Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fibronectin augments monocyte adhesion to low-density lipoprotein-stimulated mesangial cells.

BACKGROUND Glomerular monocyte infiltration is an early feature of lipid-mediated renal injury in animal models. Interactions between mesangial and infiltrating mononuclear cells may contribute to the development of glomerular scarring. METHODS Adherence of U-937 monocytes to low-density lipoprotein (LDL)- or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha)-prestimulated human mesangial cells was assessed by colorimetry of nuclear staining with crystal violet. Blocking antibodies were added to examine the mechanisms of binding. Adhesion molecule expression and fibronectin synthesis were measured by ELISA. RESULTS Preincubation of mesangial cells for 24 hours with LDL (100 micrograms/ml) or mildly oxidized (minimally modified) LDL (MM-LDL) increased monocyte adhesion by 207% and 240%, respectively, compared with control nonstimulated cells (100%). TNFalpha (100 U/ml) enhanced binding by 335% and up-regulated intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) expression by 505% and 179%, respectively, as compared with MM-LDL (120% and 116%) and LDL, which had no effect. Blocking antibodies to these adhesion molecules inhibited monocyte binding to TNFalpha- and, to a lesser extent, MM-LDL-primed mesangial cells, but had no effect after LDL pretreatment. In contrast to TNFalpha, MM-LDL and LDL increased mesangial cell-associated fibronectin, whereas antibodies to fibronectin inhibited monocyte binding to lipoprotein-stimulated but not TNFalpha-stimulated cells. CONCLUSIONS Although enhanced monocyte adhesion to TNFalpha- and, to a lesser extent, MM-LDL-stimulated mesangial cells is mediated by changes in ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression, both LDL and MM-LDL promote similar cellular interactions as a result of increased fibronectin production.
Development of a Testbed for Wireless Underground Sensor Networks

Wireless Underground Sensor Networks (WUSNs) constitute one of the promising application areas of the recently developed wireless sensor networking techniques. WUSN is a specialized kind of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) that mainly focuses on the use of sensors that communicate through soil. Recent models for the wireless underground communication channel are proposed but few field experiments were realized to verify the accuracy of the models. The realization of field WUSN experiments proved to be extremely complex and time-consuming in comparison with the traditional wireless environment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that proposes guidelines for the development of an outdoor WUSN testbed with the goals of improving the accuracy and reducing of time for WUSN experiments. Although the work mainly aims WUSNs, many of the presented practices can also be applied to generic WSN testbeds.
Capacitive conductivity logging and electrical stratigraphy in a high-resistivity aquifer, Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site

We tested a prototype capacitive-conductivity borehole tool in a shallow, unconfined aquifer with coarse, unconsolidated sediments and very-low-conductivity water at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site BHRS. Examining suchahigh-resistivitysystemprovidesagoodtestforthecapacitive-conductivity tool because the conventional induction-conductivity tool known to have limited effectiveness in high-resistivity systems did not generate expressive well logs at the BHRS. The capacitive-conductivity tool demonstrated highly repeatable, low-noise behavior but poor correlation with the induction tool in the lower-conductivity portions of the stratigraphy where the induction tool was relatively unresponsive. Singular spectrum analysis of capacitive-conductivity logs reveals similar vertical-length scales ofstructurestoporositylogsattheBHRS.Also,majorstratigraphic units identified with porosity logs are evident in the capacitive-conductivity logs. However, a previously unrecognized subdivision in the upper portion of one of the major stratigraphicunitscanbeidentifiedconsistentlyasarelatively low-conductivity body i.e., an electrostratigraphic unit between the overlying stratigraphic unit and the relatively high-conductivity lower portion — despite similar porosity and lithology in adjacent units. The high repeatability and resolutionandthewidedynamicrangeofthecapacitive-conductivity tool are demonstrated here to extend to high-resistivity,unconsolidatedsedimentaryaquiferenvironments.
The Nature of Option Interactions and the Valuation of Investments with Multiple Real Options

Abstract This paper deals with the nature of option interactions and the valuation of capital budgeting projects possessing flexibility in the form of multiple real options. It identifies situations where option interactions can be small or large, negative or positive. Interactions generally depend on the type, separation, degree of being “in the money,” and the order of the options involved. The paper illustrates, through a generic example, the importance of properly accounting for interactions among the options to defer, abandon, contract or expand investment, and switch use. It is shown that the incremental value of an additional option, in the presence of other options, is generally less than its value in isolation, and declines as more options are present. Therefore, valuation errors from ignoring a particular option may be small. However, configurations of real options exhibiting precisely the opposite behavior are identified. Comparative statics results confirm that the value of flexibility, despite interactions, manifests familiar option properties.
Subordinate's Perception of LMX and Performance Proxies

