Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health risk cognitions: An empirical examination of the effects of heuristic versus reasoned information processing

This research examined adolescent health risk behaviors from the perspective of dual-process theories. Specifically, assumptions underlying dual-processing theories were empirically examined in two experiments in which processing route was manipulated and subsequent measures of behavioral willingness and behavioral intentions to engage in casual sex and to drink alcohol were examined. The primary goals of Study 1 were two-fold. One goal was to demonstrate that processing route can be varied via an external factor, such as the instructional set used in the current study. The second goal was to examine the effect that the induced route of processing style had on health risk decisions. Overall, the results of Study 1 indicated that the between-subjects processing manipulation was successful in shifting participants’ reliance on either reasoned or experiential processing relative to a control condition. This result supports dual-process theory assumptions that riskier behavior is the result of less reasoned information processing. In addition, the results support predictions expected from the prototype willingness model that behavioral willingness reflects more experiential processing, and is more malleable than behavioral intentions (Gibbons, Gerrard, & Lane, 2003). The goals of Study 2 were to further examine whether external factors influence route of processing and to examine whether those effects were mediated by shifts in motives and outcome expectancies. These goals were addressed with an experiment in which participants received the same between-subjects manipulation of processing route as in Study 1 before assessing behavioral willingness, behavioral intentions, motives for engaging in sex, and outcome expectancies for drinking alcohol. The hypothesized effects of route of processing on behavioral willingness and not on behavioral intentions, as specified by the prototype willingness model, were supported. Partial support was found for the hypothesized mediated effects of processing condition through outcome expectances and motives on behavioral willingness to engage in casual sex and to drink
A 75-dB SNDR, 5-MHz Bandwidth Stage-Shared 2–2 MASH $\Delta \Sigma$  Modulator Dissipating 16 mW Power

This paper presents a new stage-sharing technique in a discrete-time (DT) 2-2 MASH delta-sigma (ΔΣ) ADC to reduce the modulator power consumption and chip die area. The proposed technique shares all active blocks between the two stages of the modulator. The 2-2 MASH modulator utilizes the second-order Chain of Integrators with Weighted Feed-forward Summation (CIFF) and the Cascade of Integrators with Distributed Feedback Branches (CIFB) architectures for the first and second stages, respectively. Using the proposed technique, the second integrator and the adder op-amps of the modulator first stage are shared with the first and second integrator op-amps of the second stage. In addition to the stage-sharing scheme, other changes are introduced to improve the modulator dynamic range (DR) and power dissipation. Measurement results show that the modulator designed in a 0.13 μm CMOS technology achieves 75 dB SNDR over a 5 MHz signal bandwidth with a clock frequency of 130 MHz, while dissipating less than 9 mW analog power.
Curcumin Protects the Rat Liver from CCl4-Caused Injury and Fibrogenesis by Attenuating Oxidative Stress and Suppressing Inflammation

We previously demonstrated that curcumin, a polyphenolic antioxidant purified from turmeric, up-regulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ gene expression and stimulated its signaling, leading to the inhibition of activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) in vitro. The current study evaluates the in vivo role of curcumin in protecting the liver against injury and fibrogenesis caused by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats and further explores the underlying mechanisms. We hypothesize that curcumin might protect the liver from CCl4-caused injury and fibrogenesis by attenuating oxidative stress, suppressing inflammation, and inhibiting activation of HSC. This report demonstrates that curcumin significantly protects the liver from injury by reducing the activities of serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase, and by improving the histological architecture of the liver. In addition, curcumin attenuates oxidative stress by increasing the content of hepatic glutathione, leading to the reduction in the level of lipid hydroperoxide. Curcumin dramatically suppresses inflammation by reducing levels of inflammatory cytokines, including interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6. Furthermore, curcumin inhibits HSC activation by elevating the level of PPARγ and reducing the abundance of platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor-β, their receptors, and type I collagen. This study demonstrates that curcumin protects the rat liver from CCl4-caused injury and fibrogenesis by suppressing hepatic inflammation, attenuating hepatic oxidative stress and inhibiting HSC activation. These results confirm and extend our prior in vitro observations and provide novel insights into the mechanisms of curcumin in the protection of the liver. Our results suggest that curcumin might be a therapeutic antifibrotic agent for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis.
Mechanical Stretch on Human Skin Equivalents Increases the Epidermal Thickness and Develops the Basement Membrane

