Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Motives for Participation, Initial Expectations, and Satisfaction with Group Psychoeducation Among Forensic Patients with Schizophrenia

The aim of the present study was to examine the motives, initial expectations and satisfaction with group psychoeducation among forensic patients with schizophrenia in a high-security setting. Two complementary methods were applied: a total of 39 patients were interviewed and anonymous questionnaire data (n= 34) were collected from them. The results of the study offer positive indications about group psychoeducation among severely ill forensic patients with schizophrenia in terms of high acceptability and high overall positive feedback. Interviews revealed that patients need and appreciate new information about their illness, the opportunity to discuss illness-related issues, and the possibility to get support from other patients. We find it promising that some of these severely ill patients had been able to reflect on the educational information in their personal situations in such a way that it had become the participant's personal knowledge. The interview data, however, revealed also some concerns and dissatisfaction which was more person-specific and mainly related to the group content and format. These issues should be considered when conducting such groups in the future. Methodologically, we suggest combining quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the process, effects, experiences, and satisfaction with psychosocial interventions among such patients.
Circumstances of Debut Sexual Intercourse among Out-of-School Adolescents in Ilorin, Nigeria

Objective: To determine the circumstances of debut sexual intercourse among out-of-school adolescents aged 15-24 years in Ilorin, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 253 apprentice tailors were sampled and pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires were administered to them by trained interviewers. Results: Mean age of respondents was 18.8 + 2.4 years and consisted of 184 females (72.7%) and 69 males (27.3%). Most respondents were single (93.7%) and were not educated beyond primary school (60.1%). Majority of respondents (69.2%) were sexually experienced and there was no significant difference by gender (p=0.768). Some 16% of sexually-experienced respondents initiated sex between the ages of 10-14 years and over 85% of sexually-experienced respondents commenced sexual intercourse before 19 years of age. Mean age of commencement of sexual intercourse was 17.3 + 2.4 years for males and 16.2 + 2.6 years for females and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.007). Age at debut sexual intercourse was significantly lower among younger respondents compared to older ones (p = 0.0001) hence suggesting that the age of sexual debut is decreasing in younger generations. About a third (31.2%) of female respondents were either coerced or raped at their debut sexual encounter whereas all male respondents indicated that their debut sexual encounter was consensual. Conclusion: This study showed a high rate of early sexual exposure among teenagers, as well as a high incidence of sexual violence on teenage girls among the study population. Communication between minors and their parents/caregivers should be nurtured from childhood to identify potential and actual abuse early. Sexual violence on under-aged females can also be reduced by ensuring that abuses are reported and male perpetrators apprehended and punished.
The spectra of electron beams produced in air-filled diodes at atmospheric pressure

It is shown that the breakdown of a gap with a small-curvature-radius cathode by a voltage pulse with an amplitude of >100 kV and a rise time of about 0.3 ns is accompanied by the generation of runaway electrons with energies from a few keV to several hundred keV. In the electron spectrum, three groups of electrons with different energies can be distinguished. It is shown that the energy spectrum of the beam electrons depends on the voltage rise time, voltage amplitude, and cathode design.
An Identity Theory Approach to Commitment

Commitment highlights one of the ways in which individuals infuse roles and social structure with self-motivated behaviors, thereby linking the self to social structure. Past theoretical formulations of commitment, including work by Becker, Stryker, and Kanter, tended to focus on commitment as a tie between an individual and either 1) a line of activity, 2) particular role partners, or 3) an organization. An approach based on identity theory or affect control theory (each of which uses a cybernetic model of identity processes) suggests that commitment connects an individual to an identity. In this view, commitment does not link a person to consistent lines of activity, other role partners, or organizations, but to a stable set of self-meanings. These stable self-meanings, in turn, produce consistent lines of activities. This idea is borne out in an analysis of data from the college student role, in which there exist multiple, independent bases of commitment containing cognitive and socioemotional components. Commitment moderates the relationship between student identity and role performance such that the relationship is stronger for persons with higher commitment.
Compensating occupationally related tenosynovitis and epicondylitis: a literature review.

