% CI, 0.11-0.45]; all P < .001). CONCLUSION Among patients with OHCA in Japan, use of prehospital epinephrine was significantly associated with increased chance of return of spontaneous circulation before hospital arrival but decreased chance of survival and good functional outcomes 1 month after the event.
Perceptions of the role of ICT on quality of life in rural communities in Uganda

The role of information and communication technology (ICT) in enabling various development goals including the millennium development goals and ultimately human development is no longer disputed. Emphasis is now being placed on optimizing ICT benefits on the quality of life (QoL) of people, especially in developing countries. To address this need, this paper reports a study that applied Sen's capability approach to explore how individuals in rural communities in Uganda perceived the importance of ICT toward their QoL and how this perception influenced ICT adoption. It was established that while perception was inclined to social benefits, ICT uptake and use toward improved QoL is still limited. One reasonable conclusion is therefore that state and policymakers should adopt a pluralistic approach to ICT provision: one that does not only focus on availability and affordability, but also considers expanding people's awareness and agency for development benefit. ICT investments otherwise have a high risk of being severely underutilized.
Rating the impact of new technologies on democracy

strong democracy, or a participatory representative system, or teledemocracy anywhere on this planet, with the single exception perhaps of Switzerland where citizen initiatives and referenda are available to the citizenry at all levels of government and used widely. The Swiss are constantly involving themselves in legislation to augment and sometimes undo the work done by their representatives and/or government officials. However, even in Switzerland, there has not been much improvement in their system by the new information and communication technologies (ICTs). In fact, the country’s voter turnouts are in a steady decline. I think that modern ICT is absolutely essential for helping democracies transform themselves toward a strong democracy or a more participatory stage of democratic evolution. The use of such technologies, particularly computers, permits much higher levels of democracy at greater distances and includes much greater numbers of citizens than ever before possible. Because of these new ICTs, we can improve and expand direct democracy—well-informed citizens deliberating complex issues for long periods of
An Equilibrium Model of Office Location and Contact Patterns

In this paper, we develop an equilibrium model of office location, which explicitly considers the source of agglomeration economies and which sees firm location and contact patterns as jointly and endogenously determined. We solve the model explicitly for contact-benefit, facility-cost, and transport-cost functions representative of medium-sized US cities. The resulting rent functions are concave rather than convex as they are in most models of industrial and residential location. The source of the concavity is that firms make contacts throughout the central business district (CBD). To determine the role of agglomeration economies associated with interfirm contacts, we alter the contact-benefit function, the transport-cost function and the size of the CBD. We find that agglomeration economies have a strong effect on location and, indeed, are often sufficiently strong to produce counterintuitive results. For example, an increase in transport costs causes a decrease rather than an increase in transport expenses, because in the city, which is now smaller, a firm decreases the number of contacts. Further, the increase in transport costs does not increase the relative attractiveness of the center.
Individual Differences in the Enjoyment of Negative Emotion in Music: A Literature Review and Experiment

Why do People Seek out Music that Makes Them cry? This paradox is a complex one that appears to have no single answer. Rather, numerous factors appear to be interacting in the diverse responses of individuals to music. The present study tested the hypothesis that individual differences in dissociation, absorption, fantasy proneness, empathy, and rumination would be related to the enjoyment of negative emotion in music. Fifty-nine participants completed a survey pertaining to this question. Results revealed statistically significant positive relationships between enjoyment of evoked negative emotion in response to music with both absorption and the recently reported construct of 9music empathy,9 Factor analysis and a regression model confirmed these results, and the approach suggests that further study of individual differences will continue to provide new insights into some of the subtleties of the enjoyment of negative emotions in music.
The effect of platelet-rich fibrin on implant stability.

PURPOSE Achieving accelerated implant osseointegration could make immediate or early loading of implants more predictable. Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is frequently used to accelerate soft and hard tissue healing. The activated platelets in PRF release growth factors, resulting in cellular proliferation, collagen synthesis, and osteoid production. The aim of this study was to compare the stability of dental implants inserted in a one-stage surgical protocol with or without PRF application. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty healthy patients with adequate alveolar bone and two or more adjacent missing teeth extracted at least 6 months previously were included in this study. A minimum of two tapered implants (Ankylos, Dentsply/Friadent) were placed in each patient. After surgical preparation of the implant sockets, PRF that had been prepared preoperatively was placed randomly into one of the sockets (PRF+). The acellular plasma portion of PRF was used to wet the implant placed into the PRF-coated socket. Resonance frequency measurements were made after implant placement and at 1 week and 1 month postoperatively. RESULTS Mean implant stability quotients (ISQs) of the PRF+ implants was 69.3 ± 10.5, and mean ISQs for the PRF- implants was 64.5 ± 12.2 at the end of the first week. The mean ISQs at 4 weeks postoperatively were 77.1 ± 7.1 for the PRF+ group and 70.5 ± 7.7 for the PRF- group. CONCLUSION In this study, PRF application increased implant stability during the early healing period, as evidenced by higher ISQ values. Simple application of this material seems to provide faster osseointegration.
Psychological Morbidity in Australian Doctors who have and have not Experienced a Medico-Legal Matter: Cross-Sectional Survey

Objective: To describe the differences in psychological morbidity between Australian general practitioners (GPs) who have experienced a medico-legal matter and those who have not. Methods: A total of 1499 GPs were initially invited to participate in the study. Two hundred and sixty requested not to participate, with 1239 subsequently being sent a survey. There were 566 respondents (45.7% response rate to survey). There were two sources of data. First, a cross-sectional survey sought demographic information, personality traits via the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), history of a medico-legal matter with any medical defence organization, and measures of psychological morbidity, including the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Second, information was extracted from the United Medical Protection database on medico-legal matters. Results: Fifty-nine per cent of respondents to the survey reported ever having a medico-legal matter, with 13% having a current medico-legal matter. Those with a current matter reported increased levels of disability (in work, social or family life) and higher prevalence of psychiatric morbidity (45% vs 27% GHQ ‘case identification’ rates), compared to those with no current matter. Those respondents with a history of past medico-legal matters reported increased levels of disability (SDS) and depression subscores (GHQ). Male respondents drank significantly more alcohol than female respondents, and male respondents with current or past medico-legal matters had significantly higher levels of alcohol use than male respondents with no experience of medico-legal matters. Conclusions: Doctors who have current and past medico-legal matters have a higher level of psychological morbidity. The study design was unable to distinguish cause or effect. A longitudinal study is planned to investigate this. The findings have significant implications for medical training, doctor support systems and medical insurance groups.