All previous reports concerning the effect of stretch on cultured skin cells dealt with experiments on epidermal keratinocytes or dermal fibroblasts alone. The aim of the present study was to develop a system that allows application of stretch stimuli to human skin equivalents (HSEs), prepared by coculturing of these two types of cells. In addition, this study aimed to analyze the effect of a stretch on keratinization of the epidermis and on the basement membrane. HSEs were prepared in a gutter-like structure created with a porous silicone sheet in a silicone chamber. After 5-day stimulation with stretching, HSEs were analyzed histologically and immunohistologically. Stretch-stimulated HSEs had a thicker epidermal layer and expressed significantly greater levels of laminin 5 and collagen IV/VII in the basal layer compared with HSEs not subjected to stretch stimulation. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the structure of the basement membrane was more developed in HSEs subjected to stretching. Our model may be relevant for extrapolating the effect of a stretch on the skin in a state similar to an in vivo system. This experimental system may be useful for analysis of the effects of stretch stimuli on skin properties and wound healing and is also expected to be applicable to an in vitro model of a hypertrophic scar in the future.
Measuring molecular rupture forces between single actin filaments and actin-binding proteins

Actin-binding proteins (ABPs) regulate the assembly of actin filaments (F-actin) into networks and bundles that provide the structural integrity of the cell. Two of these ABPs, filamin and α-actinin, have been extensively used to model the mechanical properties of actin networks grown in vitro; however, there is a lack in the understanding of how the molecular interactions between ABPs and F-actin regulate the dynamic properties of the cytoskeleton. Here, we present a native-like assay geometry to test the rupture force of a complex formed by an ABP linking two quasiparallel actin filaments. We readily demonstrate the adaptability of this assay by testing it with two different ABPs: filamin and α-actinin. For filamin/actin and α-actinin/actin, we measured similar rupture forces of 40–80 pN for loading rates between 4 and 50 pN/s. Both ABP unfolding and conformational transition events were observed, demonstrating that both are important and may be a significant mechanism for the temporal regulation of the mechanical properties of the actin cytoskeleton. With this modular, single-molecule assay, a wide range of ABP/actin interactions can be studied to better understand cytoskeletal and cell dynamics.
Exact Byzantine Consensus in Directed Graphs

For synchronous point-to-point n-node networks of undirected links, it has been previously shown that, to achieve consensus in presence of up to f Byzantine faults, the following two conditions are together necessary and sufficient: (i) n ≥ 3f + 1 and (ii) network connectivity greater than 2f . The first condition, that is, n ≥ 3f + 1, is known to be necessary for directed graphs as well. On the other hand, the second condition on connectivity is not necessary for directed graphs. So far, tight necessary and sufficient condition for Byzantine consensus in directed graphs has not been developed. This paper presents tight necessary and sufficient condition for achieving Byzantine consensus in synchronous networks that can be represented as directed graphs. We provide a constructive proof of sufficiency by presenting a new Byzantine consensus algorithm for directed graphs. Further work is needed to improve the message overhead of Byzantine consensus in directed graphs.
Correlation between Chemokine Receptor CXCR4 Expression and Prognostic Factors in Patients with Prostate Cancer