OBJECTIVES To assess occupational associations with tenosynovitis and epicondylitis, we conducted a systematic literature review. We focused particularly on evidence that might support compensation of these disorders 'on the balance of probabilities'. METHODS We searched the MEDLINE and EMBASE electronic biomedical databases to 1 January 2005 using combinations of keyword and medical subject headings, and also the references cited in two state-of-the-art reviews from the 1990s. Primary research reports were retrieved and checked for further relevant citations. From each paper, we abstracted a standardized set of information on study populations, exposure contrasts and estimates of effect. RESULTS We found and summarized 18 papers. In the main, these based analysis on job titles rather than on directly assessed physical activities. Few occupations were studied more than once, however, and there was little consistent evidence of jobs or work activities that carried more than a doubling of risk for either disorder. CONCLUSION Compensation of occupational illness can be problematic for disorders that are not specific to work and for which there are no distinctive clinical features in occupationally related cases. Attribution can, however, be made on the balance of probabilities if there is convincing evidence that risk is at least doubled in an occupational group. Our review highlights the relative lack of data to support such attribution for tenosynovitis and epicondylitis, and discusses the difficulty of compensating upper limb disorders.
An insight into the mechanism of charge-transfer of hybrid polymer:ternary/quaternary chalcopyrite colloidal nanocrystals

Summary In this work, we have demonstrated the structural and optoelectronic properties of the surface of ternary/quaternary (CISe/CIGSe/CZTSe) chalcopyrite nanocrystallites passivated by tri-n-octylphosphine-oxide (TOPO) and tri-n-octylphosphine (TOP) and compared their charge transfer characteristics in the respective polymer: chalcopyrite nanocomposites by dispersing them in poly(3-hexylthiophene) polymer. It has been found that CZTSe nanocrystallites due to their high crystallinity and well-ordered 3-dimensional network in its pristine form exhibit a higher steric- and photo-stability, resistance against coagulation and homogeneity compared to the CISe and CIGSe counterparts. Moreover, CZTSe nanocrystallites display efficient photoluminescence quenching as evident from the high value of the Stern–Volmer quenching constant (K SV) and eventually higher charge transfer efficiency in their respective polymer P3HT:CZTSe composites. We modelled the dependency of the charge transfer from the donor and the charge separation mechanism across the donor–acceptor interface from the extent of crystallinity of the chalcopyrite semiconductors (CISe/CIGSe/CZTSe). Quaternary CZTSe chalcopyrites with their high crystallinity and controlled morphology in conjunction with regioregular P3HT polymer is an attractive candidate for hybrid solar cells applications.
The de-gaying and re-gaying of AIDS: contested homophobias in lesbian and gay awareness training

From the first recognition of AIDS as a disease, it was publicly conceptualized as a ‘gay plague’. In response, health education and diversity training sought to counter this association claiming that AIDS is an ‘equal opportunity’ virus - that it can affect anyone. In this article, we analyse talk about HIV/AIDS within a data corpus of 13 tape-recorded lesbian and gay awareness training sessions. Counter to the way in which interactions are described in the lesbian and gay awareness training literature, we found that it was trainees, rather than trainers, who pursued discussions about HIV/AIDS, and who did so in order to claim the ‘de-gaying’ of AIDS, which they treated as representing a ‘non-prejudiced’ position. By contrast, and in response to trainees’ insistence on de-gaying AIDS, trainers were ‘re-gaying’ AIDS. Our analysis highlights that in these sessions - designed explicitly to counter homophobic attitudes - apparently ‘factual’ claims and counter-claims about infection rates and risk groups are underpinned by essentially contested definitions of what constitutes a ‘homophobic’ attitude. We conclude by pointing to the value of detailed analysis of talk-in-interaction for understanding professional practices, and suggest strategies for improving the pedagogic value of training.
Estimation of Soft FEC Performance in Optical Transmission Experiments

We investigate the feasibility of using hard-decision bit error rates or, alternatively, mutual information, both measured before a soft input forward error correction decoder, as a means to estimate performance after soft-decision decoding. Both methods are compared based on a large set of measurement data. We conclude that mutual information seems to be the more reliable measure to estimate soft-decision FEC performance.
DFS: a de-fragmented file system

Small file accesses are still limited by disk head movement on modern disk drives with the high disk bandwidth. Small file performance can be improved by grouping and clustering, each of which places multiple files in a directory and places blocks of the same file on disks contiguously. These schemes make it possible for file systems to use large data transfers in accessing small files, reducing disk accesses. However, as file systems become aged, disks become too fragmented to support the grouping and clustering of small files. This fragmentation makes it difficult for file systems to take advantage of large data transfers, increasing disk I/Os. To offer a solution to this problem, we describe a de-fragmented file system (DFS). By using data cached in memory, DFS relocates and clusters data blocks of small fragmented files in a dynamic manner. Besides, DFS clusters related small files in the same directory, at contiguous disk locations. Measurements of DFS implementation show that the techniques alleviate file fragmentation significantly and, in particular performance for small file reads exceeds that of a traditional file system by 78%.
Shakespeare as a second language: playfulness, power and pedagogy in the ESL classroom

