Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of a Web-Based Intervention With Mobile Phone Support in Treating Depressive Symptoms in Adults With Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE Depression is common in diabetes and linked to adverse health outcomes. This study evaluated the efficacy of a guided web-based intervention in reducing depression in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 260 participants with diabetes and elevated depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D ≥23]) were randomly assigned to the GET.ON Mood Enhancer Diabetes (a guided self-help intervention, n = 130) or a brief online unguided psychoeducation program for depression (n = 130). The primary outcome was depressive symptoms severity (CES-D). The secondary outcomes included diabetes-specific emotional distress (Problem Areas in Diabetes [PAID] scale) and participant satisfaction (adaption CSQ-8). Data were collected at baseline and 2 months after randomization. To identify differences in outcome between the groups, we used analyses of covariance with the baseline CES-D score as covariate on both intent-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) basis. RESULTS Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed significantly less depressive symptom severity at posttreatment based on ITT (d = 0.89) and PP analyses (d = 1.00). The intervention participants displayed a significantly larger reduction in diabetes-specific emotional distress (d = 0.58, ITT). The intervention appeared to be acceptable to the participants; 95% (n = 121) would recommend the training to a friend with diabetes in need of psychological help. CONCLUSIONS A guided, web-based intervention to reduce depression in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes is effective in reducing both depressive symptoms and diabetes-specific emotional distress.
Parenting style associated with sedentary behaviour in preschool children

There is an absence of studies exploring the relationship between parental style and sedentary behaviour in preschool-aged children. Given the link between parenting style and other health behaviours, and given that preschool children engage in relatively high levels of sedentary behaviour, this study's purpose was to examine if a preschool child's time spent in sedentary activity (i.e. ‘screen-based’ media viewing and quiet play) differed by parenting style and if the behaviour differed between weekdays and weekends. Results showed that parenting style significantly differed for screen-viewing on weekdays (p = 0.004, η 2 = 0.07) and weekends (p = 0.003, η 2 = 0.07), with preschool children of parents employing an authoritative parenting style engaging in the least amount of screen-time. No differences were observed for quiet play. In addition, the authoritative parenting style was a significant predictor of screen-based viewing on weekdays (β = −0.21, p = 0.01) and weekends (β = −0.26, p = 0.002). These preliminary results suggest an association between parenting style and ‘screen-time’ in preschool children.
Comparative Analysis of Novel Complement-Targeted Inhibitors, MiniFH, and the Natural Regulators Factor H and Factor H–like Protein 1 Reveal Functional Determinants of Complement Regulation