Purpose We evaluated the correlation between the expression of CXCR4 and prognostic factors in patients with prostate cancer. Materials and Methods A total of 57 patients who had undergone surgery for prostate cancer were enrolled. Specimens were obtained before any treatment and were stained with antihuman CXCR4 antibody. The intensity of staining was graded as low or high. The age, pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, Gleason score, T stage, biochemical recurrence, local recurrence, and distant metastasis were compared according to the expression of CXCR4 in patients with prostate cancer. Results Local recurrence was higher in the group with high expression, in 11 of 36 cases (30.6%), than in the group with low expression, in 1 of 21 cases (4.8%), with statistical significance (p=0.040). Distant metastasis was also associated with expression, occurring in 10 of 36 cases (27.8%) in the group with high expression and in 1 of 21 cases (4.8%) in the group with low expression (p=0.041). In the logistic regression test, CXCR4 expression was the only factor in determining local recurrence (p=0.016) and distant metastasis (0.022). Furthermore, the group with high CXCR4 expression showed significantly longer cancer-specific survival than did the low expression group (p=0.041). CXCR4 showed no association with age (p=0.881), pretreatment PSA level (p=0.584), Gleason score (p=0.640), T stage (p=0.967), or biochemical recurrence (p=0.081). Conclusions The high expression of CXCR4 was associated with local recurrence and distant metastasis. CXCR4 expression was shown to be a useful prognostic factor for patients with prostate cancer.
Suppression of intra-network interference in decentralized Cognitive Radio networks under timing errors

In decentralized Cognitive Radio (CR) networks timing errors between secondary users cause increased interference during sensing periods. This kind of intra-network inteference inflicts significant performance degradation due to the growth of false alarm probabilities if energy-based incumbent detection is used, as shown in our previous study. Therefore, in this paper we propose a novel interference suppression algorithm, called Interference Suppression for Cognitive Radios (ISCR), to mitigate the impact of other CR users' transmissions on sensing. We show that by using ISCR the throughput of distributed CR networks under timing errors can be improved by minimizing the probability of false alarm while preserving sufficient protection for primary users. In addition to providing as much as 20 % throughput gain, ISCR is easy to implement and can be executed in real time.
The Role of 5-Hydroxytryptamine3 Receptors in the Vagal Afferent Activation-Induced Inhibition of the First Cervical Dorsal Horn Spinal Neurons Projected from Tooth Pulp in the Rat

To test the hypothesis that vagal afferent (VA) stimulation modulates the first cervical dorsal horn (C1) neuron activity, which is projected by tooth pulp (TP) afferent inputs through the activation of a local GABAergic mechanism via 5-hydroxytryptamine3 (5-HT3) receptors, we used the technique of microiontophoretic application of drugs. In pentobarbital-anesthetized rats, we recorded C1 spinal neuron activity responding to TP stimulation. The TP stimulation-evoked C1 spinal neuron excitation was inhibited by VA stimulation, and this inhibition was significantly attenuated by iontophoretic application of the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist ICS 205-930 (3-tropanyl-indole-3-carboxylate hydrochloride [endo-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo [3.2.1] oct-3-ol indol-3-yl-carboxylate hydrochloride]) (40 nA) or the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (40 nA). In another series of experiments, we determined that 60 nA iontophoretic application of glutamate produced a maximal increase in the C1 spinal neuron activity at a minimal current. In 53 of 65 neurons (81.5%), VA conditioning stimulation (1.0 mA × 0.1 ms, 50 Hz for 30 s) caused a significant inhibition (35.1%) of the glutamate (60 nA) application-evoked C1 spinal neuron excitation. Iontophoretic application of ICS 205-930 (40 nA) or bicuculline (40 nA) significantly attenuated the VA stimulation-induced inhibition of glutamate iontophoretic application (60 nA)-evoked C1 spinal neuron excitation. These results suggest that VA stimulation-induced suppression of C1 spinal neuron activity, responding to TP stimulation, involve 5-HT3 receptor activation, possibly originating in the descending serotonergic inhibitory system, and postsynaptic modulation of inhibitory GABAergic neurons.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Adrenal Medullary Hyperplasia: Experience from 12 Cases

