Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Relevance of Pretransplant Donor-Specific HLA Antibodies Detected by Single-Antigen Flow-Beads

Background. Defining the clinical relevance of donor-specific HLA-antibodies detected by single-antigen flow-beads (SAFB) is important because these assays are increasingly used for pretransplant risk assessment and organ allocation. The aims of this study were to investigate to which extent HLA-DSA detected by SAFB represent a risk for antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) and diminished allograft survival, and to define HLA-DSA characteristics predictive for AMR. Methods. In this retrospective study of 334 patients with negative complement-dependent cytotoxicity crossmatches, day-of-transplant sera were analyzed by SAFB, HLA-DSA determined by virtual crossmatching, and the results correlated with the occurrence of AMR and allograft survival. Results. Sixty-seven of 334 patients (20%) had HLA-DSA. The incidence of clinical/subclinical AMR at day 200 posttransplant was significantly higher in patients with HLA-DSA than in patients without HLA-DSA (55% vs. 6%; P<0.0001). Notably, 30/67 patients with HLA-DSA (45%) did not experience clinical/subclinical AMR. Death-censored 5-year allograft survival was equal in patient without HLA-DSA and patients with HLA-DSA but no AMR (89% vs. 87%; P=0.95), whereas it was 20% lower in patients with HLA-DSA and AMR (68%; P=0.002). The number, class, and cumulative strength of HLA-DSA determined by SAFB, and prior sensitizing events were not predictive for the occurrence of AMR. Conclusions. These results support the utility of SAFB for pretransplant risk assessment and organ allocation, and suggest that improvement of the positive predictive value of HLA-DSA defined by SAFB will require an enhanced definition of pathogenic factors of HLA-DSA.
Welfare Leavers and Returners

ABSTRACT This study compares representative samples from a mid-Atlantic state of people who left the TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program) rolls in 2002 and people who returned to TANF in this same year, after being off the rolls. Previous studies showed that the work lives of the welfare poor are more stressful than those in the primary job market. Findings of this study show the quality of life of respondents was particularly related to resource deprivations, and neighborhood conditions, while suggesting relationships to employment barriers and child well-being. Returners report more barriers to employment and neighborhood issues than leavers.
Government Funding on Access to Secondary Education in Kenya: Challenges and Prospects.

One of the major challenges facing secondary education sub-sector in Kenya over the years is low transition rate from primary to secondary level of education. This has contributed to low enrolment at secondary schools with a wide gap existing between primary and secondary enrolment. With the introduction of Free Primary Education in 2003, the gap would have widened further if efforts were not made to enhance access to secondary education. Low enrolment had been occasioned by introduction of the cost sharing policy in 1988. The government of Kenya, through sessional paper No.1 of 2005, made a commitment to increase transition from primary to secondary school from 49 to 70% by the year 2010. This would be made possible by the government supplementing parents’ efforts in meeting education costs at secondary level. The government supported the poor and needy students through bursaries. Further, tuition free secondary education policy was implemented in 2008 with the government’s commitment to pay tuition fees for all students enrolled at secondary level. The government has also made efforts to enhance access by providing bursary funds to the needy to meet other educational needs charged above tuition fees through the constituencies. With the government efforts, transition rate to secondary level of education has since increased from 59.6% in 2007 to 70% in 2010. The cost of education in Kenya has continued to escalate over the years due to rising cost of living. Many people from the low income group are finding it difficult to sustain their children in secondary school hence lowering gains made in transition. This paper utilizes secondary data to critically analyze financing of secondary education in Kenya. In particular, the paper discusses the impact of the tuition free secondary education and bursary schemes on enrolment in secondary schools in Kenya. It also analyses the strengths and weaknesses of these programmes in enhancing access to secondary education. Key words: Free secondary education, constituency bursary fund, enrolment, transition, drop-out
Comparison of physical and technical performance in European soccer match-play: FA Premier League and La Liga

Abstract The aim of this study was to compare match performance in professional soccer players across two major European championships: Spanish La Liga and English FA Premier League (FAPL). Data were collected using a computerized match analysis system. A total of 5938 analyses were recorded during the 2006–2007 season. The players were classified into six positional roles: central defenders, full backs, central defensive midfielders, wide midfielders, central attacking midfielders, and forwards. The match performance variables analysed included: (i) physical activity – total distance covered, distances covered at high-intensities both with and without possession of the ball; (ii) technical actions – heading and ground duels, passing, time in possession, and ball touches. Comparison of the total distance covered by FAPL and La Liga players showed no difference across individual playing positions but FAPL players generally covered greater distances in sprinting. In contrast, more of the total distance in sprinting was covered by La Liga players when their team was in possession (values from P < 0.05 to P < 0.001), while an equal total sprint distance, irrespective of possession, was observed in FAPL players. La Liga players won more heading duels (49.32% vs. 48.68%) and performed the same proportion of successful passes (76.17%). FAPL wide midfielders had ~20% more ball touches per possession than their La Liga counterparts (2.24±0.54 vs. 2.03±0.55, P < 0.001). In conclusion, our results show that FAPL and La Liga teams present differences in various physical and technical aspects of match-play, suggesting that cultural differences may exist across professional soccer leagues and playing positions.
Creativity and Brain-Functioning in Product Development Engineers: A Canonical Correlation Analysis

