Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Beliefs of Lebanese and Palestinian School Children in Lebanon

The indicators for health risk factors among school children in Lebanon associated with increased mortality and morbidity were higher than the global percentage based on WHO (2014) statistics. Knowing that the Ministry of Education in Lebanon has been trying to include health education in the national school curriculum since the last reform in 1997, this qualitative exploratory study analyzed the students’ arguments resulting from focus group discussions to identify their level of knowledge, attitudes and perceptions and to provide suggestions for improving the national textbooks and teaching practices. Data were collected through focus group discussions with grade 5 students in 2 schools: Lebanese public school and UNRWA Palestinian School. The content analysis technique was used to perform the analysis and interpretation of data. Data was coded based on criteria from the Rational Model as well as the Health Belief Model. The study found, among other things, that students in both schools acquired the knowledge present in the textbooks about the benefits of balanced nutrition but they gave inaccurate and incomplete justifications with no scientific reasoning. Regarding attitudes, they show negative attitudes toward prefer unhealthy food over healthy ones. Some of their practices were healthy but unhealthy snacks, skipping breakfast, drinking big amounts of soft drinks were prevalent. The arguments of the students in both schools also showed some social related practices as related to the opinions, behavior, advice, and support of the people surrounding students influence their feelings and behavior, and the students have a reciprocal effect on those people.
FINE STRUCTURES OF INTRACYTOPLASMIC ORGANELLES OF MYCOBACTERIA

The fine structure of the intracytoplasmic organelles of mycobacteria was studied by means of electron microscopy of ultrathin sections. A well-preserved nuclear apparatus was obtained by fixation with OsO4 in acetate-veronal buffer, containing calcium and tryptone, or in collidine-HCl buffer, followed by uranyl-acetate treatment and embedding in araldite. A low density nuclear region was filled with fine fibrils, 30 A in diameter, in parallel or concentric arrangement. A membranous organelle, tentatively designated as "lamellar structure," consists of unit membranes in lamellar arrangement. The thickness of each lamella in this membranous organelle coincides with that of the three-layered cytoplasmic membrane Moreover, the continuity of this unit membrane with the cytoplasmic membrane was demonstrated.
SKF95365 induces apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest by disturbing oncogenic Ca2+ signaling in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

Background Aberrant modulation of store-operated calcium ions (Ca2+) entry promotes the progression of human malignancies. Previously, we reported that the blockage of store-operated Ca2+ entry inhibited epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated migration and distant metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells. However, the effects of pharmacological blocker on other Ca2+ signaling-regulated malignant characteristics in NPC cells remained poorly understood. Methods We examined the effects of SKF96365, an inhibitor of store-operated Ca2+ channel, on EGF-launched Ca2+ signaling in two NPC cell lines. We determined the effects of SKF96365 on cell proliferation, colony formation, apoptosis, and cell-cycle status in vitro. We further elucidated the antitumor activity of SKF96365 in xenograft-bearing mice. Results It was found that SKF96365 disturbed the thapsigargin (TG)-stimulated Ca2+ release from endoplasmic reticulum and the subsequent Ca2+ influx. SKF96365 alone stimulated Ca2+ responses merely due to endoplasmic reticulum-released Ca2+. SKF96365 promoted cell mortality, inhibited colony formation, and induced apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest, while blunting the EGF-evoked Ca2+ signaling. Furthermore, we confirmed that SKF96365 reduced NPC xenograft growth while activating caspase-7-related apoptotic pathway. Conclusion SKF96365 exerts multiple antitumor activities through the distraction on the oncogenic Ca2+ signaling transduction in NPC cells.
Evaluating the Pennebaker Paradigm with Bereaved Emerging Adults: Applications of Text Analysis

ix Introduction 1 Review of the Literature 5 Bereavement and Emerging Adulthood 5 Intervening with the Bereaved 8 Models of Grief Processes 8 Evaluating Bereavement Interventions 10 Pennebaker’s Expressive Writing Paradigm 12 Paradigm development 12 Effectiveness of the Pennebaker paradigm 14 Theoretical mechanisms 19 Emotional inhibition theory 20 Cognitive adaptation theory 21 Exposure/emotional processing theory 22 Pennebaker Paradigm and Bereavement 24 Addressing the Limitations 26
Efficacy of venlafaxine for the prevention and relief of oxaliplatin-induced acute neurotoxicity: results of EFFOX, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III trial.

