Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Moderne Gesundheitssorgen und ihre Beziehung zu umweltbezogenen Beschwerden

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Nach Petrie und Wessely (2002) bedeuten neue Technologien (z.B. Mobiltelefone und gentechnologisch veranderte Nahrungsmittel) neue Gesundheitssorgen und -beschwerden. Diese modernen Gesundheitssorgen konnen mittels Fragebogen standardisiert erfasst werden. Fragestellung: Es wurden die Faktorenstruktur, Reliabilitat und Validitat einer deutschen Ubersetzung der Modern Health Worries (MHW) Scale sowie deren Beziehung zu einem funktionellen umweltbezogenen Syndrom, der Idiopathischen Umweltintoleranz (IUI), untersucht. Methode: 757 Studenten einer deutschen Universitat fullten Fragebogen zur Erfassung von MHW, IUI, Krankheitsangst, Depressivitat und multiplen korperlichen Beschwerden aus. Ergebnisse: Die vier Subskalen der MHW-Skala - Umweltgifte, Umweltverschmutzung, belastete Nahrungsmittel und elektrische Strahlung - konnten faktorenanalytisch bestatigt werden. Die interne Konsistenz (Cronbach’s α) der Subkalen erreichte Werte zwischen . 77 und . 89. MHW, negative.
Comparison of a Commercial Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay with Immunofluorescence and Complement Fixation Tests for Detection of Coxiella burnetii (Q Fever) Immunoglobulin M

ABSTRACT A commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the diagnosis of Q fever (PanBio Coxiella burnetiiimmunoglobulin M [IgM] ELISA, QFM-200) was compared to the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) for C. burnetii IgM and the complement fixation test (CFT). The ELISA demonstrated 92% agreement with the reference method (IFAT), and gave a sensitivity of 99% (69 of 70 samples) and a specificity of 88% (106 of 121). Specificity can be increased with confirmation by IFAT. CFT was found to have a specificity of 90% (107 of 119), although it was lacking in sensitivity (73%; 51 of 70). No cross-reactivity was observed in the ELISA with serum samples from patients with mycoplasma (n = 6), chlamydia (n = 5), or legionella (n = 4) infections, although 2 of 5 patients with leptospirosis and 1 of 4 samples containing rheumatoid factor (RF) demonstrated positive results in the ELISA. Results indicate that the performance of the PanBio C. burnetii (Q fever) IgM ELISA (F = 187) is superior to that of CFT (F = 163), and consequently the ELISA should be a useful aid in the diagnosis of acute Q fever.
Cognitive Style and Student Programming Ability: An Investigation

AbstractIn this paper a research study is described which was conducted in an attempt to determine the relationship between cognitive style and a student's ability to program. The results support the hypothesis that analytic decision makers tend to perform better on programming exams than heuristic decision makers. The sample included thirty-five students in an introductory-level data processing course at a major midwestern university.
Role of nitric oxide in regulation of retinal blood flow during hypercapnia in cats.