Objective. To dissect the characteristics of adrenal medullary hyperplasia (AMH) and share our experience of diagnosis and treatment of AMH. Methods. From 1999 to 2013, 12 cases of AMH have been pathologically diagnosed after operation in our hospital. The clinical characteristics, process of diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis during follow-up of all patients are summarized retrospectively. Results. Four cases were trended to be AMH and 6 cases were trended to be pheochromocytoma before operation; moreover, the other two patients were diagnosed accidentally. All patients, except for the patient with mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma of left kidney by open surgery, experienced a smooth laparoscopic adrenalectomy, including 2 with radical nephrectomy, 10 of which experienced unilateral adrenalectomy, 1 was bilaterally partial adrenalectomy, and the remaining one was unilaterally complete removal and then 2/3 partially contralateral excision. After a medium follow-up of 6.5 years, it demonstrated a satisfactory outcome of 8 cured patients and 4 symptomatic improved patients. Conclusions. AMH presents a mimicking morphology and clinical manifestation with pheochromocytoma. Surgery could be the only effective choice for the treatment of AMH and showed a preferable prognosis after a quite long follow-up.
Speech, prosody, and voice characteristics of a mother and daughter with a 7;13 translocation affecting FOXP2.

PURPOSE The primary goal of this case study was to describe the speech, prosody, and voice characteristics of a mother and daughter with a breakpoint in a balanced 7;13 chromosomal translocation that disrupted the transcription gene, FOXP2 (cf. J. B. Tomblin et al., 2005). As with affected members of the widely cited KE family, whose communicative disorders have been associated with a point mutation in the FOXP2 gene, both mother and daughter had cognitive, language, and speech challenges. A 2nd goal of the study was to illustrate in detail, the types of speech, prosody, and voice metrics that can contribute to phenotype sharpening in speech-genetics research. METHOD A speech, prosody, and voice assessment protocol was administered twice within a 4-month period. Analyses were aided by comparing profiles from the present speakers (the TB family) with those from 2 groups of adult speakers: 7 speakers with acquired (with one exception) spastic or spastic-flaccid dysarthria and 14 speakers with acquired apraxia of speech. RESULTS The descriptive and inferential statistical findings for 13 speech, prosody, and voice variable supported the conclusion that both mother and daughter had spastic dysarthria, an apraxia of speech, and residual developmental distortion errors. CONCLUSION These findings are consistent with, but also extend, the reported communicative disorders in affected members of the KE family. A companion article (K. J. Ballard, L. D. Shriberg, J. R. Duffy, & J. B. Tomblin, 2006) reports information from the orofacial and speech motor control measures administered to the same family; reports on neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings are in preparation.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Center for Applied Financial Economics (CAFE) A Markov-Switching Multifractal Inter-Trade Duration Model, with Application to U.S. Equities

We propose and illustrate a Markov-switching multifractal duration (MSMD) model for analysis of inter-trade durations in financial markets. We establish several of its key properties with emphasis on high persistence and long memory. Empirical exploration suggests MSMD’s superiority relative to leading competitors. Acknowledgments: For outstanding guidance we are grateful to the editors (Herman van Dijk and Allan Timmermann) and three referees. For outstanding research assistance we thank Matthew Klein. For financial support we thank the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Wharton Financial Institutions Center, and the Chinese Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (HUST: 2012WQN052). For helpful comments we thank Christian Brownlees, Laurent Calvet, Adlai Fisher, Emily Fox, Giampiero Gallo, Eric Ghysels, Andrew Harvey, Siem Jan Koopman, Aureo de Paula, Kevin Song, and seminar participants at University of Chicago/UIC/CME, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, FGV Rio de Janeiro, Oxford, Penn, and Singapore Management University. All errors are ours alone.
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Risk of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), which include soft drinks, fruit drinks, iced tea, and energy and vitamin water drinks has risen across the globe. Regular consumption of SSBs has been associated with weight gain and risk of overweight and obesity, but the role of SSBs in the development of related chronic metabolic diseases, such as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, has not been quantitatively reviewed. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We searched the MEDLINE database up to May 2010 for prospective cohort studies of SSB intake and risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. We identified 11 studies (three for metabolic syndrome and eight for type 2 diabetes) for inclusion in a random-effects meta-analysis comparing SSB intake in the highest to lowest quantiles in relation to risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. RESULTS Based on data from these studies, including 310,819 participants and 15,043 cases of type 2 diabetes, individuals in the highest quantile of SSB intake (most often 1–2 servings/day) had a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those in the lowest quantile (none or <1 serving/month) (relative risk [RR] 1.26 [95% CI 1.12–1.41]). Among studies evaluating metabolic syndrome, including 19,431 participants and 5,803 cases, the pooled RR was 1.20 [1.02–1.42]. CONCLUSIONS In addition to weight gain, higher consumption of SSBs is associated with development of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. These data provide empirical evidence that intake of SSBs should be limited to reduce obesity-related risk of chronic metabolic diseases.
Recognition by top-down and bottom-up processing in cortex: the control of selective attention.

