Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How West German adolescents experience the nuclear threat

Psychosocial and health-related effects of living under the nuclear threat were investigated based on data from two studies of West German adolescents aged 8 to 20 (N = 3499) and 8 to 14 (N = 540), respectively. Structural analyses were conducted to generate hypotheses on the interrelatedness of political anxieties, factual knowledge on nuclear issues, coping strategies, and political action (Study A), as well as on the relationship of political anxieties with manifest anxiety and mental health (Study B). Main results were that (a) factual knowledge had no effect on the amount of political anxieties, (b) active coping with the nuclear threat may lead to less personal but more political anxieties, and (c) high political anxieties may even serve as a protective factor for adolescents' mental health. Furthermore, strong gender differences were found, girls always expressing more anxieties, be they personal or political.
Salivary gland and nasopharyngeal cancers in individuals with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in United States

Individuals with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) manifest an increased risk of cancer, particularly cancers caused by oncogenic viruses. Because some salivary gland and nasopharyngeal cancers are associated with Epstein Barr virus, the impact of AIDS on these cancers needs further evaluation. We used linked U.S. AIDS and cancer registry data (N = 519,934 people with AIDS) to derive standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) comparing risk of salivary gland and nasopharyngeal cancers to the general population. For salivary gland cancers (N = 43 cases), individuals with AIDS had strongly elevated risks for lymphoepithelial carcinoma (SIR 39, 95% CI 16–81) and squamous cell carcinoma (SIR 4.9, 95% CI 2.5–8.6). Among nasopharyngeal cancers (N = 39 cases), risks were elevated for both keratinizing and nonkeratinizing carcinomas (SIR 2.4, 95% CI 1.5–3.7 and SIR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2–4.4, respectively). The elevated risks of salivary gland and nasopharyngeal cancers among people with AIDS suggest that immunosuppression and oncogenic viral infections are etiologically important.
Roles of TGF-β Signals in Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition during Cardiac Fibrosis

Most cardiac diseases caused by inflammation are associated with fibrosis in the heart. Fibrosis is characterized by the accumulation of fibroblasts and excess deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM), which results in the distorted organ architecture and function. Recent studies revealed that cardiac fibroblasts are heterogeneous with multiple origins. Endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) plays important roles in the formation of cardiac fibroblasts during pathological settings. EndMT is regulated by signaling pathways mediated by cytokines including transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. Better understanding of the mechanisms of the formation of cardiac fibroblasts via EndMT may provide an opportunity to develop therapeutic strategies to cure heart diseases.
Molecular Imaging of Inflammation and Platelet Adhesion in Advanced Atherosclerosis Effects of Antioxidant Therapy With NADPH Oxidase Inhibition

Background—In atherosclerosis, local generation of reactive oxygen species amplifies the inflammatory response and contributes to plaque vulnerability. We used molecular imaging to test whether inhibition of NADPH oxidase with apocynin would reduce endothelial inflammatory activation and endothelial–platelet interactions, thereby interrupting progression to high-risk plaque phenotype. Methods and Results—Mice deficient for both the low-density lipoprotein receptor and Apobec-1 were studied at 30 weeks of age and again after 10 weeks with or without apocynin treatment (10 or 50 mg/kg per day orally). In vivo molecular imaging of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM 1) P-selectin, and platelet glycoprotein-1b&agr; (GPIb&agr;) in the thoracic aorta was performed with targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasound molecular imaging. Arterial elastic modulus and pulse wave transit time were assessed using ultrahigh frequency ultrasound and invasive hemodynamic measurements. Plaque size and composition were assessed by histology. Molecular imaging in nontreated mice detected a 2-fold increase in P-selectin expression, VCAM-1 expression, and platelet adhesion between 30 and 40 weeks of age. Apocynin reduced all of these endothelial events in a dose-dependent fashion (25% and 50% reduction in signal at 40 weeks for low- and high-dose apocynin). Apocynin also decreased aortic elastic modulus and increased the pulse transit time. On histology, apocynin reduced total monocyte accumulation in a dose-dependent manner as well as platelet adhesion, although total plaque area was reduced in only the high-dose apocynin treatment group. Conclusions—Inhibition of NADPH oxidase in advanced atherosclerosis reduces endothelial activation and platelet adhesion, which are likely responsible for the arrest of plaque growth and improvement of vascular mechanical properties.
How far will you go? Characterizing online search stopping behaviors using information scent and need for cognition

perceptions of the first SERP, others articulated a belief that the more relevant results on the first SERP, the more likely it was to find more relevant results in subsequent SERPs. I only had three [useful results on the first page], and the rest were about air pollution. I thought if I put in a bunch of new words, I can manipulate it to give me some different results. If the first page gives me a lot, I will give the second page a chance, but none of the pages gave me a lot. (P18) In addition, almost every participant made an argument that the most related search results were on the first page, so if the first page, the supposedly best page, did not seem good enough, the likelihood of retrieving good results was rare, then there was no point going deeper.
The social emotion of embarrassment: Modulations of neural circuits in response to own and others’ social predicaments

