Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influences of Appearance Satisfaction on School Adjustment and the Mediating Effects of Self-efficacy between Them among Adolescents

Purpose: To examine the effects of appearance satisfaction on school adjustment among adolescents and, further, the mediating effects of self-efficacy between appearance satisfaction and school adjustment. Methods: Conducted a self-report survey of 640 students consisting of sixth, eighth, and tenth graders in the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. The collected data were analyzed through the independent-sample t-test, the One-way ANOVA, the Pearson's correlation analysis, and the hierarchical multiple regression analysis using the SPSS WIN 18.0 statistical program. Results: First, boys and girls showed statistically significant differences. Boys reported higher levels of appearance satisfaction, school adjustment, and self-efficacy than girls. Second, there were no significant differences in appearance satisfaction and self-efficacy according to the school level. However, statistically significant differences were observed in school adjustment between sixth and eighth graders. Third, students who thought they belonged to the upper class in terms of academic performance and family economy showed the highest level of appearance satisfaction, school adjustment, and self-efficacy. Fourth, there were positive correlations between appearance satisfaction, self-efficacy, and school adjustment. Fifth, self-efficacy proved to have mediating effects between appearance satisfaction and school adjustment among adolescents. In particular, it had a full mediating effect on the relation between appearance satisfaction and adjustment to school life, one of the subfactors of school adjustment. Conclusion: The results suggest that appearance satisfaction is a factor which influences adolescents' school adjustment and that self-efficacy is an important means of mediating between appearance satisfaction and school adjustment. The study is significant in that it highlighted the importance of self-efficacy as one of the important variables to consider when planning various educational programs to help adolescents adjust to their school. In the light of the findings, in an effort to enhance adolescents' self-efficacy and help them lead a harmonious school life in Korea's so-called 'lookism' society, it is necessary to develop and implement counseling programs and character education materials that help adolescents develop a positive perception of their appearance and build self-esteem and self-confidence.
Choosing the Joneses: Endogenous Goals and Reference Standards

A growing economic literature stresses the importance of relative comparisons, e.g., for savings and consumption or happiness. In this literature it is usually assumed that reference standards against which people compare themselves are exogenously given. In contrast, findings from social psychology suggest that people play an active role in determining their reference standards. We present a social comparison model where people choose their reference standards to serve motives of self-improvement and self-enhancement. The model predicts that reference standards increase in individuals’ abilities and that people therefore tend to compare themselves to similar others. The results of a questionnaire study confirm the model’s prediction.
On measuring the intelligibility of synthetic speech in noise — Do we need a realistic noise environment?

Assessing the intelligibility of synthetic speech is important in creating synthetic voices to be used in real life applications, especially for the ones involving interfering noise. This raises the question how to measure the intelligibility of synthetic speech to correctly simulate such conditions. Conventionally, this has been done using a simple listening test setup where diotic speech and noise are played to both ears with headphones. This is indeed very different from the real noise environment where speech and noise are spatially distributed. This paper addresses the question whether a realistic noise environment should be used to test the intelligibility of synthetic speech. Three different test conditions, one with multichannel reproduction of noise and speech, and two headphone setups are evaluated. Tests are performed with natural and synthetic speech, including speech especially intended for noisy conditions. The results indicate a general trend in all setups but also some interesting differences.
Physical punishment in Ghana and Finland: criminological, sociocultural, human rights and child protection implications

This article deploys a critical examination of criminology-claims regarding connections between physical punishment (PP) and juvenile delinquency connection. With a particular focus on PP of children as a risk factor, this article explores the multifacetedness of 'what is true of all societies and what is true of one society at one point in time and space'. Drawing on sociocultural variations, Ghana and Finland, representing Sub-Saharan and Nordic regions respectively, will be presented as two different kinds of exemplary cultural contexts. A critical look is also taken on the UN Convention (United Nations, 1989) on children's rights regarding global-sociocultural diversity in child-rearing and parenting. It is maintained that mainstream criminological associations between PP and juvenile delinquency are not universalisable due to sociocultural variations across regions. Concomitantly, tensions remain in understanding the impacts of PP vis-a-vis mainstream child protection discourses/practices as well as making these discourses/practices a reality in non-Western regions such as Ghana.
[Transforming growth factor beta1 regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE To study the functional role of transforming growth factor beta1(TGFbeta1) in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the effect of TGFbeta1-ASODN blockage of EMT in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell line EC9706 was transfected with chemically synthesized TGFbeta1-ASODN. RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry were used to detect the protein and mRNA expressions of TGF-beta1, E-cadherin and vimentin before and after the transfection. Morphological changes were documented and scarification test was used to detect the migration potential of EC9706 before and after the transfection. RESULTS After TGFbeta1-ASODN transfection, mRNA (0.25 +/- 0.07) and protein (35.07% +/- 1.42%) expressions of TGFbeta1 in EC9706 were significantly lower than those before transfection (mRNA: 0.43 +/- 0.09; protein: 43.57% +/- 1.77%, chi(2) = 13.847 and chi(2) = 84.120, P < 0.05). The mRNA (0.38 +/- 0.09) and protein (17.13% +/- 1.45%) expressions of E-cadherin were significantly higher than those before transfection (0.22 +/- 0.06; 12.53% +/- 1.31%, chi(2) = 0.160 and chi(2) = 40.008, P < 0.05) and the mRNA (0.73 +/- 0.07) and protein (14.15% +/- 1.46%) expressions of vimentin were significantly lower than those (0.89 +/- 0.09; 17.97% +/- 1.42%) before transfection (chi(2) = 0.160 and chi(2) = 21.103, P < 0.05). Scarification test showed that after transfection, the mobility of EC9706 was significantly inhibited and its migration length (0.45 +/- 0.05) was significantly shorter than that before the transfection (0.81 +/- 0.11, chi(2) = 16.854, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS TGFbeta1 may contribute to EMT in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. TGFbeta1-ASODN leads to an over-expression of E-cadherin and a down-regulation of vimentin, along with the morphological alterations and migration inhibition, indicating that a blockage of TGFbeta1 suppresses EMT in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma.
Generalization bounds and consistency for latent-structural probit and ramp loss