This study used canonical correlation analysis to explore the relation among scores on the Torrance test of figural and verbal creativity and demographic, psychological and physiological measures in Swedish product-development engineers. The first canonical variate included figural and verbal flexibility and originality as dependent measures and (a) higher scores on the brain integration scale, (b) faster speed of processing in an event-related potential task, (c) faster conflict-resolution during the Stroop task, (d) higher moral reasoning, and (e) higher manageability and lower comprehensibility as independent measures. Flexibility and originality reflect the ability to see old situations in new ways leading to unique responses. Greater mental adaptability was associated with greater brain integration and speed of processing along with higher moral reasoning and feeling of being in control. Future research could investigate effects of interventions that optimize brain integration on creative output across professions.
Laboratory Diagnosis of Norovirus: Which Method Is the Best?

Noroviruses (NV) are transmitted by fecally contaminated food, vomit, and person-to-person contact. They are one of the main causes of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis in nursing, old people and children’s homes. NV outbreaks are characterized by a short incubation period (12–48 h), nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and high secondary attack rates. The illness is generally mild and self-limiting. The aim of diagnostic procedures in viral gastroenteritis is to avoid nosocomial infections on the one hand and unnecessary antibiotic treatment on the other. Diagnostic procedures for NV are based on the detection of virus in stool samples by (immune) transmission electron microscopy (TEM), antigen ELISA, or polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In our study, a total of 244 stool samples obtained from 227 patients between March and May 2002 were tested by TEM, antigen ELISA and in-house PCR. Our data showed that PCR has the highest sensitivity (94.1%), followed by TEM (58.3%), and ELISA (31.3%), while specificity was highest for TEM (98.0%), followed by ELISA (94.9%), and PCR (92.4%). All three methods tested (TEM, ELISA and PCR) are useful for epidemiological investigations in gastroenteritis outbreaks; however, to maximize diagnostic validity for individual cases, at least two of the methods should be combined.
Coping with job stress in industries: A cognitive approach

This study examined the roles of the coping strategies used by individuals to cope with job stress. The coping strategy was formed throughout the cognitive appraisal of the stressful events. It was found that direct action coping strategy shows negative relations with job stressors, whereas there are positive relations between stressors and other coping strategies. This implies that direct action coping strategy is used to alleviate the job stress by affirmatively changing the deleterious effects of job stressors in the work environment, while other coping strategies led to the positive impact on job stress or negative impact on job performance. To secure the usability and applicability of the model in practice, more considerations in the future should be made on the mediating variables such as personality type and social support, which are possible variables impacting the selection of coping strategy. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Effects of aerobic exercise training on visceral fat and serum adiponectin concentration in ovariectomized rats

Abstract Objective The aim of this experimental study was to investigate the effects of exercise training on visceral fat and adiponectin levels in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Method Female Wistar rats were divided into OVX (n = 20) and sham-operated control (SHAM; n = 8) groups. OVX rats were subdivided into a sedentary (OVX-SED; n = 10) and an exercise (OVX-EX; n = 10) group. The exercise consisted of 8 weeks of aerobic exercise (26 m/min, 5 days/week, 60 min/day, 10% slope). Results In OVX rats, body weight was 21% greater (255.2 ± 9.31 vs. 211.63 ± 3.23; p < 0.01) and visceral fat was 29% greater (10.87 ± 0.66 vs. 8.43 ± 0.45; p < 0.05) than in SHAM rats. After training, visceral fat was 20% lower in OVX-EX rats than in OVX-SED rats (8.72 ± 0.46 vs. 10.87 ± 0.66; p < 0.05). After 8 weeks of running on the treadmill, levels of serum glucose, insulin and serum adiponectin, and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance were not changed significantly in the OVX-EX group. Conclusion These results suggest that 8-week exercise training induces a decrease in visceral fat, and this reduction without weight loss does not change serum adiponectin levels and insulin sensitivity in ovariectomized rats.
Residents' Perceptions of Environmental Impacts of the 2008 Beijing Green Olympic Games

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore level of awareness, perceived environmental impact, attitude, behavioral intentions, and actual behavior regarding the support of the Green Olympic initiatives and future hosting of mega sport events among residents in Beijing as the host city of the Olympic Games during the post-game management period. A questionnaire was formulated with six sections: awareness, perception, attitude, behavioral intention, actual behavior, and demographic background. Respondents (N=298) were recruited from 16 districts of Beijing, who had primarily lived in Beijing from 2001 to June 2009 and were at least 26-years-old at the time of survey administration. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that behavioral intention, attitude, and perception factors had direct and mediating effects on actual behaviors of supporting the Green Olympics initiatives and future hosting of mega sport events. However, awareness was not predictive of actual behaviors of supporting the Green Olympics initiatives.
Impulsive-reflective attitude, behavioural inhibition and motor skills: Are they linked?