This article presents an argument for the inclusion of Shakespeare in the senior high school ESL (English as a Second Language) curriculum in Taiwan, to be taught through a physical, participatory pedagogy in line with the approaches of drama education in general and those currently being promoted by the education department of the UK-based Royal Shakespeare Company in particular. Bakhtin and Bourdieu provide a pragmatic and political rationale for this argument but Guy Cook's writing on language play is the key theoretical influence, with the work of Cicely Berry presenting a model for the kind of intensely playful pedagogy that is needed to turn Cook's theory into practice. The article is clear that such an approach, far from being culturally oppressive for non-Anglophone students, can, on the contrary, be seen as personally liberating. In being freed, albeit temporarily, from the pedagogical formalities of the classroom and the formalistic, moralising tendencies of the course book, the student participants in this research achieved high levels of personal and emotional involvement and were stimulated by the verse, the plots and the pedagogy into complex, reflective engagement with the themes, issues and above all the language of the plays.
Electrical discharge behavior of micro-gaps

Electrical discharge characteristics of micro-gaps, ranging from 50 to 1000 μm in air are investigated under ac, dc and high frequency (5 kHz) by using blade electrodes that possess a high aspect ratio: 20 μm edge thickness and 15 mm length. Three micro-gap configurations (single, series and parallel) are studied for the breakdown strength and partial discharge characteristics. An exponential increase in the breakdown strength with air gaps below 1000 μm is observed. The finite element models revealed that the electric stress at 1000 μm is about 4 times the applied field. The electric stress magnitude is found to reduce as a function of air gap up to about 100 μm where the actual field is equal to the applied field. The breakdown strength of the series gap configuration is significantly higher than that of the parallel configuration. The partial discharge activities are observed in the series configuration whilst the same is absent in the parallel configuration.
Goal-Based Semantic Queries for Dynamic Processes in the Internet of Things

Internet of Things-aware process execution imposes new requirements on process modeling that are outside the scope of current modeling languages. Internet of Things (IoT) devices may vanish, appear or stay unknown during process execution, which renders process resource allocation at design time infeasible. Devices’ capabilities are often only available in a particular real-world context at runtime. This is not considered by current approaches that use services for encapsulating device functionality. We propose a novel approach to enable both service discovery and invocation for IoT-aware processes based on users’ goals that are defined as part of a process. We apply the Tropos goal modeling methodology to represent the dependencies between these goals and IoT device capabilities. Furthermore, we present a Semantic Access Layer (SAL) to transform these goals into service invocations using generated SPARQL queries. The SAL executes the queries on a knowledge base representing runtime domain knowledge about IoT services, their capabilities, and context. As a result, it invokes the identified IoT services and transfers the responses back to the process engine. The evaluation of our approach within several Smart Home scenarios shows an increase of flexibility and separation of concerns for scalable, IoT-aware process execution.
The influence of psychological contract and organizational commitment on hospitality employee performance

Our purpose in this study was to identify the determinants of employee performance at international hotels in Taiwan. We developed a comprehensible structural model consisting of 4 latent variables and 16 indicators, in order to build a complete and integrated picture of the relationships among job satisfaction, psychological contract, organizational commitment, and job performance. Participants were 361 employees at chain international hotels in Taiwan. The results indicate that there is a significant indirect effect of job satisfaction on job performance which is mediated by psychological contract and organizational commitment. Suggestions for researchers and practitioners in the field are provided.
Hydrophobicity variations along the surface of the coiled-coil rod may mediate striated muscle myosin assembly in Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans body wall muscle contains two isoforms of myosin heavy chain, MHC A and MHC B, that differ in their ability to initiate thick filament assembly. Whereas mutant animals that lack the major isoform, MHC B, have fewer thick filaments, mutant animals that lack the minor isoform, MHC A, contain no normal thick filaments. MHC A, but not MHC B, is present at the center of the bipolar thick filament where initiation of assembly is thought to occur (Miller, D.M.,I. Ortiz, G.C. Berliner, and H.F. Epstein. 1983. Cell. 34:477-490). We mapped the sequences that confer A-specific function by constructing chimeric myosins and testing them in vivo. We have identified two distinct regions of the MHC A rod that are sufficient in chimeric myosins for filament initiation function. Within these regions, MHC A displays a more hydrophobic rod surface, making it more similar to paramyosin, which forms the thick filament core. We propose that these regions play an important role in filament initiation, perhaps mediating close contacts between MHC A and paramyosin in an antiparallel arrangement at the filament center. Furthermore, our analysis revealed that all striated muscle myosins show a characteristic variation in surface hydrophobicity along the length of the rod that may play an important role in driving assembly and determining the stagger at which dimers associate.
A PET study of [11C]β-CIT-FE binding to the dopamine transporter in the monkey and human brain