We consider latent structural versions of probit loss and ramp loss. We show that these surrogate loss functions are consistent in the strong sense that for any feature map (finite or infinite dimensional) they yield predictors approaching the infimum task loss achievable by any linear predictor over the given features. We also give finite sample generalization bounds (convergence rates) for these loss functions. These bounds suggest that probit loss converges more rapidly. However, ramp loss is more easily optimized on a given sample.
Mechanisms of septal lamination in the developing hippocampus analyzed by outgrowth of fibers from septal implants. II. Absence of guidance by degenerative debris

In previous study (Lewis, E.R., and C. W. Cotman (1980) Brain Res. 96: 307--330; E. R. Lewis and C. W. Cotman, submitted for publication), we have shown that septal tissues grafted to the brain of a neonatal rat will extend fibers into special terminal laminae within the hippocampal formation of the recipient. As a consequence of the implantation surgery, neurons in the developing entorhinal cortex are ablated and it is possible that processes of implanted cells may be guided by degenerating afferent fibers in the host. In order to test this hypothesis, we have characterized the distribution of degeneration argyrophilia that results from the implant surgery and the time course of its removal and examined the growth of septal implants in a host brain devoid of observable degenerative debris. The pattern of degeneration argyrophilia shortly after the implantation surgery did not correspond to the pattern of implant-associated AChE staining in the host hippocampal formation. By 72 hr after surgery, the great majority of argyrophilic debris had been removed. Implants placed in a cavity created 72 hr after surgery demonstrated excellent viability and produced the typical pattern of AChE staining in the hippocampal formation of the host. This suggests that the presence of degenerating host axons is not necessary to guide the ingrowth of axons and establish septohippocampal laminated fields.
Substrate Topography Determines Neuronal Polarization and Growth In Vitro

The establishment of neuronal connectivity depends on the correct initial polarization of the young neurons. In vivo, developing neurons sense a multitude of inputs and a great number of molecules are described that affect their outgrowth. In vitro, many studies have shown the possibility to influence neuronal morphology and growth by biophysical, i.e. topographic, signaling. In this work we have taken this approach one step further and investigated the impact of substrate topography in the very early differentiation stages of developing neurons, i.e. when the cell is still at the round stage and when the first neurite is forming. For this purpose we fabricated micron sized pillar structures with highly reproducible feature sizes, and analyzed neurons on the interface of flat and topographic surfaces. We found that topographic signaling was able to attract the polarization markers of mouse embryonic neurons -N-cadherin, Golgi-centrosome complex and the first bud were oriented towards topographic stimuli. Consecutively, the axon was also preferentially extending along the pillars. These events seemed to occur regardless of pillar dimensions in the range we examined. However, we found differences in neurite length that depended on pillar dimensions. This study is one of the first to describe in detail the very early response of hippocampal neurons to topographic stimuli.
Vascular access types in patients starting hemodialysis after failed kidney transplant: does close nephrology follow-up matter?