The serum proteins factor H (FH), consisting of 20 complement control protein modules (CCPs), and its splice product FH-like protein 1 (FHL-1; consisting of CCPs 1–7) are major regulators of the alternative pathway (AP) of complement activation. The engineered version of FH, miniFH, contains only the N- and C-terminal portions of FH linked by an optimized peptide and shows ∼10-fold higher ex vivo potency. We explored the hypothesis that regulatory potency is enhanced by unmasking of a ligand-binding site in the C-terminal CCPs 19–20 that is cryptic in full-length native FH. Therefore, we produced an FH variant lacking the central domains 10–15 (FHΔ10–15). To explore how avidity affects regulatory strength, we generated a duplicated version of miniFH, termed midiFH. We compared activities of FHΔ10–15 and midiFH to miniFH, FH, and FHL-1. Relative to FH, FHΔ10–15 exhibited an altered binding profile toward C3 activation products and a 5-fold-enhanced complement regulation on a paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria patient’s erythrocytes. Contrary to dogma, FHL-1 and FH exhibited equal regulatory activity, suggesting that the role of FHL-1 in AP regulation has been underestimated. Unexpectedly, a substantially increased avidity for complement opsonins, as seen in midiFH, did not potentiate the inhibitory potential on host cells. In conclusion, comparisons of engineered and native FH-based regulators have identified features that determine high AP regulatory activity on host cells. Unrestricted availability of FH CCPs 19–20 and an optimal spatial orientation between the N- and C-terminal FH regions are key.
Amyloid imaging with carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh compound B for traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVES To image amyloid deposition in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) using carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B ([11C]PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) and to validate these findings using tritium-labeled PiB ([3H]PiB) autoradiography and immunocytochemistry in autopsy-acquired tissue. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In vivo PET at tertiary neuroscience referral center and ex vivo immunocytochemistry of autopsy-acquired brain tissue from a neuropathology archive. [11C]PiB PET was used to image amyloid deposition in 11 controls (median [range] age, 35 [24-60] years) and in 15 patients (median [range] age, 33 [21-50] years) between 1 and 361 days after a TBI. [3H]PiB autoradiography and immunocytochemistry for β-amyloid (Aβ) and β-amyloid precursor protein in brain tissue were obtained from separate cohorts of 16 patients (median [range] age, 46 [21-70] years) who died between 3 hours and 56 days after a TBI and 7 controls (median [range] age, 61 [29-71] years) who died of other causes. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES We quantified the [11C]PiB distribution volume ratio and standardized uptake value ratio in PET images. The distribution volume ratio and the standardized uptake value ratio were measured in cortical gray matter, white matter, and multiple cortical and white matter regions of interest, as well as in striatal and thalamic regions of interest. We examined [3H]PiB binding and Aβ and β-amyloid precursor protein immunocytochemistry in autopsy-acquired brain tissue. RESULTS Compared with the controls, the patients with TBI showed significantly increased [11C]PiB distribution volume ratios in cortical gray matter and the striatum (corrected P < .05 for both), but not in the thalamus or white matter. Increases in [11C]PiB distribution volume ratios in patients with TBI were seen across most cortical subregions, were replicated using comparisons of standardized uptake value ratios, and could not be accounted for by methodological confounders. Autoradiography revealed [3H]PiB binding in neocortical gray matter, in regions where amyloid deposition was demonstrated by immunocytochemistry; white matter showed Aβ and β-amyloid precursor protein by immunocytochemistry, but no [3H]PiB binding. No plaque-associated amyloid immunoreactivity or [3H]PiB binding was seen in cerebellar gray matter in autopsy-acquired tissue from either controls or patients with TBI, although 1 sample of cerebellar tissue from a patient with TBI showed amyloid angiopathy in meningeal vessels. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE [11C]PiB shows increased binding following TBI. The specificity of this binding is supported by neocortical [3H]PiB binding in regions of amyloid deposition in the postmortem tissue of patients with TBI. [11C]PiB PET could be valuable in imaging amyloid deposition following TBI.
Characterization of factors regulating lamina-specific growth of thalamocortical axons.

During development, most thalamocortical axons extend through the deep layers to terminate in layer 4 of neocortex. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation of layer-specific thalamocortical projections, axon outgrowth from embryonic rat thalamus onto postnatal neocortical slices which had been fixed chemically was used as an experimental model system. When the thalamic explant was juxtaposed to the lateral edge of fixed cortical slice, thalamic axons extended farther in the deep layers than the upper layers. Correspondingly, thalamic axons entering from the ventricular side extended farther than those from the pial side. In contrast, axons from cortical explants cultured next to fixed cortical slices tended to grow nearly as well in the upper as in the deep layers. Biochemical aspects of lamina-specific thalamic axon growth were studied by applying several enzymatic treatments to the cortical slices prior to culturing. Phosphatidylinositol phospholipase C treatment increased elongation of thalamic axons in the upper layers without influencing growth in the deep layers. Neither chondroitinase, heparitinase, nor neuraminidase treatment influenced the overall projection pattern, although neuraminidase slightly decreased axonal elongation in the deep layers. These findings suggest that glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked molecules in the cortex may contribute to the laminar specificity of thalamocortical projections by suppressing thalamic axon growth in the upper cortical layers.
Whisker growth from Sn solder alloys