Today, a global phenomenon in the organization is to achieve managerial efficiency and one of its most important determinants is its ability to influence subordinates to carry out requests and to implement decisions. This study mainly focuses on the one to one quality relationship formed between leader and his subordinate, called Leader Member Exchange (LMX). The current study has two objectives: Firstly, the study focused on impact of perceived quality relationship of subordinate's leader member exchange with their supervisor/manager on Performance Proxies i.e. Affective Commitment, Intention to leave and OCB. The study was conducted in Telecom and Textile sectors of Pakistan. The results have shown the positive association between LMX and performance Proxies.
Teaching Communication with Ethics-Based Cases

This article focuses on the importance of presenting ethics and communica tion as twin concepts in the management communication class. It underscores the increasing importance and complexity of ethical issues and presents two cases that the instructor can use for analysis and discussion. The cases address two contemporary issues—harassment in the workplace and the consumption of alcohol by pregnant women. Both have implications for business profes sionals and allow students a chance to analyze their views and make decisions about communication strategies.
Características dos idosos vítimas de violência doméstica no Distrito Federal

OBJECTIVE: To describe the profile of the aged victims of domestic violence in the Federal District, Brazil. METHOD: This is a descriptive exploratory study, with historical series of collected data of the Millenium System of the Civil Police of the DF, from 2003 to 2007. The sample comprised 4,896 registers. The analysis contemplated sex, marital status, aggressor and type of aggression. RESULTS: We noticed an increase of the number of denunciations from 2003 on, most of them for males. The married ones are the most attacked. In relation to the aggressors, 62.81% do not have kinship with the victim and 13.56% of the aggressions were committed by son. The results showed the vulnerable situation of this group and the importance of the public services directed toward the protection of the aged one. CONCLUSION: Stimulating health professionals to make the notification/individual inquiry of domestic violence and/or others becomes essential.
Residential complexes in Queensland, Australia: a space of segregation and ageism?

ABSTRACT In western countries, large residential complexes comprising retirement villages and care facilities have become synonymous with specialised housing for older people, but gerontology has tended to view retirement villages and care facilities as separate and different spaces. By researching these spaces separately, gerontology's examination of the development of residential complexes and older people's housing has been hindered. This paper explores the geographies of residential complexes in south-east Queensland, Australia, by employing data from a larger study that utilised Lefebvre's spatial framework, social space. Its specific focus is Lefebvre's concept of representations of space, part of the triad of social space. The paper outlines how the professional knowledge of designers, planners and policy makers shape and frame the place of older people in contemporary society. The findings indicate that professional knowledge is characterised by contradictions, and that business interests sustain stereotypes of older people as either ageless or dependent. Furthermore, spaces designed for older people reinforce historical legacies of separation from the community. This form of built environment can thus be seen as both a cause and effect of ageism. Generally, the lack of attention by gerontology to these spaces has hampered discussion of alternatives for older people's housing in Australia and, importantly, the development of responsive urban and social planning.
Correlation between Organizational Commitment and Organizational Climate of Physical Education Teachers of Schools of Zanjan

The aim of conducting the current research was surveying the correlation between organizational commitment and organizational climate of physical education teachers of schools of Zanjan. The research method was descriptivecorrelative. 151 individuals participated in this research. Data collection tools included Allen Meyer Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and Ojaghi Organizational Commitment Questionnaire. Pearson correlation coefficient and regression were used for analyzing data. Findings: Results indicated a positive and significant correlation between organizational commitment and organizational climate. Also other results showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between all subscales of organizational commitment and organizational climate. It is suggested to managers to create a positive and desirable atmosphere for teachers in order to increase their responsibility to stay at the organization, to make efforts for organizational goals (normative commitment) and emotional attachment and to enjoy from staying at the organization (affective commitment).
Age-Dependent Morphine Tolerance Development in the Rat