Background Native arteriovenous fistulae (AVFs) are preferred while central venous catheters (CVCs) are least suitable vascular access (VA) in patients requiring hemodialysis (HD). Unfortunately, around 80% of patients start HD with CVCs. Late referral to nephrologist is thought to be a factor responsible for this. We retrospectively analyzed the types of VA at HD initiation in renal transplant recipients followed by nephrologists with failed transplant. If early referral to nephrologist improves AVF use, these patients should have higher prevalence of AVF at HD initiation. Methods All patients who failed their kidney transplants from January 2002 to April 2013 were included in the study. Data regarding planning of VA by nephrologist, documented discussion about renal replacement therapy (RRT), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 6 months and last clinic visit before HD initiation, time of VA referral, and subsequent VA at dialysis initiation were gathered and analyzed. Results Eighty-three patients failed their transplants during study period. Data were inaccessible in six patients. Eleven patients started peritoneal dialysis (PD) while 66 started HD. Thirty-two had previous functioning VA while 34 needed VA. There were 11/34 patients (32%) with eGFR <15 mL/min at six months while 21/34 (61%) had eGFR <15 mL/min at last clinic visit before HD initiation. Only 11/34 (32%) had documented RRT discussion, 8/34 (24%) had VA referral, and 7/34 (21%) had vein mapping. A total of 30/34 (88.3%) started HD with CVC while 4/34 (11.3%) started HD with AVF (p<0.0001). Conclusions Early referral to nephrologist by itself may not improve VA care amongst patient with end-stage renal disease.
Expression of DT-diaphorase and cytochrome P450 reductase correlates with mitomycin C activity in human bladder tumors.

Mitomycin C (MMC) is activated by DT-diaphorase (DTD) and cytochrome P450 reductase (P450R). In cancer cell lines, MMC cytotoxicity is correlated with DTD and P450R expression levels. The present study investigated the relationship between enzyme expression/activity and MMC cytotoxicity in patient bladder tumors. DTD and P450R expression was detected by competitive reverse transcription-PCR and their activity was measured by bioreductive assays. The expression of DTD and P450R in patient tumors (n = 29), as ratios to beta-actin levels, varied from 0 to 90% and 0 to 29%, respectively. The DTD expression was significantly correlated with P450R expression (r(2), 0.32; P < 0.01), whereas the average DTD level was 2-fold higher than that of P450R (P < 0.01). Among the 29 tumors, 21 provided sufficient materials to evaluate tumor sensitivity to MMC. The concentration of MMC required to produce 50% inhibition (IC(50)) of DNA precursor incorporation for a 2-h treatment ranged from 0.17 to 18.1 microg/ml, indicating a 110-fold intertumor variation, with the high-grade and more invasive tumors being less chemosensitive compared with the low-grade and less invasive tumors. Tumor sensitivity to MMC, as indicated by the inverse of IC(50) values, was positively correlated with the expression of DTD (r(2), 0.28; P < 0.05) and P450R (r(2), 0.26; P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis indicates DTD expression and P450R expression as better determinants of MMC activity compared with other pathobiological factors (e.g., tumor grade, stage, and labeling index) that have been shown to significantly correlate with MMC activity. Eleven tumors were studied for the relationship between gene expression level and enzyme activity of DTD and P450R. The DTD activity was significantly correlated with the gene expression level (r(2), 0.84; P < 0.001). For P450R, there is a trend of a correlation between enzyme activity and its mRNA level, but the correlation was not statistically significant (r(2), 0.28; P = 0.09). These data indicate that the sensitivity of patient bladder tumors to MMC is correlated with the expression of DTD and P450R in tumors and suggest that the lower expression of these enzymes in the high-grade and more invasive tumors is a cause of the lower efficacy of intravesical MMC in these tumors.
The Regulatory Influence On Management Information Systems - A Contingency Perspective

Reporting scandals and the financial crisis led to a massive increase of regulations. In particular financial institutions and governmental organizations are faced with a daunting number of regulatory requirements. So far, the influence of regulation on the organization and success of Management Information Systems (MIS) remains an open question. With this paper we provide a first insight into the organizational parameters that are affected by a volatile regulatory environment. Inspired by contingency theory and its application for MIS research, we first present an exploratory research model that explains the effects of regulation on the organization of MIS. Second, we evaluate the proposed research model by conducting an empirical study with 105 highly experienced respondents and apply a SEM-PLS approach. In summary, the results provide evidence that the degree of regulation is positively associated to both executive commitment to regulatory compliance and involvement of legal experts in IS compliance projects.
Precipitous Release of Methyl-CpG Binding Protein 2 and Histone Deacetylase 1 from the Methylated Human Multidrug Resistance Gene (MDR1) on Activation