Studies of tin (Sn) whisker growth from Sn solder alloys shows that SAC deposits can be whisker prone. In fact, even SnPb solders may produce whisker growth. The Sn alloy specimens consisted of 2400 A SAC305 (∼3.0%Ag, 0.5%Cu and rest Sn), along with 750 and 1200 Å Sn-37Pb films, each sputtered under compressive stress conditions on electrochemically polished brass and incubated in ambient room temperature/humidity (RT/RH). After a month of incubation whisker growth is already observed on the SAC and 750 Å SnPb films. The thicker, 1200 Å, SnPb film did not whisker till after over a year of incubation with only 524 whiskers/cm2. At this time (∼400 days) the 750 Å Sn-37Pb film has modest whisker numbers, while SAC has produced > 147,000 whiskers/cm2 after 590 days of incubation at RT/RH, making it apparent that whisker growth can occur on high Sn content alloy deposits. Comparing the 750 Å SnPb specimen to 750 A of pure Sn on brass after similar incubation periods, the Sn film produced ∼ 1.75X the whisker density of the Sn-37Pb film, with > 5 X the average whisker length, highlighting the ability of incorporated Pb to suppress whiskers. This is in agreement with electroplated films studies, where the addition of Pb in Sn is observed to reduce film stress, mitigating whisker growth [e.g., E. Chason et. al., App. Phys. Letters, 92 (2008) 171901].
Differences in Some Physical Fitness and Anthropometric Measures Between Greco-Roman and Freestyle Wrestlers

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in physical fitness and anthropometric measures between Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers. Thirty three Iranian elite wrestlers (Freestyle, age: 24.54±3.43 years, N=13) and (Greco-Roman, age: 23.05±1.95 years, N=20) who were invited to the training camps participated in this study. The anthropometric traits included height, sitting height, arm-span, and the physical fitness traits included flexibility (sit-and-reach test), muscular endurance (pull-ups and bent-knee sit-ups), agility (4×9 m shuttle run), speed (40-yd sprint), and bilateral visual reaction time. Statistical comparison of the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers groups was carried out using independent samples t test (P ≤ 0.05). The results indicated that in speed, reaction time, flexibility and pull-ups tests, Greco-Roman wrestlers were better than freestyle wrestlers, and in agility and bent-knee sit-ups tests the freestyle wrestlers were better than Greco-Roman wrestlers. However, these differences were not statistically significant.
Sectarianism in the Northern Ireland workplace

Purpose – The aim of this piece of research was to detail the scope and nature of sectarianism as experienced by employees, managers and those with trade union responsibilities, in the Northern Ireland workplace.Design/methodology/approach – Four large organizations, two from the private and two from the public sector, were recruited to take part in this qualitative study. In‐depth interviews were carried out with managers and trade union personnel. Focus groups were run with employees.Findings – Data were submitted to thematic analysis. The major themes to emerge included: the extent of experienced sectarianism, sources of sectarianism, the nature of sectarian harassment, “tolerable” sectarianism, and the management of difference.Research limitations/implications – Short‐comings of the study include the possibility that social desirability effects could have operated to underplay sectarian attitudes. Again the limitations of a qualitative methodology in providing estimates of the extent of sectarianism i.
Real-time eye blink detection with GPU-based SIFT tracking

This paper reports on the implementation of a GPU-based, real-time eye blink detector on very low contrast images acquired under near-infrared illumination. This detector is part of a multi-sensor data acquisition and analysis system for driver performance assessment and training. Eye blinks are detected inside regions of interest that are aligned with the subject's eyes at initialization. Alignment is maintained through time by tracking SIFT feature points that are used to estimate the affine transformation between the initial face pose and the pose in subsequent frames. The GPU implementation of the SIFT feature point extraction algorithm ensures real-time processing. An eye blink detection rate of 97% is obtained on a video dataset of 33,000 frames showing 237 blinks from 22 subjects.
Statistics of Natural Images: Scaling in the Woods