In all age groups, the use of opioids to treat chronic pain conditions has increased, yet the impact of age on opioid tolerance development has not been comprehensively addressed. In this study, we investigated age-related differences in morphine tolerance development in rats. Rats aged 3 wk, 3 mo, 6 mo, and 1 yr were used in the study. Morphine (8 mg/kg) was injected subcutaneously twice each day and its analgesic effect assessed by the change in tail-flick latency using a thermal stimulus 5 min before and 30 min after dosing. Tolerance was defined as a 75% reduction in morphine-induced analgesia compared to Day 1. Rats aged 3 wk, 3 mo, 6 mo, and 1 yr developed tolerance on the 4th, 10th, 14th, and 22nd days of morphine treatment, respectively. Plasma levels of morphine and its metabolites showed that pharmacokinetic differences among the groups did not correlate with the differences in tolerance development. This study demonstrates that morphine tolerance occurs more rapidly in younger rats than older rats and is unlikely to be the result of differences in drug metabolism or clearance. Aging may impact molecular processes involved in tolerance development and provide insight into novel therapeutic targets to delay opioid tolerance development.
Cognitive and Emotional Abnormalities in People with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Cognitive and Emotional Abnormalities in People with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus by Philip Watson Advisor: Justin Storbeck, Ph.D. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-system autoimmune disorder characterized by the production of autoantibodies (ABs). Approximately 30-50% of patients produce ABs directed against N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors (NMDARs). Previous research with animals has identified these ABs as being associated with amygdala damage and a deficit in fear conditioning. People with SLE can have damage to the amygdala. This study aimed to determine if emotional processing deficits occur in people with SLE and to associate such deficits, if they exist, with anti-NMDAR AB presence, length of disease, cognition, and mood. Fifty-eight (11 AB+, 24 AB-, 23 healthy) women participated in tasks used to assess emotional facial recognition, attention to emotional stimuli, and emotional learning, and underwent cognitive testing, including measures of working memory, processing speed, executive functioning, language, visuospatial processing, and memory. Lupus patients were slower than healthy participants in identifying emotional faces, and measures of processing speed and executive functioning proved to be significant predictors of recognition of emotional faces and speeded reactions to emotional pictures. Thus, the results do not provide robust evidence for the existence of emotional processing deficits in people with lupus. The results are discussed within the context of the complex neuroanatomical system involved in cognition and affective processing. Future studies aimed at identifying dysfunction in the cognitive-affective control network are necessary to elucidate dysfunction in this patient group.
The Effects of Tacrolimus on T-Cell Proliferation Are Short-Lived: A Pilot Analysis of Immune Function Testing

Background Optimal immunosuppression after organ transplant should balance the risks of rejection, infection, and malignancy while minimizing barriers to adherence including frequent or time-sensitive dosing. There is currently no reliable immune function assay to directly measure the degree of immunosuppression after transplantation. Methods We developed an immune function assay to mea//sure T-cell proliferation after exposure to immunosuppression in vivo. We tested the assay in mice, and then piloted the approach using single time point samples, 11 pediatric kidney transplant recipients prescribed tacrolimus, mycophenolate, and prednisone 6 months to 5 years posttransplant, with no history of rejection, opportunistic infection, or cancer. Twelve healthy adults were controls. Results We demonstrated that our assay can quantify suppression of murine T-cell proliferation after tacrolimus treatment in vivo. In humans, we found a mean 25% reduction in CD4 and CD8 T-cell proliferation in pediatric renal transplant recipients on triple immunosuppression compared with adult healthy controls, but the pilot results were not statistically significant nor correlated with serum tacrolimus levels. We observed that cell processing and washing reduced the effects of tacrolimus on T-cell proliferation, as did discontinuation of tacrolimus treatment shortly before sampling. Conclusions T-cell proliferation is currently not suitable to measure immunosuppression because sample processing diminishes observable effects. Future immune function testing should focus on fresh samples with minimal washing steps. Our results also emphasize the importance of adherence to immunosuppressive treatment, because T-cell proliferation recovered substantially after even brief discontinuation of tacrolimus.
Visual Search in Complex Fields: Size Differences between Target Disc and Surrounding Discs

An adaptable technique for performing search experiments, enabling extensive studies to be undertaken with well-practiced observers, is described. In each trial a single target disc was presented. Cumulative distributions of the times taken to locate 6 solid disc targets of varying size in a display containing 99 larger standard discs arranged in a regular fashion, and 3 disc targets in a display of 107 larger discs arranged irregularly, are presented. Three practiced observers were used with each display. Sixty readings per observer, per target, per display were obtained. It is suggested that for the targets most different in size from the background discs, the distributions of times to locate are largely dependent on response time factors; and for the targets closest in size the distributions are largely dependent on search factors. Some support is lent to theoretical work that suggests search times are exponentially distributed. The shortest time required to locate a particular target is used as an estimate of response time. Response times are found to be inversely proportional to both the difference between the log of the target and nontarget disc diameters, and to the difference between the diameters. An amendment, taking response time into account, is suggested for exponential search equations.
Ouabain Binding and Cation Transport in Human Erythrocytes