The present study aims to examine whether the inhibitory processes and impulsive-cognitive style can influence the emergence of coordination level among 61 children aged 3 to 5 years. Luria’s tapping tasks, Day—Night tasks, Hand—Candle tasks, Go—NoGo tasks and the Trail Making Tests of Reitan, all involving inhibitory processes, were conducted. The reflective attitude of children was determined with Kagan’s Matching Familiar Figures Test. The performances of unipedal stance, overarm throw and hopping were recorded for each child. The results showed that the inhibition task performances were correlated with coordination level for the three motor skills for the 3—4-year-olds children only. More specifically, the non-verbal inhibition was more a coordination level predictor than the verbal or delayed inhibition.
Prereading Questions and Online Text Comprehension

Prereading questions can be an effective tool for directing students' learning. However, it is not always clear what the online effects of a set of prereading questions will be. In two experiments, this study investigated whether readers direct additional attention to and learn more from sentences that are potentially relevant to a set of prereading questions. Eye-tracking data indicated that participants directed additional attention (as indicated by first-pass reinspection and lookback duration) to sentences that were potentially relevant to the prereading questions they had received. Participants also learned more information from these sentences (as indicated by free recall rates). Judgment data suggested that the featural similarity (both lexical and semantic) of a sentence to a prereading question can be a strong indicator that a sentence will be deemed potentially relevant by readers. Results are discussed with respect to an account of instructional effects in which featural similarity drives early attentional allocation through memory-based processes.
Combining TMS-EEG with transcranial direct current stimulation language treatment in aphasia

Despite the fact that different studies have been performed using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in aphasia, so far, to what extent the stimulation of a cerebral region may affect the activity of anatomically connected regions remains unclear. The authors used a combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroencephalography (EEG) to explore brain areas’ excitability modulation before and after active and sham tDCS. Six chronic aphasics underwent 3 weeks of language training coupled with tDCS over the right inferior frontal gyrus. To measure the changes induced by tDCS, TMS-EEG closed to the area stimulated with tDCS were calculated. A significant improvement after tDCS stimulation was found which was accompained by a modification of the EEG over the stimulated region.
Gender Differences in Perceived and Real Knowledge of Financial Investments

The purpose of this study was to compare men and women on two concepts, self-perceived knowledge or what one thinks one knows about some topic and real or actual knowledge of that topic. A survey of 457 students showed that the men (n = 234) claimed to know more about financial investments than the women (n = 223) and also scored higher than the women on a test of real investment knowledge. About the same proportions of both sexes reported current ownership of savings accounts, stocks, and bonds, but men reported more plans to own stocks and bonds than women.
Unpackaging Culture’s Influence on Self-Esteem and Embarrassability

A growing body of research supports the notion that individuals simultaneously hold two views of self. Members of collective cultures have stronger interdependent images of self, but less strong independent images, than do individualist groups. University students in Hong Kong (n = 271), Hawaii (n = 146), and mainland United States (n = 232) completed the Self-Construal Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Modigliani Embarrassability Scale. As expected, levels of independence and interdependence were related to ethnocultural group (Euro-American, Asian American, and Hong Kong Chinese). Independence and interdependence accounted for most of the variance in embarrassability attributable to ethnocultural group. Contrary to predictions based on terror management theory, there was no difference in the relation between self-construal and self-esteem across the three ethnocultural groups. Across all groups, a more independent and less interdependent self-construal predicted higher levels of self-esteem. It is concluded that similar psychological processes contribute to self-esteem and embarrassability across the ethnocultural groups in the study.
The Effects of TV Program Comprehensibility on Preschool Children's Visual Attention to Television.