BACKGROUND Oxaliplatin neurosensory toxicity is dose limiting and may present as acute symptoms and/or cumulative peripheral neuropathy. PATIENTS AND METHODS From October 2005 to May 2008, patients with oxaliplatin-induced acute neurotoxicity were randomized into a double-blind study, to receive either venlafaxine 50 mg 1 h prior oxaliplatin infusion and venlafaxine extended release 37.5 mg b.i. d. from day 2 to day 11 or placebo. Neurotoxicity was evaluated using numeric rating scale (NRS) for pain intensity and experienced relief under treatment, the Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory and the oxaliplatin-specific neurotoxicity scale. The primary end point was the percentage of patients with a 100% relief under treatment. RESULTS Forty-eight patients were included (27 males, median age: 67.6 years). Most patients had colorectal cancer (72.9%). Median number of cycles administered at inclusion was 4.5 (mean cumulative oxaliplatin dose: 684.6 mg). Twenty out of 24 patients in arm A (venlafaxine) and 22 out of 24 patients in arm B (placebo) were assessable for neurotoxicity. Based on the NRS, full relief was more frequent in the venlafaxine arm: 31.3% versus 5.3% (P=0.03). Venlafaxine side-effects included grade 1-2 nausea (43.1%) and asthenia (39.2%) without grade 3-4 events. CONCLUSION Venlafaxine has clinical activity against oxaliplatin-induced acute neurosensory toxicity.
Inhibition of BDNF-AS Provides Neuroprotection for Retinal Ganglion Cells against Ischemic Injury

Background: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protects retinal ganglion cells against ischemia in ocular degenerative diseases. We aimed to determine the effect of BDNF-AS on the ischemic injury of retinal ganglion cells. Methods: The levels of BDNF and BDNF-AS were measured in retinal ganglion cells subjected to oxygen and glucose deprivation. The lentiviral vectors were constructed to either overexpress or knock out BDNF-AS. The luciferase reporter gene assay was used to determine whether BDNF-AS could target its seed sequence on BDNF mRNA. The methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay was used to determine cell viability, and TUNEL staining was used for cell apoptosis. Results: The levels of BDNF-AS were negatively correlated with BDNF in ischemic retinal ganglion cells. BDNF-AS directly targeted its complementary sequences on BDNF mRNA. BDNF-AS regulated the expression of BDNF and its related genes in retinal ganglion cells. Down-regulation of BDNF-AS increased cell viability and decreased the number of TUNEL-positive retinal ganglion cells under oxygen and glucose deprivation conditions. Conclusion: Inhibition of BDNF-AS protected retinal ganglion cells against ischemia by increasing the levels of BDNF.
Pricing Forward Contracts in Power Markets By the Certainty Equivalence Principle: Explaining the Sign of the Market Risk Premium

In this paper we provide a framework that explains how the market risk premium, defined as the difference between forward prices and spot forecasts, depends on the risk preferences of market players and the interaction between buyers and sellers. In commodities markets this premium is an important indicator of the behavior of buyers and sellers and their views on the market spanning between short-term and long-term horizons. We show that under certain assumptions it is possible to derive explicit solutions that link levels of risk aversion and market power with market prices of risk and the market risk premium. We apply our model to the German electricity market and show that the market risk premium exhibits a term structure which can be explained by the combination of two factors. Firstly, the levels of risk aversion of buyers and sellers, and secondly, how the market power of producers, relative to that of buyers, affects forward prices with different delivery periods.
Downregulation of Cytoskeletal Muscle LIM Protein by Nitric Oxide: Impact on Cardiac Myocyte Hypertrophy