A B S T R A C T In the present studies we have explored the relation between ouabain binding and the inhibition of potassium influx in intact human erythrocytes. The rate at which bound ouabain molecules dissociate from the erythrocyte membrane is not altered by complete replacement of choline with sodium or by partial replacement with potassium. These findings indicate that the effects of these cations on ouabain binding reflect alterations in the rate of association of ouabain molecules with the erythrocyte membrane. Variations in the cation composition of the incubation solution did not alter the relation between the fraction of the glycosidebinding sites occupied by ouabain or the fraction of ouabain-sensitive potassium influx which was inhibited. That is, irrespective of the affinity of the erythrocyte membrane for ouabain molecules and irrespective of the magnitude of glycoside-sensitive potassium influx, occupation of a given fraction of the glycoside-binding sites by ouabain results in the inhibition of an equal fraction of the ouabain-sensitive potassium transport sites.
The Leicester 500 Project. Social support and the development of postnatal depressive symptoms, a prospective cohort survey

Background. A prospective epidemiology study evaluated the role of specific social and psychological variables in the prediction of depressive symptomatology and disorders following childbirth in a community sample. Measures of social support used previously in clinically depressed populations facilitated further comparison. Methods. Nulliparous pregnant women (N=507) were interviewed during pregnancy with the Interview Measure of Social Relationships (IMSR) and a contextual assessment of pregnancy-related support and adversity and 427 were followed up at 3 months postpartum with the 30-item GHQ, including six depression items. To establish the clinical representativeness of the GHQ, high GHQ scorers and a random subsample of low scorers were interviewed using the SCAN. Regression models were developed using the GHQ Depression scale (GHQ-D), the IMSR and other risk factor data. Results. GHQ-D after childbirth was predicted by lack of perceived support from members of the woman's primary group and lack of support in relation to the event becoming pregnant; this held even after controlling for antenatal depression, neuroticism, family and personal psychiatric history and adversity. Informant-rated deficits in provision of social support also predicted later depression. The size of the primary social network group previously found to be related to depression in women, did not predict depressive symptom development. Conclusion. Predictors of depressive symptom development differ from predictors of recovery from clinical depression in women. Interventions should be designed to reduce specific deficits in social support observed in particular study populations.
Young Children's Engagement with Digital Texts and Literacies in the Home: Pressing Matters for the Teaching of English in the Early Years of Schooling.

Research has established young children's increasing use of computers and other new technologies in the home. Yet, teaching about digital texts and digital practices most often appears as an addition to early literacy instruction in classrooms where "business-as-usual" maintains an emphasis on print and print-based texts. This article examines two young children's literacy practices in the home during their searches for information about lizards using Google, Wikipedia and a reference book about reptiles. Conversation analysis of the young children's social interaction establishes how interaction resources produced socially recognisable actions, how social activity mutually accomplished knowledge about lizards, searches, images and print, and how children shifted seamlessly between various technologies and texts. It is concluded that the children's activities constitute the kinds of digital literacy practices that might inform, reform, or transform, the teaching of English in the early years of schooling.
Variability of predialytic, intradialytic, and postdialytic blood pressures in the course of a week: a study of Dutch and US maintenance hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Patients with thrice-weekly hemodialysis have higher predialysis weights and ultrafiltration rates at the first compared with subsequent dialysis sessions of the week. We hypothesized that these variations in weight and ultrafiltration rate are associated with a systematic difference in blood pressure. STUDY DESIGN Observational study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS During 3 months, we prospectively collected hemodynamic data for 4,007 hemodialysis sessions involving 124 Dutch patients. A similar analysis was performed with 789 US patients, comprising 6,060 hemodialysis sessions. FACTOR First versus subsequent hemodialysis sessions of the week. OUTCOMES Blood pressure. MEASUREMENTS Blood pressure, weight, and ultrafiltration rate were analyzed separately for the first, second, and third dialysis sessions of the week. Comparisons were made with linear mixed models. RESULTS In Dutch patients, predialysis weight and ultrafiltration rate were significantly greater at the first compared with subsequent hemodialysis sessions of the week (P < 0.001). Predialysis systolic and diastolic blood pressures were higher at the first than at subsequent sessions of the week (P < 0.001). Predialysis blood pressure differences persisted throughout the session: systolic and diastolic blood pressures were on average 5.0 and 2.5 mm Hg higher during the first compared to the third session of the week. Postdialysis blood pressures followed a similar pattern (P < 0.001). Blood pressure differences between the first and subsequent days of the week persisted after adjustment for possible confounders. Results in the US cohort were materially identical despite differences in patient characteristics and treatment practice between the 2 cohorts. LIMITATIONS Dry weight was not assessed by objective methods. CONCLUSIONS Blood pressure of patients on a thrice-weekly dialysis schedule varies systematically over the week. Predialysis blood pressure is highest at the first hemodialysis session of the week, most likely due to greater interdialytic weight gain. Intra- and postdialytic blood pressures also are highest at the first session of the week despite higher ultrafiltration rates.