Embarrassment is a so called social emotion arising during the interaction with our surrounding social world. It is present in various situations in our daily lives and holds a regulative function telling us how to perform according to prevalent norms and moral values. Due to the human ability to infer and share others' emotions, thoughts or intentions embarrassment is often also experienced vicariously for others. This thesis is focused on the neural and physiological correlates of embarrassment and its vicarious form. The main focus thereby lies on treating both as social phenomena and the implementation and development of social paradigms. The results show that during embarrassment and its vicarious form two neural networks are involved, the mentalizing network, mapping the component of thinking about the others’ evaluations, and a network comprising the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex, mapping the component of affective arousal. Both networks interacted with ventral aspects of the anterior insula and the amygdala, areas closely linked to emotion processing, during the first-hand experience of embarrassment. Further, the studies could show that social closeness affected processing of vicarious embarrassment and increased interoceptive sharing of another’s embarrassment, while individuals with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder show deficient processing of vicarious embarrassment. Increased levels of trait social anxiety were associated with increased activations of the mentalizing network, corroborating the assumption of heightened attention to social cues and negative thoughts about others’ evaluations in social anxiety disorder.
The impact of ozone depleting substances on the circulation, temperature, and salinity of the Southern Ocean: An attribution study with CESM1(WACCM)

Observations show robust changes in the circulation, temperature, and salinity of the Southern Ocean in recent decades. To what extent these changes are related to the formation of the ozone hole in the late twentieth century is an open question. Using a comprehensive chemistry‐climate Earth system model, we contrast model runs with varying and with fixed surface concentrations of ozone depleting substances (ODS) from 1955 to 2005. In our model, ODS cause the majority of the summertime changes in surface wind stress which, in turn, induce a clear poleward shift of the ocean's meridional overturning circulation. In addition, more than 30% of the model changes in the temperature and salinity of the Southern Ocean are caused by ODS. These findings offer unambiguous evidence that increased concentrations of ODS in the late twentieth century are likely to have been been an important driver of changes in the Southern Ocean.
For most large underdetermined systems of equations, the minimal 𝓁1‐norm near‐solution approximates the sparsest near‐solution

We consider inexact linear equations y ≈ Φx where y is a given vector in ℝn, Φ is a given n × m matrix, and we wish to find x0,ϵ as sparse as possible while obeying ‖y − Φx0,ϵ‖2 ≤ ϵ. In general, this requires combinatorial optimization and so is considered intractable. On the other hand, the 𝓁1‐minimization problem $${\rm min} \; \|x\|_{1}\;\;\; {\rm subject \; to}\;\;\; \|y - \Phi{x}\|_{2} \leq \epsilon$$ is convex and is considered tractable. We show that for most Φ, if the optimally sparse approximation x0,ϵ is sufficiently sparse, then the solution x1,ϵ of the 𝓁1‐minimization problem is a good approximation to x0,ϵ.
The Effects of Dopamine on the Subthreshold Electrophysiological Responses of Rat Prefrontal Cortex Neurons In Vitro

The rat prefrontal cortex is densely innervated by dopaminergic fibres originating in the mesencephalic ventral tegmental area, and dopamine application in vivo has an inhibitory effect. We have studied the effects of dopamine on the persistent sodium current that is present in prefrontal cortex neurons and on the subthreshold electrophysiological responses generated by that current: a slow depolarization and a fast oscillatory activity. Experiments were made in coronal slices of rat frontal cortex (300–400 pm thickness) and intracellular recordings from regularly spiking cells were obtained with 3 M potassium acetate‐filled glass microelectrodes (80–150 MΩ). Dopamine was applied dissolved in the extracellular medium and, in current‐clamp recordings, reversibly inhibited the slow subthreshold depolarization. Dopamine was ineffective when applied after tetrodotoxin (1 μM) had blocked the action potentials. This inhibition was dose‐dependent in the range of 0.1–10 μM. Dopamine, applied at 10 μM, decreased the steady‐state firing frequency and also inhibited the subthreshold fast oscillatory activity. The currents activated in the subthreshold range were recorded with the single‐electrode voltage‐clamp technique and a clear persistent, tetrodotoxin‐sensitive component was isolated. This component was inhibited by 50% in a reversible way by 20 μM dopamine. These results show that dopamine increases the threshold for spike firing and suggest a mechanism for the inhibitory action of this neurotransmitter in the prefrontal cortex.
Leveraging cross-media analytics to detect events and mine opinions for emergency management