Background—In chronic heart failure, myocardial expression of the inducible isoform of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS2) is enhanced, leading to a sustained production of NO. We postulated that NO modulates expression of genes in cardiac myocytes that may be functionally important in the context of cardiac hypertrophy and failure. Methods and Results—As revealed by cDNA expression array analyses, the NO donor SNAP, which has been shown previously to inhibit agonist-induced cardiac myocyte hypertrophy, downregulates expression of the cytoskeleton-associated muscle LIM protein (MLP) in endothelin-1 (ET-1)–stimulated neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. Northern blotting and immunoblotting experiments confirmed this finding and established that SNAP negatively controls MLP mRNA (−49%, P <0.01) and protein (−52%, P <0.01) abundance in ET-1–treated cardiomyocytes via cGMP-dependent protein kinase and superoxide/peroxynitrite-dependent signaling pathways. Treatment of cardiac myocytes with IL-1&bgr; and IFN-&ggr; downregulated MLP expression levels via induction of NOS2. Moreover, expression levels of NOS2 and MLP were inversely correlated in the failing human heart, indicating that NOS2 may regulate MLP abundance in vitro and in vivo. Antisense oligonucleotides were used to explore the functional consequences of reduced MLP expression levels in cardiac myocytes. Like SNAP, antisense downregulation of MLP protein expression (−52%, P <0.01) blunted the increases in protein synthesis, cell size, and sarcomere organization in response to ET-1 stimulation. Conversely, overexpression of MLP augmented cell size and sarcomere organization in cardiac myocytes. Conclusions—NO negatively controls MLP expression in cardiac myocytes. Because MLP is necessary and sufficient for hypertrophy and sarcomere assembly, MLP downregulation may restrain hypertrophic growth in pathophysiological situations with increased cardiac NO production.
Algorithms and performance bounds for chemical identification under a Poisson model for Raman spectroscopy

Many methods have previously been devised to estimate the relative amounts of chemicals present in a measured Raman spectrum. However, relatively little work has been done on developing physics-based probabilistic models for the measurement system. Drawing from previous work in astronomical image restoration, we model the acquired data based on the physics of two key components in our Raman instrumentation: the spectrometer and the charge-coupled device (CCD) detector. Under this model, we derive Cramér-Rao lower bounds for the mixing coefficients of the target spectra. This bound is compared against the performance of several classification algorithms. Raman Spectroscopy
Enacting the role of special needs educator – six Swedish case studies

Abstract With the increasing focus on inclusion, special needs educators (SNEs) are now expected to share responsibility for pupils with teacher colleagues and to lead school development, but it is a challenge to enact this role in schools. The aim of the study was to explore how professional roles of Swedish SNEs are enacted in local school contexts. From a survey of SNEs in 10 Swedish municipalities, six participants whose work tasks were expected to correspond to the degree ordinances for their university training were chosen. The participants were followed at work, and data were collected through observation of the participants at work, participants’ diaries and interviews with the participants, their teacher colleagues and their school principals. The analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative methods. First, based on the researchers’ observations of the participants at work, categories of SNEs’ tasks were discerned, and the amount of time devoted to those categories of tasks was summarised. Second, case study narratives of the SNEs’ work were constructed to describe how the participants, their teacher colleagues and their school principals view the SNE role and to describe how the work is enacted in various school contexts. The results revealed seven categories of work tasks practised to varying degrees by the six SNEs. The case study narratives exposed large variation in how the SNEs conceptualised their role and how it evolved in relation to local school contexts. The results of the study are discussed with regard to the role of the SNE in relation to policies of inclusion.
Hadronic Atoms

We review the theory of hadronic atoms in QCD+QED. The non-relativistic effective Lagrangian approach, used to describe this type of bound states, is illustrated with the case of ππ atoms. In addition, we discuss the evaluation of isospin-breaking corrections to hadronic atom observables by invoking chiral perturbation theory. Commissioned article for Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 2009 vol. 59
Signaling pathways controlling primordial germ cell migration in zebrafish