ANDERSON, DANIEL R , LORCH, ELIZABETH PUCZLES, FIEU3, DIANE ERICKSON, and SANDERS, JEANNE The Effects of TV Program ComprehensibdUy on Preschool Chddren's Vtsud Attention to Television GHBLD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 151-157 2 studies tested the hypothesis that TV program comprehensibihty is a major determmant of preschoolers' attenbon to television The first study found that 3and 5-year-olds' visual attention to "Sesame Street" was enhanced m the presence of dialogue m which the referent was concretely present either visually or auditorily The second study experimentally vaned comprehensibihty by randomly editing scenes withm "Sesame Street" bits, by subsbtutmg foreign language dialogue, or by subsbtutmg the original dialogue backward, utterance for utterance, thus retaming hp synch Relabve to undistorted "Sesame Street" bits, the foreign dialogue and backward dialogue bits produced substanbally lower visual attenbon m 2-, 3 5-, and 5-year-old children The randomly edited bits provided only small decrements m attenbon, but these bits were rated by adults to be significantly more understandable than bits with distorted dialogue The findings are mconsistent with the popular concepbon of young children's television viewing as being primarily determmed by superficial producbon features
Photocurrents in retinal rods of pigeons (Columba livia): kinetics and spectral sensitivity.

1. Membrane photocurrents were recorded from outer segments of isolated retinal rods of pigeons (Columba livia), the first such measurements on the photoreceptors of a bird. The amplitude of the response to 20 ms flashes of narrow wavelength bands of light increases linearly with intensity at low photon fluxes and saturates at higher intensities. The maximum (saturating) photocurrent observed in forty‐nine rod cells was 50 pA. Larger responses with less variability in the intensity for half‐maximal responses were observed when the physiological saline contained 20 mM bicarbonate (in addition to Hepes buffer). 2. The dependence of peak amplitude on intensity is well fitted by an exponential function; it is usually less well fitted by the Michaelis‐Menten (Naka‐Rushton) equation. 3. In the presence of bicarbonate, the average sensitivity of pigeon rods to dim flashes was 0.56 pA photon‐1 microns ‐2. The effective collecting area per photon was 1.8 microns 2. About 83 +/‐ 26 (mean +/‐ S.D.) photoisomerizations were required for a half‐saturating response. 4. The response kinetics of rods to dim flashes can be reasonably well described by a series of four to five either Poisson or independent filters. The time to peak, measured from the mid‐point of a 20 ms flash, was 319 +/‐ 83 ms (mean +/‐ S.D.). The integration time of the response was 851 +/‐ 86 ms (mean +/‐ S.D.) with bicarbonate present and 572 +/‐ 126 ms in the absence of bicarbonate. The responses of pigeon rods appear to be slower than those of mammals at the same temperature. The fraction of current suppressed by a single photoisomerization is smaller in pigeon than in mammalian rods by a factor of at least two. 5. The spectral sensitivity function was measured between 680 and 330 nm. The maximum at about 505 nm (range 497‐508 nm) corresponds to the alpha‐band of a vertebrate rhodopsin and agrees with previous behavioural measurements of scotopic sensitivity of pigeons as well as the absorption spectrum of extracts of pigeon rhodopsin. There was no pronounced beta‐band in the near‐ultraviolet wavelengths.
Promoting Social Competence of 6-8 Years Old Socially Incompetent Girls

Abstract The present study was conducted in Sonepat city with 6-8 years old girls. Two Government schools were selected at random. Twenty 6-8 years old socially incompetent girls were selected from each school on the basis of their social problem-solving skills. Twenty girls from one school served as control group and the twenty from second school as experimental group. Intervention programme was provided to experimental group girls to promote their social competence through social problem solving training for a period of two months. Results indicated that before intervention, there were no significant differences in social problem-solving skills of girls from experimental and control groups. After exposure to intervention programme, there were significant differences in pre- and post-testing performance of girls from experimental group. However, there was no improvement in social problem-solving skills of control group girls who did not receive any intervention.
Contamination of laryngoscopes

With reference to the letters in the July issue (Anaesthesia 1999; 54: 703±7), I should like to express my support for the views of Dr Cartwright concerning dental anaesthesia. The time has surely come to call a halt. It is now almost exactly six months since, after more than 30 years of dental anaesthetic practice, and approximately 15 000 anaesthetics, I administered my last `chair' anaesthetic. The dentists I worked with decided to call a halt, partly due to adverse publicity and partly to changes in the fee structure. I had no regrets since I have felt, increasingly in recent years, that the dental surgery is no longer an acceptable place to administer a general anaesthetic. Over the years, demand has fallen steadily and when I gave up this service in mid-January, I had been attending three dental practices on a monthly basis, anaesthetising a total of about 30 patients per month. I recently telephoned the three dentists in question to ®nd out how many patients they had to refer on as untreatable in the last six months. The total is about three per month, or 10% of the number of patients we were treating until six months ago. This is from a total NHS population which yields quite a few patients with serious dental neglect. The implication is therefore that 90% of the patients I had been anaesthetising could have been managed without a general anaesthetic. The remaining 10% could be referred to the local hospital's dental department without swamping the system. I rest my case! H. L. Goldwater Prestwich, Manchester M25 0FR, UK