Several radiolabelled cocaine analogues have been proposed for brain imaging of the dopamine transporter in research on neuropsychiatric disorders and drug abuse. In a recent positron emission tomography (PET) study we labelled the cocaine analogue s-CIT-FE with carbon-11 and demonstrated high specific binding in the monkey striatum. In the present study, the selectivity of [11C]s-CIT-FE binding in the primate brain was examined by pretreatment experiments with reference ligands for the dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine transporter. In three healthy human subjects the regional binding of [11C]s-CIT-FE was analysed using equilibrium and kinetic analyses. A Scatchard analysis showed that [11C]s-CIT-FE bound in a saturable manner yielded a density value of the same order as that reported in vitro. The pharmacological characterization indicated that a high degree of [11C]-CIT-FE binding in the primate striatum represents the dopamine transporter. In human subjects the radioligand provided high brain uptake and reached peak equilibrium within 1 hour after i.v. injection. Different quantitative approaches gave similar values for the binding potential. The results support the view that [11C]s-CIT-FE is a suitable radioligand for clinical studies of the dopamine transporter. In particular for studies requiring short data acquisition or repeated PET measurements on the same day.
Comparative study of time-dependent effects of 4 and 8 Hz mechanical vibration at infrasound frequency on E. coli K-12 cells proliferation

Abstract The aim of the present work is to study the time-dependent effects of mechanical vibration (MV) at infrasound (IS) frequency at 4 and 8 Hz on E. coli K-12 growth by investigating the cell proliferation, using radioactive [3H]-thymidine assay. In our previous work it was suggested that the aqua medium can serve as a target through which the biological effect of MV on microbes could be realized. At the same time it was shown that microbes have mechanosensors on the surface of the cells and can sense small changes of the external environment. The obtained results were shown that the time-dependent effects of MV at 4 and 8 Hz frequency could either stimulate or inhibit the growth of microbes depending from exposure time. It more particularly, the invention relates to a method for controlling biological functions through the application of mechanical vibration, thus making it possible to artificially control the functions of bacterial cells, which will allow us to develop method that can be used in agriculture, industry, medicine, biotechnology to control microbial growth.
Regulation of the Ca2+-ATPase by cholesterol: A specific or non-specific effect?

Abstract Like other integral membrane proteins, the activity of the Sarco/Endoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) is regulated by the membrane environment. Cholesterol is present in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane at low levels, and it has the potential to affect SERCA activity both through direct, specific interaction with the protein or through indirect interaction through changes of the overall membrane properties. There are experimental data arguing for both modes of action for a cholesterol-mediated regulation of SERCA. In the current study, coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations are used to address how a mixed lipid-cholesterol membrane interacts with SERCA. Candidates for direct regulatory sites with specific cholesterol binding modes are extracted from the simulations. The binding pocket for thapsigargin, a nanomolar inhibitor of SERCA, has been suggested as a cholesterol binding site. However, the thapsigargin binding pocket displayed very little cholesterol occupation in the simulations. Neither did atomistic simulations of cholesterol in the thapsigargin binding pocket support any specific interaction. The current study points to a non-specific effect of cholesterol on SERCA activity, and offers an alternative interpretation of the experimental results used to argue for a specific effect.
A Novel Rose Hip Preparation with Enhanced Anti-Inflammatory and Chondroprotective Effects

Rose hip powder (RHP) alleviates osteoarthritis (OA) due to its anti-inflammatory and cartilage-protective properties. Substances contained in RHP might contribute to its clinical efficacy. The activity of two RHP (i.e., RH-A, from the whole fruit, RH-B, from fruits without seeds) was investigated in human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) and primary chondrocytes (NHAC-kn). RH-A and RH-B diminished the secretion of chemokines and cytokines in LPS/IFN-γ-activated PBL, including CCL5/RANTES, CXCL10/IP-10, interleukin- (IL-) 6, and IL-12. Most effects were transcriptional, since gene expression levels were significantly influenced by RH-A and RH-B. In IL-1β treated normal chondrocytes (NHAC-kn), both RH preparations reduced the expression of matrix metalloproteinase- (MMP-) 1, MMP-3, and MMP-13 and ADAMTS-4. These changes are associated with diminished inflammatory damage or cartilage erosion. Principal component analysis revealed that (1) RH-A and RH-B modified a large pattern of biomarkers, and (2) RH-B outperformed RH-A. Furthermore, RH-B contained more chondroprotective and anti-inflammatory constituents than RH-A. Thus, RHP contributed to restore cellular homeostasis in PBL and chondrocytes. RH preparations from fruits without seeds are thus expected to have an improved OA-preventive or OA-therapeutic profile, as subsequently shown in a related clinical trial.