PURPOSE To investigate whether nitric oxide (NO) contributes to the regulation of retinal circulation during hypercapnia in cats. METHODS NG-nitro-L-arginine-methylester (L-NAME; n=8), a NOS inhibitor; NG-nitro-D-arginine-methylester (D-NAME; n=6), the inactive isomer; or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; n=8) was injected intravitreously into the cat's eye. A selective neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitor, 7-nitroindazole (7-NI; n=6), was injected intraperitoneally. Hypercapnia was induced for 10 minutes by inhalation of 5% carbon dioxide with 21% oxygen and 74% nitrogen. The vessel diameter and blood velocity were measured simultaneously in large retinal arterioles in cats by laser Doppler velocimetry and the retinal blood flow (RBF) calculated. Retinal vascular resistance (RVR) was also estimated. RESULTS In the PBS group, the vessel diameter (9.5% +/- 2.7%, P<0.05), blood velocity (15.6% +/- 4.4%, P<0.05), and RBF (37.2% +/- 3.7%, P<0.05) increased, and the RVR decreased (-26.0% +/- 2.7%, P<0.05) during hypercapnia. In the L-NAME group, those changes were greatly suppressed in response to hypercapnia. D-NAME was inactive with regard to RBF during hypercapnia. The RBF responses to hypercapnia after the 7-NI injection were significantly attenuated compared with those before 7-NI injection (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that NO contributes to the increase in RBF during hypercapnia. Furthermore, the NO synthesized by the action of nNOS may participate in regulation of RBF during hypercapnia.
Species distinction in Irish populations of Quercus petraea and Q. robur: morphological versus molecular analyses.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Populations of oak (Quercus petraea and Q. robur) were investigated using morphological and molecular (AFLP) analyses to assess species distinction. The study aimed to describe species distinction in Irish oak populations and to situate this in a European context. METHODS Populations were sampled from across the range of the island of Ireland. Leaf morphological characters were analysed through clustering and ordination methods. Putative neutral molecular markers (AFLPs) were used to analyse the molecular variation. Cluster and ordination analyses were also performed on the AFLP markers in addition to calculations of genetic diversity and F-statisitcs. KEY RESULTS A notable divergence was uncovered between the morphological and molecular analyses. The morphological analysis clearly differentiated individuals into their respective species, whereas the molecular analysis did not. Twenty species-specific AFLP markers were observed from 123 plants in 24 populations but none of these was species-diagnostic. Principal Coordinate Analysis of the AFLP data revealed a clustering, across the first two axes, of individuals according to population rather than according to species. High F(ST) values calculated from AFLP markers also indicated population differentiation (F(ST) = 0.271). Species differentiation accounted for only 13 % of the variation in diversity compared with population differentiation, which accounted for 27 %. CONCLUSIONS The results show that neutral molecular variation is partitioned more strongly between populations than between species. Although this could indicate that the populations of Q. petraea and Q. robur studied may not be distinct species at a molecular level, it is proposed that the difficulty in distinguishing the species in Irish oak populations using AFLP markers is due to population differentiation masking species differences. This could result from non-random mating in small, fragmented woodland populations. Hybridization and introgression between the species could also have a significant role.
A Brief History of Research on Phantom Alternatives: Evidence for Seven Empirical Generalizations About Phantoms

Phantom alternatives (unavailable options) can appear in many common decision tasks and can influence a wide variety of everyday behaviors. Although the term phantom is of recent vintage, researchers have investigated psychological reactions to unavailable alternatives for almost 60 years. In this article, we review 13 domains of research on unavailable alternatives to identify seven empirical generalizations about phantoms, These generalizations call into questions some basic assumptions of formal choice theory and suggest new research directions for studying phantom options.
Generalized delay-secrecy-throughput trade-offs in mobile ad-hoc networks

In this paper, we first present a theoretical framework aimed at generalizing the scaling laws of delay, secrecy and throughput in mobile ad-hoc networks for various network models and scheduling policies available in the literature. We derive new scaling laws for throughput-delay trade-offs for routing policies such as Spray-and-Wait. A model based on threshold secrecy constraint is developed and it is shown that scaling is not impacted provided the eavesdropper density is lower than the node density.
Men And Their Work

The author emphasizes his conviction that a man's work is a clue to the course of his life, to his social being and identity; that his work influences his social outlooks and attitudes. These thirteen papers are concerned with the social/psychological rather than the organizational aspects of work, with the professional and would-be professional rather than the industrial and bureaucratic occupations. They discuss the ideas which grew out of Professor Hughes' studies on the organization of work and the nature of work experience.
First-Year Students’ Adjustment to University Life as a Function of Relationships with Parents