During their migration, zebrafish primordial germ cells (PGCs) rely on directional cues provided by the chemokine SDF-1a, whose receptor is CXCR4b. The molecular mechanisms whereby CXCR4b activation is interpreted intracellularly into directional migration are not known. Here we investigate the role of two important biochemical pathways - G-protein-dependent and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-dependent signaling - in directing PGC migration in zebrafish. We show that G proteins of the Gi family are essential for directional migration but not for PGC motility. Inhibition of PI3K signaling in PGCs slows down their migration and leads to abnormal cell morphology as well as to reduced stability of filopodia. Invariably, during directed PGC migration, the distribution of the products of PI3K activity - phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate [PtdIns(3,4,5)P3] and/or phosphatidylinositol (3,4)bisphosphate [PtdIns(3,4)P2] - is not polarized, and reducing the level of these 3-phosphoinositides does not affect the ability of PGCs to migrate directionally. We therefore conclude that Gi-dependent signaling is essential for directional migration, whereas the PI3K pathway is important for the actual motility of PGCs.
Formation times and masses of dark matter haloes

The most commonly used definition of halo formation is the time when the most massive progenitor of a halo first contains at least half the final mass of its parent. Reasonably accurate formulae for the distribution of formation times of haloes of fixed mass have been available for some time. We use numerical simulations of hierarchical gravitational clustering to test the accuracy of formulae for the mass at formation. We also derive and test a formula for the joint distribution of formation masses and times. The structure of a halo is expected to be related to its accretion history. Our tests show that our formulae for formation masses and times are reasonably accurate, so we expect that they will aid future analytical studies of halo structure.
Crafting an identity : an examination of the lived experiences of minority racial and ethnic individuals in the workplace

This research enquiry is concerned with how racial and ethnic identity is both managed and experienced by individuals within the workplace. This thesis is comprised of three separate and distinct empirical studies conducted with the purpose of uncovering the lived experiences of minority racial and ethnic individuals. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used in order to study individual experiences of race and ethnicity from multiple complementary perspectives. Study 1 is a quantitative empirical study that uses biculturalism as a lens to conceptualise the experience of minority racial and ethnic individuals. The key contribution of this study is the establishment of a reliable and valid instrument to measure bicultural identity integration in the workplace.Study 2 is a qualitative empirical study that investigates how minority racial and ethnic individuals experience their ethnic identity in the workplace. The key contribution of this study is the development of a typology that identifies three distinct pathways through which an individual’s heritage culture can intersect with race, class and professional identity to influence their work-based behaviours.Study 3 is a qualitative empirical study that examines how minority racial and ethnic individuals experience their racial identity through the use of employee resource groups. The key contributions of this study are the development of a theoretical framework to conceptualise employee resource groups in general and a typology that identifies five roles that employee resource groups play to enhance the careers of minority racial and ethnic individuals as part of their social identity management processes.
A poetics of abundance: some adventures in the low-residency format

ABSTRACT In this pedagogy article, I use my own experience building a brand-new MFA as a test case for thinking seriously about why we grow our apprentice writers how we do, whom we hope to reach by growing writers this way, and how to do it better. My article offers some insight into what it means to grow whole writers with healthy writing lives and why more of us should be engaging in that mission. What we might just end up with – or, at least, what we’ve been able to grow in Central Oregon – is a culture of celebration and difference (as opposed to a culture of competition and comparison) in which together we learn to love this world through art; get messy and make some mistakes; and fly, with our own wings.
Risky visuomotor choices during rapid reaching in childhood