ABSTRACT Overexpression of the human multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) is a negative prognostic factor in leukemia. Despite intense efforts to characterize the gene at the molecular level, little is known about the genetic events that switch on gene expression in P-glycoprotein-negative cells. Recent studies have shown that the transcriptional competence of MDR1 is often closely associated with DNA methylation. Chromatin remodeling and modification targeted by the recognition of methylated DNA provide a dominant mechanism for transcriptional repression. Consistent with this epigenetic model, interference with DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase activity alone or in combination can reactivate silent genes. In the present study, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation to monitor the molecular events involved in the activation and repression of MDR1. Inhibitors of DNA methyltransferase (5-azacytidine [5aC]) and histone deacetylase (trichostatin A [TSA]) were used to examine gene transcription, promoter methylation status, and the chromatin determinants associated with the MDR1 promoter. We have established that methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is involved in methylation-dependent silencing of human MDR1 in cells that lack the known transcriptional repressors MBD2 and MBD3. In the repressed state the MDR1 promoter is methylated and assembled into chromatin enriched with MeCP2 and deacetylated histone. TSA induced significant acetylation of histones H3 and H4 but did not activate transcription. 5aC induced DNA demethylation, leading to the release of MeCP2, promoter acetylation, and partial relief of repression. MDR1 expression was significantly increased following combined 5aC and TSA treatments. Inhibition of histone deacetylase is not an overriding mechanism in the reactivation of methylated MDR1. Our results provide us with a clearer understanding of the molecular mechanism necessary for repression of MDR1.
Face Model Compression by Distilling Knowledge from Neurons

The recent advanced face recognition systems werebuilt on large Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) or theirensembles, which have millions of parameters. However, the expensive computation of DNNs make theirdeployment difficult on mobile and embedded devices. This work addresses model compression for face recognition,where the learned knowledge of a large teachernetwork or its ensemble is utilized as supervisionto train a compact student network. Unlike previousworks that represent the knowledge by the soften labelprobabilities, which are difficult to fit, we represent theknowledge by using the neurons at the higher hiddenlayer, which preserve as much information as the label probabilities, but are more compact. By leveragingthe essential characteristics (domain knowledge) of thelearned face representation, a neuron selection methodis proposed to choose neurons that are most relevant toface recognition. Using the selected neurons as supervisionto mimic the single networks of DeepID2+ andDeepID3, which are the state-of-the-art face recognition systems, a compact student with simple network structure achieves better verification accuracy on LFW than its teachers, respectively. When using an ensemble of DeepID2+ as teacher, a mimicked student is able to outperform it and achieves 51.6 times compression ratio and 90 times speed-up in inference, making this cumbersome model applicable on portable devices.
Evidence of Maintenance Tagging in the Hippocampus for the Persistence of Long-Lasting Memory Storage

The synaptic tagging and capture (STC) hypothesis provides a compelling explanation for synaptic specificity and facilitation of long-term potentiation. Its implication on long-term memory (LTM) formation led to postulate the behavioral tagging mechanism. Here we show that a maintenance tagging process may operate in the hippocampus late after acquisition for the persistence of long-lasting memory storage. The proposed maintenance tagging has several characteristics: (1) the tag is transient and time-dependent; (2) it sets in a late critical time window after an aversive training which induces a short-lasting LTM; (3) exposing rats to a novel environment specifically within this tag time window enables the consolidation to a long-lasting LTM; (4) a familiar environment exploration was not effective; (5) the effect of novelty on the promotion of memory persistence requires dopamine D1/D5 receptors and Arc expression in the dorsal hippocampus. The present results can be explained by a broader version of the behavioral tagging hypothesis and highlight the idea that the durability of a memory trace depends either on late tag mechanisms induced by a training session or on events experienced close in time to this tag.
Comparing the Effects of Clozapine with Non-clozapine on Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Schizophrenia

Objectives: With portable wireless heart rate detector, we intended in this study to investigate autonomic nervous activities with heart rate variability analysis during different daily activities in patients with schizophrenia treated with clozapine and non-clozapine antipsychotic drugs. Methods: We enrolled 30 male inpatients with schizophrenia (9 with clozapine treatment, 21 with non-clozapine antipsychotic treatment) participated. They received a 24-hr electrocardiogram recordings during 24 hours daily-life activities as usual and 3-minute step-test exercise. Their records were manually divided into fi ve periods of activities, namely, daytime, nap, sleep, exercise, and after exercise. Results: Compared to those with non-clozapine antipsychotics, the patients with clozapine were found to be signifi - cantly associated with increased heart rates and elevated low frequency/high-frequency ratio during all fi ve daily activities (all p ＜ 0.001). Clozapine group was also demonstrated signifi cantly decreased high frequency band power only in after- exercise state (p ＜ 0.01). The signifi cant difference in resting heart rate recovery ratios between two groups was found (p ＜ 0.01) especially at the third and fourth minutes after exercise (all p ＜ 0.01). Conclusion: In line with existing studies, the results confi rmed changes in autonomic nervous activity in patients treated with clozapine, with marked difference at all day activities and heart rate recovery after exercise. These changes are primarily due to drug-related elevation in sympathetic activity and inhibition in vagal tone, independent of age, depression and severity of symptoms. The data also suggested a possible risk of cardiovascular adversity in the clozapine treatment among patients with chronic schizophrenia especially after exercises.