Visual recognition is achieved by a hierarchy of bidirectionally connected cortical areas. The entry of signals into higher areas involves the serial sampling of information within a movable window of attention. Here we explore how the cortex can move this window and integrate the sampled information. To make this concrete, we modeled the process of visual word recognition by hierarchical cortical areas representing features, letters, and words. At the start of the recognition process, nodes representing all contextually possible words are active. Simple connectivity rules allow a parallel top-down (T-D) computation of the relative probability of each feature at each location given the set of active words. This information is then used to guide the window of attention to information-rich features (e.g., a feature that is present in the visual image but has lowest probability). Bottom-up processing of this feature excludes words that do not contain it and leads to T-D recomputation of feature probabilities. Recognition occurs after several such cycles when all but one word has been excluded. We show that when 950 words are stored in long-term memory, recognition occurs after an average of 4.9 cycles. Because covert attention can be moved every 20-30 ms, word recognition could be as fast as determined experimentally (<200 ms of cortical processing). This model accounts for the findings that recognition time depends logarithmically on set size, recognition time is reduced when context reduces the number of possible targets, the time to classify a nonword decreases when its approximation to English decreases, and in high level cortex, the firing of neurons tuned to an object increases progressively as its recognition occurs. More generally the model provides a physiologically plausible view of how bi-directional signal flow in cortex guides attention to produce efficient recognition.
Podocyte injury associated glomerulopathies induced by pamidronate.

BACKGROUND Pamidronate has been demonstrated to decrease bone-related complications in multiple myeloma and delay progression of the disease. This has led to its use in supportive and maintenance therapy of myeloma in conjunction with steroids and chemotherapy. It has also been selectively used in patients with breast cancer and other neoplasms. METHODS We report on five patients who developed glomerular disease induced by pamidronate. Pamidronate was the only drug common to all patients. Tests for hepatitis B and C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were negative for all patients. The first two patients received a high dose of pamidronate for 8 weeks, whereas the other three patients were on monthly therapy for a prolonged period of time. Sources of data included chart review and pathologic analysis of kidney biopsy. RESULTS Three patients were female and two were males and all were Caucasian, ranging in age from 58 to 71 years. Renal biopsy findings included minimal change disease in two, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in two, and collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in one. Immunofluorescence was essentially negative in all cases. Electron microscopy showed variable podocyte injury and extensive foot process effacement. There was no evidence of multiple myeloma-related renal disease. After the biopsy, pamidronate was discontinued and renal function stabilized in all patients except the one with the collapsing variant of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis who required hemodialysis. Three patients had resolution of proteinuria, one patient continued to have proteinuria without deterioration in renal function. CONCLUSION Pamidronate has been mainly associated with collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. This report expands that relationship and adds other glomerular diseases linked with podocyte injury. Additional studies are needed to define the cause of the variability of renal histology with this agent.