One understudied aspect of first-year students’transition to university is their relationship with parents. This study investigates the contributions that perceived parenting style, current relationships with parents, and psychological well-being variables make toward perceived overall adjustment to university, from both socio/emotional adaptation perspectives and actual academic achievement. Data were collected from a sample of 408 (116 males and 292 females) first-year students attending university in a large metropolitan Canadian city. Results indicated that mutual reciprocity and discussion with parents, as well as the psychological well-being variables, have direct links to adjustment to university. There was an indirect, positive relationship between authoritative parenting and adaptation variables. Furthermore, the predictor variables differed by both gender and outcome measures. Interpretation of these results, their congruence within the context of the theoretical frameworks, and practical implications are discussed.
Degendering the Honor/Care Conflation: Palestinian Israeli University Women's Appropria‐tions of Independence

On the basis of ethnographic research of Palestinian Israeli women at Hebrew University, I explore how cultural models of independence are used to reshape Arab conceptions of male and female selves and their communal positions. I claim that Arab models of family honor conflate honor and care differently in social expectations for men and women. Men insure family honor through care for women's bodies and women do the same through being modest and reproductive. Although the concept of independence has been critiqued as being male and Western, these women use the Western model to degender the Arab conflation of care and honor. They bring together Western cultural models of independence and Arab models of connectivity to reshape their potential as female selves to include both independent and relational features. [self, cultural models, Palestinian women, university, family honor]
New Oral Anticoagulants in Patients With Cancer: Current State of Evidence

Effectiveness of new oral anticoagulants (NOAC) in patients with cancer is not clearly defined. There remain concerns of doubtful benefit and chances of potential harm with newer agents. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of NOAC in patients with cancer. PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases were searched from January 01, 2001 through February 28, 2013. Randomized controlled trials reporting efficacy and safety data of NOACs (rivaroxaban, dabigatran, and apixaban) with control (low-molecular-weight heparin/vitamin K antagonists/placebo) for patients with cancer were included. Primary efficacy outcome was venous thromboembolism (VTE) or VTE-related death, and primary safety outcome was clinically relevant bleeding. We used random-effects models. Six trials randomized 19,832 patients, and 1197 patients had cancer. Risk of VTE or VTE-related death was not significantly different with NOAC versus control [odds ratio (OR), 0.80; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.39–1.65] in patients with cancer. Separate analysis for individual effects showed similar results for rivaroxaban (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.60–1.94) and dabigatran (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.21–3.91). Clinically relevant bleeding was not higher with NOAC compared with control (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.82–2.71); individual effect of rivaroxaban showed similar results. No statistically significant difference of efficacy and safety with NOAC was found between patients with and without cancer. Rivaroxaban might be equally effective and safe as vitamin K antagonist in patients with cancer. Dabigatran is as effective as comparator; however, safety profile of dabigatran is unknown. Randomized trials of new anticoagulants specific to the cancer population are necessary, and NOAC also need to be evaluated against low-molecular-weight heparin.
Application of Dynamic Analysis in Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method

Analyses of dynamic responses are significantly important for the design, maintenance and rehabilitation of asphalt pavement. In order to evaluate the dynamic responses of asphalt pavement under moving loads, a specific computational program, SAFEM, was developed based on a semi-analytical finite element method. This method is three-dimensional and only requires a two-dimensional FE discretization by incorporating Fourier series in the third dimension. In this paper, the algorithm to apply the dynamic analysis to SAFEM was introduced in detail. Asphalt pavement models under moving loads were built in the SAFEM and commercial finite element software ABAQUS to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the SAFEM. The verification shows that the computational accuracy of SAFEM is high enough and its computational time is much shorter than ABAQUS. Moreover, experimental verification was carried out and the prediction derived from SAFEM is consistent with the measurement. Therefore, the SAFEM is feasible to reliably predict the dynamic response of asphalt pavement under moving loads, thus proving beneficial to road administration in assessing the pavement’s state.
Does Community Service Rehabilitate better than Short-term Imprisonment?: Results of a Controlled Experiment