Abstract Many everyday actions are implicit gambles because imprecisions in our visuomotor systems place probabilities on our success or failure. Choosing optimal action strategies involves weighting the costs and gains of potential outcomes by their corresponding probabilities, and requires stable representations of one's own imprecisions. How this ability is acquired during development in childhood when visuomotor skills change drastically is unknown. In a rewarded rapid reaching task, 6‐ to 11‐year‐old children followed ‘risk‐seeking’ strategies leading to overly high point‐loss. Adults' performance, in contrast, was close to optimal. Children's errors were not explained by distorted estimates of value or probability, but may reflect different action selection criteria or immature integration of value and probability information while planning movements. These findings provide a starting point for understanding children's risk‐taking in everyday visuomotor situations when suboptimal choices can be dangerous. Moreover, children's risky visuomotor decisions mirror those reported for non‐motor gambles, raising the possibility that common processes underlie development across decision‐making domains.
Use of Cytokeratin-19 Concentration to Assess Early Recurrence and Prognosis of Hepatitis B Virus-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma following Radical Resection in Patients with a Low Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Concentration

Cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) is a prognostic indicator of recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following radical resection. To investigate the role of CK-19 in assessment of early recurrence and prognosis in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC following radical resection. In total, 235 patients with HBV-related HCC (age, 15–82 years; mean age, 54 ± 10 years) undergoing radical resection were screened for inclusion from January 2005 to December 2010. Malignant tissues and adjacent non-malignant tissues were sampled during surgery, and CK-19 and Ki-67 expression was determined by tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. CK-19 mRNA levels in 30 randomly selected frozen HCC specimens were examined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction from January 2011 to June 2011. Correlations of CK-19 and Ki-67 expression with tumor recurrence, metastasis, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Elevated CK-19 expression was correlated with early recurrence (P = 0.001), shorter DFS (P = 0.001), and reduced OS (P = 0.010). CK-19 expression was correlated with the Ki-67 index (P = 0.037), histological differentiation (P = 0.016), focal number (P = 0.044), and blood vessel tumor embolism (P = 0.002). Patients with metastasis within 1 year exhibited stronger CK-19 expression than did patients without metastasis (P < 0.05). Furthermore, early recurrence was associated with elevated CK-19 mRNA levels (χ2 = 5.761, P = 0.016). When confirmed by a low alpha-fetoprotein concentration (<400 μg/L), CK-19 expression in surgical biopsy specimens taken from patients with HCC during radical resection is an additional valuable indicator of early recurrence, distant metastasis, and poor prognosis in HBV-positive patients.
Modulation of Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis by Early-Life Environmental Challenges Triggering Immune Activation

The immune system plays an important role in the communication between the human body and the environment, in early development as well as in adulthood. Per se, research has shown that factors such as maternal stress and nutrition as well as maternal infections can activate the immune system in the infant. A rising number of research studies have shown that activation of the immune system in early life can augment the risk of some psychiatric disorders in adulthood, such as schizophrenia and depression. The mechanisms of such a developmental programming effect are unknown; however some preliminary evidence is emerging in the literature, which suggests that adult hippocampal neurogenesis may be involved. A growing number of studies have shown that pre- and postnatal exposure to an inflammatory stimulus can modulate the number of proliferating and differentiating neural progenitors in the adult hippocampus, and this can have an effect on behaviours of relevance to psychiatric disorders. This review provides a summary of these studies and highlights the evidence supporting a neurogenic hypothesis of immune developmental programming.
"Why My Mother Never Threw Anything Out": The Effect of Product Freshness on Consumption

This research focuses on a pervasive but largely unexamined product attribute-freshness date-to shed light on how and why its influence on the consumption of perishable products changes with product ownership. Drawing on recent research on the endowment effect, we demonstrate that even when the differential costs implicit in ownership are controlled for, consumers are more likely to actually consume a product past its freshness date when they own it than when they do not. Moreover, this ownership-based increase in consumption is accompanied by lower estimates by consumers of their likelihood of getting sick from consuming the product past its freshness date. These outcomes are driven, in turn, by consumers' ownership-based susceptibility to engage in selective and confirmatory testing of the hypothesis that the product past its freshness date is consumption worthy (i.e., approach goal) rather than the alternate, default hypothesis that it is not consumption worthy (i.e., avoidance goal). (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc.