Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Utilizing Habit Reversal and Contingency Contracting to Impact Eating Habits With Obese Individuals

One of the most difficult set of behaviors for individuals to engage in is weight management. The United States boasts an astonishing 35% obesity rate in adults while children show almost a 20% obesity rate. These statistics identify the importance of developing effective methods to help change an individual's eating habits. There are many eating habits that may contribute to an individual gaining or losing weight over a period of time. Simplified habit reversal (SHR) has an impressive history in shaping desirable responses to compete with many different types of habitual behaviors. The present study extended the SHR procedure to eating habits in an attempt to affect change in types of foods and timing of eating for the purpose of weight reduction. Additionally, contingency contracting was added to increase the potential for adherence to eating habit goals. The three targeted behaviors were late night eating (LNE), consuming high sugar content beverages (HSCB), and unhealthy snacking (UHS). It was found that utilizing a treatment package utilizing a contingency contract plus SHR with typically developing adults could aide in reducing specific and well defined eating habits. A reduction in weight by all participants was also observed.
Psychosocial and behavioral determinants of immune aging

This thesis explored the hypothesis that cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and its reactivation may be a shared mechanism linking psychosocial and behavioral factors with the age-associated decline in immunity, known as immunosenescence. The first empirical chapter (Chapter 3) showed that psychological stress factors were positively associated with CMV reactivation, as measured by increased CMV-specific IgG antibodies (CMV-IgG) among those infected, while socioeconomic and lifestyle factors were associated with CMV infection rates. Chapter 4 investigated personality traits and revealed that increased neuroticism predicted elevated odds of CMV infection and higher conscientiousness was associated with lower CMV-IgG levels. Chapter 5 demonstrated that more frequent physical activity was associated with lower levels of highly-differentiated T-cells, but this association was reduced to non-significance by adjustment for CMV infection. Chapter 6 showed that dysregulated glucose metabolism, measured as higher glycated hemoglobin levels, was associated with increased highly-differentiated T-cells in CMV-infected individuals. Furthermore, hyperglycemia interacted with CMV infection for a further increased accumulation of these cells. In sum, these results suggest that CMV and psychosocial and behavioral factors co-determine the progression of immunosenescence, and that CMV reactivation may reflect imbalance among these factors. Thus, CMV reactivation is proposed as a common pathway in psychobiological relationships with immunosenescence.
Characterization of structural properties for morphological differentiation of melanosomes: II. Electron microscopic and SDS-PAGE comparison of melanosomal matrix proteins in B16 and Harding Passey melanomas.

This study compared the qualitative and quantitative differences of the melanosomal matrix proteins between the ellipsoidal-lamellar melanosomes of B16 melanoma and the spherical-granular melanosomes of Harding Passey (HP) melanoma by electron microscopy and SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate)-PAGE (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). The purity of the melanosomes at each step of the sample preparations was assayed by % distribution of cytoplasmic marker enzymes and proteins. Characterization of the melanosomal matrix was carried out in material purified by the 2 steps of sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and membrane dissociation with BRIJ-35. Eighty-three percent of the matrix proteins were solubilized from both B16 and HP by guanidine HCl (GH), which also caused marked ultrastructural changes in different ways. The inner matrix of HP completely disintegrated into fine grains whereas the matrix of B16 showed a great loss in electron density and was degraded, though its basic framework remained unchanged. Under SDS-PAGE, the melanosomal matrix was dissociated into 14 polypeptide bands with respect to size and charge density, 10 of which (63-85% of total proteins solubilized by GH) were common to both B16 and HP. A significant quantitative difference was noted in the relative amounts of these common proteins. The remaining 4 were unique in molecular weight to each form of melanosome though their relative amounts were low. It is suggested that these chemical differences, i.e., quantitative and qualitative, of the matrix proteins are responsible for the ultrastructural differentiation of melanosomes.
Reservation Wages and the Wage Flexibility Puzzle

Wages are only mildly cyclical, implying that shocks to labour demand have a larger short-run impact on unemployment rather than wages, at odds with the quantitative predictions of the canonical search model – even if wages are only occasionally renegotiated. We argue that one source of the wage flexibility puzzles is plausibly the model for the determination of reservation wages, and consider an alternative reservation wage model based on reference dependence in job search. This extension generates less cyclical reservation wages than the canonical model, as long as reference points are less cyclical than forward-looking components of reservation wages such as the arrival rate of job offers. We provide evidence that reservation wages significantly respond to backward-looking reference points, as proxied by rents earned in previous jobs. In a model calibration we show that backward-looking reference dependence markedly reduces the predicted cyclicality of both wages and reservation wages and can reconcile theoretical predictions of the canonical model with the observed cyclicality of wages and reservation wages.
Position Specific Changes in Body Composition, Hydration Status and Metabolism During Preseason Training Camp and Nutritional Habits of Division III Football Players

Background : To what extent pre-season training camp may impact body composition and metabolism in collegiate football players is unknown. Objective : The purpose of this study was to assess changes in body composition, dietary habits and metabolism following pre-season training in Division III American football players. Methods : Seventeen Division III football players (Ht: 1.80±0.6 m; BM: 99.1±60.1 kg; FFM: 79.7±8.6 kg; BF%: 19.3±8.6%) had their body composition and resting energy expenditure (REE) assessed in a fasted state (>12 hr.) before and upon completion of pre-season training. Pre-season training consisted of 14 days of intense training. Results : Linemen had a higher body mass, fat-free mass (FFM), and fat mass likely contributing to the higher REE (p
Quantitative Influences of Butyrate or Propionate on Thermophilic Production of Methane from Biomass

Sodium butyrate and sodium propionate were continuously infused into separate 4-liter thermophilic digesters. These digesters were operated at 55°C, had a retention time of 20 days, and had a pH of 7.8. Infusion rates were started at 10 mM day−1 and were increased incrementally when new stable external organic acid pool sizes and new stable gas production rates were observed. Stable conditions were obtained in both digesters at an infusion rate of 15 mM day−1, with methanogenesis elevated over that of control digesters. Calculations based on expected CH4 at this infusion rate and measured CH4 production in the treated and control digesters, however, showed an approximately 25% inhibition of methanogenesis in both digesters. A digester infused with sodium chloride showed little or no inhibition at this infusion rate, but was totally inhibited when its infusion rate was increased to 20 mM day−1, and cumulative added NaCl reached 0.38 M. The butyrate and propionate-amended digesters tolerated addition rates of 20 mM day−1, but both failed when they were increased to 25 mM day−1. These results indicate that the thermophilic digesters could function stably at higher external pool sizes of butyrate or propionate than routinely observed.
SBC: scalable smartphone barometer calibration through crowdsourcing

We have seen increasingly popularity in embedding barometer into smartphone today. A barometer measures the barometric pressure, and it can be used for a variety of applications. For example, in localization techniques, it is used to detect the altitude or altitude change of a user. Unfortunately, the smartphone barometer measurement is not accurate, and it has to calibrate appropriately before use. In this paper, we present Scalable Barometer Calibration (SBC), a scalable, transitive calibration algorithm to automatically calibrate barometer for a large number of smartphone users. SBC requires neither any infrastructure nor any human intervention, it uses smartphone barometer and accelerometer only. SBC provides high accuracy of barometer calibration and minimum energy consumption, making it more realistic for real-world deployment. Our simulation and prototype system demonstrate the performance, scalability, and robustness of SBC.
Airborne Transmission of Melioidosis to Humans from Environmental Aerosols Contaminated with B. pseudomallei

Melioidosis results from an infection with the soil-borne pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei, and cases of melioidosis usually cluster after rains or a typhoon. In an endemic area of Taiwan, B. pseudomallei is primarily geographically distributed in cropped fields in the northwest of this area, whereas melioidosis cases are distributed in a densely populated district in the southeast. We hypothesized that contaminated cropped fields generated aerosols contaminated with B. pseudomallei, which were carried by a northwesterly wind to the densely populated southeastern district. We collected soil and aerosol samples from a 72 km2 area of land, including the melioidosis-clustered area and its surroundings. Aerosols that contained B. pseudomallei-specific TTSS (type III secretion system) ORF2 DNA were well distributed in the endemic area but were rare in the surrounding areas during the rainy season. The concentration of this specific DNA in aerosols was positively correlated with the incidence of melioidosis and the appearance of a northwesterly wind. Moreover, the isolation rate in the superficial layers of the contaminated cropped field in the northwest was correlated with PCR positivity for aerosols collected from the southeast over a 2-year period. According to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analyses, PFGE Type Ia (ST58) was the predominant pattern linking the molecular association among soil, aerosol and human isolates. Thus, the airborne transmission of melioidosis moves from the contaminated soil to aerosols and/or to humans in this endemic area.
Motion effects in (intensity modulated) radiation therapy: a review

During a course of fractionated radiation therapy and between the fractions the tissues of the human body may move relative to some reference location in which the radiation therapy was planned. This has been known for over a century and simple ‘coping mechanisms’ (margins) have been used to approximately compensate. Since the introduction of highly accurate conformal radiation therapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) attention has focused strongly in the last few years on understanding and compensating more appropriately for these motions. Thus, unlike most of the reviews in this special 50th anniversary issue which look back over decades of development, this one looks back at most within just the past decade and reviews the current situation. There is still much more work to be done and many of the techniques reviewed are themselves not yet implemented widely in the clinic.
Decision Tables: Scalable Classification Exploring RDBMS Capabilities

In this paper, we report our success in building efficient scalable classifiers in the form of decision tables by exploring capabilities of modern relational database management systems. In addition to high classification accuracy, the unique features of the approach include its high training speed, linear scalability, and simplicity in implementation. More importantly, the major computation required in the approach can be implemented using standard functions provided by the modern relational DBMS. This not only makes implementation of the classifier extremely easy, further performance improvement is also expected when better processing strategies for those computations are developed and implemented in RDBMS. The novel classification approach based on grouping and counting and its implementation on top of RDBMS is described. The results of experiments conducted for performance evaluation and analysis are presented.
Coping and Resilience of Adolescents With Congenital Heart Disease

Background:Congenital heart disease has come to be regarded as a chronic rather than terminal disease owing to dramatic advances in its medical and surgical management. Thus, it is salient for healthcare providers to help adolescents with congenital heart disease increase their resilience by using effective coping strategies. Objectives:The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between resilience and task-oriented coping in Korean adolescents with congenital heart disease. Method:This descriptive and exploratory study was designed to explore the effectiveness of task-oriented coping for improving resilience in Korean adolescents with congenital heart disease. After approval of the institutional review board was obtained, 103 adolescents with congenital heart disease who had undergone a corrective operation or procedure for heart malformation were recruited from a congenital heart clinic between November 1, 2009, and February 28, 2010. We measured adolescents’ coping strategies and resilience using the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation and the Resilience Scale. Results:Among these adolescents with congenital heart disease, resilience was significantly related to perceived economic status (P < .01), task-oriented coping (P < .01), and avoidance-oriented coping (P < 0.05). The R2 change of 0.30 in hierarchical linear regression analysis indicated that task-oriented coping increased the explanation of resilience by 30% (P < .001). Adolescents who used task-oriented coping reported the highest resilience compared with those who used other coping strategies. Conclusion:Task-oriented coping may be an effective means to increase resilience among Korean adolescents with congenital heart disease. Korean healthcare professionals and researchers should thus test programs to increase task-oriented coping, such as comprehensive education programs and support groups that encourage adolescents in the same situation to discuss issues of importance.
Effects of folate supplementation on cleft palate induced by lamotrigine or cyclophosphamide: an experimental study in mice

This study aims to elucidate the preventive role of folate supplementation on induction of cleft palate in mice by drugs of two separate categories i.e. lamotrigine (newer antiepileptic and antipsychotic) and cyclophosphamide (anticancer and immunosuppressive). 10 pregnant swiss white mice (C) received normal saline intraperitoneally on day 10 of gestation. Two groups of 10 pregnant mice (T1) and (T2) each received lamotrigine or cycloposphamide respectively 10 mg/kg body weight (bw) intraperitoneally on day 10 of gestation. Folate was supplemented 0.8 µg/kg bw intraperitoneally along with lamotrigine or cyclophosphamide to two more groups of 10 pregnant mice (T3) and (T4) each respectively on the same day 10, of gestation. Fetuses were collected by Caesarian Section on day 18 of gestation. Fetuses collected from all the groups were examined macroscopically with stereomicroscope for palatal malformations. Coronal sections of fetal head were taken for histological study of palatine defects. Cleft palates were detected in 42 out of 70 (60.00%) fetuses of lamotrigine treated group (T1) and 49 out of 61 (80.33%) fetuses of cyclophosphamide treated group (T2). Folate supplementation resulted in different response; 15 out of 72 (20.83%) fetuses in T3 group and 51 out of 64 (79.69%) fetuses in T4 group had cleft palate. The difference was highly significant (p 0.05) when it was administered with cyclophosphamide (T4) as compared to only lamotrigine (T1) or cyclophosphamide (T2) treated groups respectively. The preventive efficacies of folate supplementation for cleft palate vary considerably and in the same subject under identical conditions, depend primarily on the mechanism of action of the inducing agent. Neuroanatomy; 2007; 6: 12–16.
Connecting Children: Care and Family Life in Later Childhood

1.Themes and Concepts 2.Children's Beliefs about Care 3. Children's Families and Social Ties: Meanings and structures 4.Children's Accounts of Family Change 5.The Importance of Mothers and Fathers: Children's views and experiences 6.The Importance of Siblings 7.The Importance of Grandparents, Relatives, Friends and Others 8.Children's Contribution to Family Life 9.Children and Mother's Regulation 10. Conclusions
Inhaled foreign bodies in a paediatric population at AKTH Kano-Nigeria