Purpose Timely detection of emergency events and effective tracking of corresponding public opinions are critical in emergency management. As media are immediate sources of information on emergencies, this paper proposes cross-media analytics to detect and track emergency events and provides decision support for government and emergency management departments. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a novel emergency event detection and opinion mining method is proposed for emergency management using cross-media analytics. In the proposed approach, an event detection module is constructed to discover emergency events based on cross-media analytics, and after the detected event is confirmed as an emergency event, an opinion mining module is used to analyze public sentiments and then generate public sentiment time series for early-warning via a semantic expansion technique. Findings Empirical results indicate that a specific emergency can be detected and that public opinion can be tracked effectively and.
Augmenting cognitive processing therapy to improve sleep impairment in PTSD: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE Despite the success of empirically supported treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep impairment frequently remains refractory after treatment. This single-site, randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of sleep-directed hypnosis as a complement to an empirically supported psychotherapy for PTSD (cognitive processing therapy [CPT]). METHOD Participants completed either 3 weeks of hypnosis (n = 52) or a symptom monitoring control condition (n = 56) before beginning standard CPT. Multilevel modeling was used to investigate differential patterns of change to determine whether hypnosis resulted in improvements in sleep, PTSD, and depression. An intervening variable approach was then used to determine whether improvements in sleep achieved during hypnosis augmented change in PTSD and depression during CPT. RESULTS After the initial phase of treatment (hypnosis or symptom monitoring), the hypnosis condition showed significantly greater improvement than the control condition in sleep and depression, but not PTSD. After CPT, both conditions demonstrated significant improvement in sleep and PTSD; however, the hypnosis condition demonstrated greater improvement in depressive symptoms. As sleep improved, there were corresponding improvements in PTSD and depression, with a stronger relationship between sleep and PTSD. CONCLUSION Hypnosis was effective in improving sleep impairment, but those improvements did not augment gains in PTSD recovery during the trauma-focused intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record
Somatic activation of KIT in distinct subtypes of melanoma.

PURPOSE Melanomas on mucosal membranes, acral skin (soles, palms, and nail bed), and skin with chronic sun-induced damage have infrequent mutations in BRAF and NRAS, genes within the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway commonly mutated in melanomas on intermittently sun-exposed skin. This raises the question of whether other aberrations are occurring in the MAP kinase cascade in the melanoma types with infrequent mutations of BRAF and NRAS. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analyzed array comparative genomic hybridization data from 102 primary melanomas (38 from mucosa, 28 from acral skin, and 18 from skin with and 18 from skin without chronic sun-induced damage) for DNA copy number aberrations specific to melanoma subtypes where mutations in BRAF and NRAS are infrequent. A narrow amplification on 4q12 was found, and candidate genes within it were analyzed. RESULTS Oncogenic mutations in KIT were found in three of seven tumors with amplifications. Examination of all 102 primary melanomas found mutations and/or copy number increases of KIT in 39% of mucosal, 36% of acral, and 28% of melanomas on chronically sun-damaged skin, but not in any (0%) melanomas on skin without chronic sun damage. Seventy-nine percent of tumors with mutations and 53% of tumors with multiple copies of KIT demonstrated increased KIT protein levels. CONCLUSION KIT is an important oncogene in melanoma. Because the majority of the KIT mutations we found in melanoma also occur in imatinib-responsive cancers of other types, imatinib may offer an immediate therapeutic benefit for a significant proportion of the global melanoma burden.
Cardiovascular and Muscular Consequences of Work-Matched Interval-Type of Concentric and Eccentric Pedaling Exercise on a Soft Robot

Eccentric types of endurance exercise are an acknowledged alternative to conventional concentric types of exercise rehabilitation for the cardiac patient, because they reduce cardiorespiratory strain due to a lower metabolic cost of producing an equivalent mechanical output. The former contention has not been tested in a power- and work-matched situation of interval-type exercise under identical conditions because concentric and eccentric types of exercise pose specific demands on the exercise machinery, which are not fulfilled in current practice. Here we tested cardiovascular and muscular consequences of work-matched interval-type of leg exercise (target workload of 15 sets of 1-min bipedal cycles of knee extension and flexion at 30 rpm with 17% of maximal concentric power) on a soft robotic device in healthy subjects by concomitantly monitoring respiration, blood glucose and lactate, and power during exercise and recovery. We hypothesized that interval-type of eccentric exercise lowers strain on glucose-related aerobic metabolism compared to work-matched concentric exercise, and reduces cardiorespiratory strain to levels being acceptable for the cardiac patient. Eight physically active male subjects (24.0 years, 74.7 kg, 3.4 L O2 min−1), which power and endurance performance was extensively characterized, completed the study, finalizing 12 sets on average. Average performance was similar during concentric and eccentric exercise (p = 0.75) but lower than during constant load endurance exercise on a cycle ergometer at 75% of peak aerobic power output (126 vs. 188 Watt) that is recommended for improving endurance capacity. Peak oxygen uptake (−17%), peak ventilation (−23%), peak cardiac output (−16%), and blood lactate (−37%) during soft robotic exercise were lower during eccentric than concentric exercise. Glucose was 8% increased after eccentric exercise when peak RER was 12% lower than during concentric exercise. Muscle power and RFD were similarly reduced after eccentric and concentric exercise. The results highlight that the deployed interval-type of eccentric leg exercise reduces metabolic strain of the cardiovasculature and muscle compared to concentric exercise, to recommended levels for cardio-rehabilitation (i.e., 50–70% of peak heart rate). Increases in blood glucose concentration indicate that resistance to contraction-induced glucose uptake after the deployed eccentric protocol is unrelated to muscle fatigue.
Cognitive Models of the Influence of Color Scale on Data Visualization Tasks