In order to best understand a visual system one should attempt to characterize the natural images it processes. We gather images from the woods and find that these scenes possess an ensemble scale invariance. Further, they are highly non-Gaussian, and this non-Gaussian character cannot be removed through local linear filtering. We find that including a simple "gain control" nonlinearity in the filtering process makes the filter output quite Gaussian, meaning information is maximized at fixed channel variance. Finally, we use the measured power spectrum to place an upper bound on the information conveyed about natural scenes by an array of receptors.
Constraints as sources of radical innovation? Insights from jet propulsion development

Abstract In popular parlance, ‘necessity is the mother of innovation’. Yet, in innovation management and organizational behavior in general, there is little systematic study into the enabling role of constraints in innovation. In fact, constraints in terms of knowledge or resources are typically connoted negatively, and in order to limit their negative impact on innovation, such constraints need to be overcome.This article contributes to the prevailing notion of overcoming knowledge and resource constraints by discussing four historical cases in the early phases of jet propulsion development.We detail enabling effects of constraints on innovation by drawing on Gidden’s structuration theory, and discuss implications for innovation management.
Criminology and Criminal Justice Hit Parade: Measuring Academic Productivity in the Discipline

Previous research assessing the productivity of criminology and criminal justice (CCJ) scholars has sought to determine the overall most productive scholars based on various measures (e.g. total articles published, total cites, and articles per year). While such lists may be important for those who rank high, they may be best used to establish benchmarks for the discipline. To date, research examining the stars in CCJ has focused on overall stars. The aim of the current research is to highlight the most productive scholars (in CCJ doctoral programs), but to do so based on academic rank. As such, our sample is more inclusive than others that have assessed highly productive scholars in the field. By disaggregating productivity measures by academic ranks, it is possible to determine rising stars in the discipline as well as top stars overall. Additionally, and we think more importantly, such rankings give insights into the state of the discipline.
Trigger loop dynamics can explain stimulation of intrinsic termination by bacterial RNA polymerase without terminator hairpin contact

Significance RNA polymerase (RNAP), like many cellular processors of information in DNA and RNA, is a complex macromolecular machine whose multiple structural modules and domains undergo poorly understood conformational changes that mediate information processing. We investigated the role of one such mobile module, the polymorphous trigger loop (TL) of RNAP, in intrinsic transcription termination by bacterial RNAP. The TL folds into a helical hairpin to promote RNA synthesis, but also is proposed to aid termination. By separating effects of the TL and of TL variants on termination from effects on RNA synthesis, we established that TL flexibility, not the helical hairpin conformation, facilitates rearrangements of RNAP leading to termination. Our results illustrate how kinetic assays can help dissect complex macromolecular machines. In bacteria, intrinsic termination signals cause disassembly of the highly stable elongating transcription complex (EC) over windows of two to three nucleotides after kilobases of RNA synthesis. Intrinsic termination is caused by the formation of a nascent RNA hairpin adjacent to a weak RNA−DNA hybrid within RNA polymerase (RNAP). Although the contributions of RNA and DNA sequences to termination are largely understood, the roles of conformational changes in RNAP are less well described. The polymorphous trigger loop (TL), which folds into the trigger helices to promote nucleotide addition, also is proposed to drive termination by folding into the trigger helices and contacting the terminator hairpin after invasion of the hairpin in the RNAP main cleft [Epshtein V, Cardinale CJ, Ruckenstein AE, Borukhov S, Nudler E (2007) Mol Cell 28:991–1001]. To investigate the contribution of the TL to intrinsic termination, we developed a kinetic assay that distinguishes effects of TL alterations on the rate at which ECs terminate from effects of the TL on the nucleotide addition rate that indirectly affect termination efficiency by altering the time window in which termination can occur. We confirmed that the TL stimulates termination rate, but found that stabilizing either the folded or unfolded TL conformation decreased termination rate. We propose that conformational fluctuations of the TL (TL dynamics), not TL-hairpin contact, aid termination by increasing EC conformational diversity and thus access to favorable termination pathways. We also report that the TL and the TL sequence insertion (SI3) increase overall termination efficiency by stimulating pausing, which increases the flux of ECs into the termination pathway.
Life writing and life-learning: an analysis of creative writing students’ work