Community service, along with other new sanctions, has been recommended in many Western countries as an alternative to incarceration over many years. Despite a rich literature on evaluations of so-called alternative sanctions, random assignment has only exceptionally been used in this field, and (short-term) imprisonment has never been an option in such designs. The present study tried to assess the comparative effects of community service and prison sentences of up to 14 days, through a controlled experiment in Switzerland in which 123 convicts have been randomly assigned. The results show no difference with respect to later employment history and social and private life circumstances. However, re-arrest by the police was more frequent among those randomly assigned to prison than among those selected for community service. Prisoners also developed more unfavourable attitudes towards their sentence and the criminal justice system.
Correlation-sensitive adaptive sequence detection

In high density magnetic recording, noise samples corresponding to adjacent signal samples are heavily correlated as a result of front-end equalizers, media noise, and signal nonlinearities combined with nonlinear filters to cancel them. This correlation significantly deteriorates the performance of detectors at high densities. In this paper, we propose a novel sequence detector that is correlation sensitive and adaptive to the nonstationary signal sample statistics. We derive the correlation-sensitive maximum likelihood detector. It can be used with any Viterbi-like receiver (e.g., partial response maximum likelihood, fixed delay tree search, multilevel decision feedback equalization) that relies on a tree/trellis structure. Our detector adjusts the metric computation to the noise correlation statistics. Because these statistics are nonstationary, we develop an adaptive algorithm that tracks the data correlation matrices. Simulation results are presented that show the applicability of the new correlation-sensitive adaptive sequence detector.
Gestational Diabetes and the Offspring: Implications in the Development of the Cardiorenal Metabolic Syndrome in Offspring

The risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in women who had previously been diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GDM) is well established. There is increasing evidence that the offspring of women with GDM are at increased risk for the development of all components of the cardiorenal metabolic syndrome. Overall, it appears that these offspring have an increased risk for overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, higher blood pressure, renal disease, and type 2 diabetes. However, distinct differences in regional populations, lack of routine screening and treatment of GDM worldwide, and long follow-up periods for offspring represent a challenge in assessing the risk for development of these abnormalities in the offspring of women who have had GDM.
Learning and Supervisory Styles in the Training of Social Workers

This research investigated the learning and supervisory styles among a population of supervisors (N = 133) and social work trainees (N = 333). Using Kolb's Learning Style Index, the study looked at the ways learning styles change over the course of a three-year BSW program, distribution of supervisory styles among the fieldwork supervisors, and similarities and differences in styles between the two respective groups. The approaches used by supervisors to adjust their style to accommodate the learning needs of individual supervisees were also investigated. The findings allow us to infer that the learning styles of the students are more varied among themselves upon the commencement of studies than upon completion of the social work degree. The supervisees tend to move toward the styles that are prevalent among social workers. Almost all of the supervisors exhibit styles congruent with the styles typically found among social workers. In addition, supervisors tend to stick to their “natural” supervision style irregardless of the learning style of the specific supervisee. However, in the instances in which adjustments were made, the supervisors favored a certain degree of contrast between their supervisory style and the learning style of the supervisee in the supervisory dyad. The limitations of the study as well as the implications of its results for future research are discussed.
Comparative study of notoungulate (Placentalia, Mammalia) bony labyrinths and new phylogenetically informative inner ear characters