Objective: Computational models of identification and relative comparison tasks performed on color-coded data visualizations were presented and evaluated against two experiments. In this context, the possibility of a dual-use color scale, useful for both tasks, was explored, and the use of the legend was a major focus. Background: Multicolored scales are superior to ordered brightness scales for identification tasks, such as determining the absolute numeric value of a represented item, whereas ordered brightness scales are superior for relative comparison tasks, such as determining which of two represented items has a greater value. Method: Computational models were constructed for these tasks, and their predictions were compared with the results of two experiments. Results: The models fit the experimental results well. A multicolored, brightness-ordered dual-use scale supported high accuracy on both tasks and fast responses on a comparison task but relatively slower responses on the identification task. Conclusion: Identification tasks are solved by a serial visual search of the legend, whose speed and accuracy are a function of the discriminability of the color scales. Comparison tasks with multicolored scales are performed by a parallel search of the legend; with brightness scales, comparison tasks are generally solved by a direct comparison between colors on the visualization, without reference to the legend. Finally, it is possible to provide users a dual-use color scale effective on both tasks. Application: Trade-offs that must typically be made in the design of color-coded visualizations between speed and accuracy or between identification and comparison tasks may be mitigated.
The relationship of cognitive profile to differential diagnosis of high-functioning autism and Asperger's Syndrome

The adequacy of diagnostic criteria for Asperger’s syndrome (AS) has been debated, and many in the field do not believe that AS warrants a discrete subgrouping, considering AS to differ from classic autism (AU) in more quantitative ways, while others have found evidence of qualitative distinctions supporting subgrouping within autism spectrum disorders. Differentiating AS from AU under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th edition (DSM–IV; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994) and text revision (DSM–IV–TR; APA, 2000) guidelines has been challenging, given the overlap in criteria and hierarchical rules favoring AU if AS criteria is also met. The diagnostic difficulty is particularly acute in autism cases where cognitive development is normal ranged, commonly referred to as high functioning autism (HFA). Many clinicians and researchers have devised their own strategies for differentiating HFA from AS, relying on factors beyond the DSM–IV criteria thus creating further confusion. As the DSM–V proposed criteria abandons the subgrouping concept in favor of a single grouping of autism spectrum disorder with a continuum of severity, the validity of the AS diagnosis has been challenged. The current study seeks to follow others that have sought to better understand the factors beyond the DSM system that clinicians rely on to make a differential diagnosis in the autism spectrum under the DSM–IV. Neuroimaging studies have found differences in both brain function and grey and white matter differences between AS and HFA. There is also support for cognitive profile distinctions that correspond to the white matter model predictions of lower verbal intelligence for HFA and the reverse for AS. These findings suggest that it may be possible to infer these possible brain distinctions by examination of differences in cognitive profile patterns based upon Wechsler Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, 2003) verbal and performance differences. The present study explored this factor in clinician diagnostic opinion making through use of an experimental design using embedded manipulation of factors within a hypothetical case vignette presented in an email survey format to experienced psychologists. Cognitive profile pattern did not make a significant difference in clinician’s diagnosis in this study.
Transformation of roles and responsibilities of principals in times of change

Schools in Abu Dhabi are going through transformation and reform. The New School Model (2010) introduced changes to the curriculum and teaching and learning methodologies. In line with these changes, recently introduced ‘Principal Professional Standards’ and ‘Performance Evaluation’ documents have conceptualized new roles and responsibilities allocated to principals. To enhance the capacity of principals to lead and implement change, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) has provided professional development. Within the context of professional development received and in lieu of school changes and reform, this paper focuses on roles and responsibilities of principals and challenges faced as far as implementing them. Semi-structured interviews with 16 principals formed the main source of data collection and analysis. The findings presented examine anticipated roles and responsibilities and challenges faced implementing them as contextualized within the framework of the professional standards and performance evaluation documents.