The study described here is based on the work of creative writing students engaged in life writing for a piece of assessment in a distance-learning course. Using the finished assignment pieces themselves, the students’ reflective commentaries on their completed task, and a follow-up questionnaire, the analysis was designed to explore the relationship between the students’ cognitive and affective learning. Although the assessment task clearly generated person-centred outcomes as well as the skills-centred outcomes around which the task was designed, in some instances these overlapped and blended into each other. It thus proved difficult to maintain a clear separation between the cognitive and affective learning domains, even in a context where other factors such as the social dimension of learning had been consigned to the background. The argument presented here supports the idea that, in the field of continuing education especially, we need to recognise the complex interaction between different kinds of learning. The paper also suggests that, in a learning context dominated by the academic requirements of higher education, the value of creativity and imagination, exercised through the development of writing skills, should not be under-estimated.
Answering the Neo-Szaszian Critique: Are Cluster B Personality Disorders Really So Different?

I was delighted to be asked to comment on Peter Zachar’s paper, partly because he presents an elegant proposal for how personality disorders (PD) might be considered to fit into a broadly medical conception of disorder, but also because the overlap between moral and clinical elements of disorder, and more broadly moral and clinical psychiatric kinds, seems to me to be a question central to the theory and practice of psychiatry. The moral context of diagnosis and treatment is a question not just in the PD field (Pearce and Pickard 2009, 2010). The fact that over half of prisoners in the United Kingdom have a PD and a similar number can be diagnosed with a neurotic disorder (Singleton, Meltzer, and Gatward 1998) should itself challenge the way we tend to consider the categories of moral and clinical separately. Louis Charland’s challenge, to which Zachar responds, is simple: the Cluster B PDs are defined to a great extent by criteria with clear moral content; if the moral content were stripped out, the remaining description would be insufficient to define a disorder and therefore they are properly thought of as moral, as opposed to clinical, kinds. Charland is careful not to question the scientific (or empirical) basis of the Cluster B PDs (although he does entertain the normal doubts about this [Charland 2006]); nor does he contend that for something to be a moral kind, it cannot also be a clinical kind (Charland 2010). Zachar accepts the challenge, and proposes a number of conceptual models for the Cluster B PDs which might establish their clinical nature. I start by briefly considering Charland’s argument. I then consider whether Zachar’s proposals answer it. I conclude by considering Charland’s dismissal of the ‘argument from treatment’ and the discord between his argument and the realities of clinical practice.
Event Valence and Unrealistic Optimism

The effect of event valence on unrealistic optimism was studied. 94 Deakin University students rated the comparative likelihood that they would experience either a controllable or an uncontrollable health-related event. Valence was manipulated to be positive (outcome was desirable) or negative (outcome was undesirable) by varying the way a given event was framed. Participants either were told the conditions which promote the event and rated the comparative likelihood they would experience it or were told the conditions which prevent the event and rated the comparative likelihood they would avoid it. For both the controllable and the uncontrollable events, unrealistic optimism was greater for negative than positive valence. It is suggested that a combination of the ‘motivational account’ of unrealistic optimism and prospect theory provides a good explanation of the results.
Time-Varying World Market Integration

We propose a measure of capital market integration arising from a conditional regime-switching model. Our measure allows us to describe expected returns in countries that are segmented from world capital markets in one part of the sample and become integrated later in the sample. We find that a number of emerging markets exhibit time-varying integration. Some markets appear more integrated than one might expect based on prior knowledge of investment restrictions. Other markets appear segmented even though foreigners have relatively free access to their capital markets. While there is a perception that world capital markets have become more integrated, our country-specific investigation suggests that this is not always the case.