Background: Inhaled foreign bodies are common paediatric emergencies and a major cause of accidental deaths at home among Nigerian children especially among children below the age of 5 years. Different types of foreign bodies have been reported from the ordinary to the most bizarre. We evaluated the types of foreign bodies and sites of possible impaction of these foreign bodies along the tracheobronchial tree. Materials and Methods: A 6-year case record of 35 patients with foreign body inhalation was reviewed from January 2005 to December 2010 at the Otorhinolaryngology Department of Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano — North-western Nigeria. Basic information such as date of birth, age groups, gender, indication for bronchoscopy, type of foreign bodies, sites of foreign body impaction and surgical outcome were extracted and analysed. Results: Thirty-five patients [18 (51.4%) males and 17 (48.6%) females, aged 6 months-10 years] with a mean age of 5.1 years and median of 5 years (+/- 3.0 Standard Deviation). The most affected age group with 31.4% is 3-5 years. Groundnuts and whistles were the most frequently inhaled foreign bodies with an equal frequency of 25.7%, respectively. Foreign bodies were preferentially lodged in the left main bronchus in 8 (22.9%) patients compared to the right main bronchus in 6 (17.1%) patients. Conclusion: Public enlightenment both in the news/print media on the risk of foreign body aspiration especially among the under-five's is highly advocated. The left main bronchus may be a common site for impaction as well.
Microbial products in allergy prevention and therapy

Epidemiological and experimental studies have led to the hypothesis that stimulation of the immune system by certain microbial products may prevent or treat allergic diseases (1–5). There are also bacterial products on the market which have been proposed for treatment of allergic diseases but their clinical efficacy is not well documented, however. The European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) appointed a Task Force to critically evaluate available information on the potential use of microbial products in allergy prevention and therapy and to discuss guidelines for future research. This first position paper is separately assessing the effects of bacterial extracts, probiotics, mycobacteria, oligodesoxynucleotides (ISS-ODN), and lipopolysaccharide derived molecules in allergic diseases. The section for each of the listed products is structured to present the alleged rationale that would justify their use against allergy and experimental data supporting it. Then, the outcome of representative clinical trials are summarized with regard to efficacy and safety (Table 1). Finally, conclusions are made regarding their potential role in allergic diseases and the eventual need for further research. As this is a very dynamically evolving field, the EAACITask Force will keep monitoring the new developments and will upgrade this position paper at regular intervals. Bacterial extracts
Limit theory for point processes in manifolds

Let Yi;i ‚ 1; be i.i. d. random variables having values in an m-dimensional manifold M ‰ R d and consider sums P n=1 »(n 1=m Yi;fn 1=m Yig n=1 ), where » is a real valued function deflned on pairs (y;Y), with y 2R d and Y ‰R d locally flnite. Subject to » satisfying a weak spatial dependence and continuity condition, we show that such sums satisfy weak laws of large numbers, variance asymptotics, and central limit theorems. We show that the limit behavior is controlled by the value of » on homogeneous Poisson point processes on m-dimensional hyperplanes tangent to M. We apply the general results to establish the limit theory of
Antidepressants Medications and the Relative Risk of Suicide Attempt

This study was conducted on patients (n=1283) of different ages, 924 males and 359 female. These patients were attended to poison unit at emergency hospital, Mansoura University during the period from January 2002 to December 2009. The aim of this study was to characterize patients on antidepressants after self-poisoning with suicidal intent regarding age, sex, type of current antidepressant therapy, and type of substances ingested in order to commit suicide. During the study period, 175 Para suicide patients were found with current antidepressants therapy and presented with self-poisoning using their antidepressant therapy or other medications. A substantial difference between different types of antidepressants was found. Para suicide risks for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor were significantly low than those of tricyclic antidepressants, so in suicide prevention, risks and benefits of an antidepressant should be taken into account when choosing treatment for depressive patients. At the same time, depressed patients should be under close psychiatric assessment in order to prevent such possible suicidal attempts.
The effects of national culture on market orientation: conceptual framework and research propositions

Significant research has focused on the market orientation concept and its antecedents in recent years. Nevertheless, the market orientation research provides little information concerning the effects of national cultural values on the market orientation of companies. The conceptual framework presented in this manuscript contributes to the extant literature in international business by investigating the role of national cultural values as factors that shape and modify an organization’s market orientation through its organizational culture. Specifically, using Schwartz’s cultural value dimensions, the authors present a set of propositions regarding the effects of national culture on the internalization of market-oriented values and norms, which in turn positively affect the implementation of market-oriented behaviors. Based on these propositions, implications for practice and future research are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.