The phylogenetic relationships of notoungulates, an extinct group of predominantly South American herbivores, remain poorly resolved with respect to both other placental mammals and among one another. Most previous phylogenetic analyses of notoungulates have not included characters of the internal cranium, not least because few such features, including the bony labyrinth, have been described for members of the group. Here we describe the inner ears of the notoungulates Altitypotherium chucalensis (Mesotheriidae), Pachyrukhos moyani (Hegetotheriidae) and Cochilius sp. (Interatheriidae) based on reconstructions of bony labyrinths obtained from computed tomography imagery. Comparisons of the bony labyrinths of these taxa with the basally diverging notoungulate Notostylops murinus (Notostylopidae), an isolated petrosal from Itaboraí, Brazil, referred to Notoungulata, and six therian outgroups, yielded an inner ear character matrix of 25 potentially phylogenetically informative characters, 14 of them novel to this study. Two equivocally optimized character states potentially support a pairing of Mesotheriidae and Hegetotheriidae, whereas four others may be diagnostic of Notoungulata. Three additional characters are potentially informative for diagnosing more inclusive clades: one for crown Placentalia; another for a clade containing Kulbeckia, Zalambdalestes, and Placentalia; and a third for Eutheria (crown Placentalia plus stem taxa). Several other characters are apomorphic for at least one notoungulate in our study and are of potential interest for broader taxonomic sampling within Notoungulata to clarify currently enigmatic interrelationships. Measures of the semicircular canals were used to infer agility (e.g. capable of quick movements vs. lethargic movements) of these taxa. Agility scores calculated from these data generally corroborate interpretations based on postcranial remains of these or closely related species. We provide estimates of the low‐frequency hearing limits in notoungulates based on the ratio of radii of the apical and basal turns of the cochlea. These limits range from 15 Hz in Notostylops to 149 Hz in Pachyrukhos, values comparable to the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) when hearing in air, respectively.
Distribution of the matrix metalloproteinases stromelysin, gelatinases A and B, and collagenase in Crohn's disease and normal intestine.

AIMS--To investigate the role of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the connective tissue changes seen in the intestine in Crohn's disease. METHODS--Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy using specific antibodies to the MMPs (collagenase, gelatinase A and B, and stromelysin) were used to assess the distribution of these enzymes in normal and diseased intestine. RESULTS--In normal intestine the matrix metalloproteinases were confined to a few isolated inflammatory cells, but in Crohn's disease, the inflammatory infiltrate was associated with increased numbers of polymorphonuclear leucocytes which stained positive for gelatinase B. Stromelysin was also detected extracellularly on the connective tissue matrix in regions of smooth muscle cell proliferation and mucosal degradation. Interestingly, in ulcerative colitis, another inflammatory bowel disease, stromelysin was localised in the lamina propria in regions of mucosal loss. CONCLUSIONS--The increased numbers of inflammatory cells containing gelatinase B, and the localisation of extracellular stromelysin in regions of fibrosis and mucosal degradation, suggest that these enzymes have a role in the pathological changes seen in Crohn's disease. In cases of ulcerative colitis stromelysin was also detected on the lamina propria in regions of mucosal loss, and seems to be associated with the connective tissue changes that precede mucosal loss.
Loss of the Na+/H+ exchanger NHE8 causes male infertility in mice by disrupting acrosome formation

Mammalian sperm feature a specialized secretory organelle on the anterior part of the sperm nucleus, the acrosome, which is essential for male fertility. It is formed by a fusion of Golgi-derived vesicles. We show here that the predominantly Golgi-resident Na+/H+ exchanger NHE8 localizes to the developing acrosome of spermatids. Similar to wild-type mice, Nhe8−/− mice generated Golgi-derived vesicles positive for acrosomal markers and attached to nuclei, but these vesicles failed to form large acrosomal granules and the acrosomal cap. Spermatozoa from Nhe8−/− mice completely lacked acrosomes, were round-headed, exhibited abnormal mitochondrial distribution, and displayed decreased motility, resulting in selective male infertility. Of note, similar features are also found in globozoospermia, one of the causes of male infertility in humans. Germ cell-specific, but not Sertoli cell-specific Nhe8 disruption recapitulated the globozoospermia phenotype, demonstrating that NHE8's role in spermiogenesis is germ cell-intrinsic. Our work has uncovered a crucial role of NHE8 in acrosome biogenesis and suggests that some forms of human globozoospermia might be caused by a loss of function of this Na+/H+ exchanger. It points to NHE8 as a candidate gene for human globozoospermia and a possible drug target for male contraception.