Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bioactive Glass Fiber-Reinforced PGS Matrix Composites for Cartilage Regeneration

Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) is an elastomeric polymer which is attracting increasing interest for biomedical applications, including cartilage regeneration. However, its limited mechanical properties and possible negative effects of its degradation byproducts restrict PGS for in vivo application. In this study, a novel PGS–bioactive glass fiber (F18)-reinforced composite was developed and characterized. PGS-based reinforced scaffolds were fabricated via salt leaching and characterized regarding their mechanical properties, degradation, and bioactivity in contact with simulated body fluid. Results indicated that the incorporation of silicate-based bioactive glass fibers could double the composite tensile strength, tailor the polymer degradability, and improve the scaffold bioactivity.
Haematocrit is weakly related to condition in nestling Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica

Currently, there is no agreement about the suitability of haematocrit (the proportion of blood volume occupied by packed red blood cells) as a predictor of condition in birds. In order to clarify this point, genetic and environmental components of phenotypic variation for a number of traits were estimated in nestling Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica by means of a partial cross-fostering experiment. The studied traits were haematocrit, two morphological traits used as estimates of condition in birds (body mass and body mass relative to body size) and a morphological trait that presumably is not associated with condition (tarsus length). First, we found that body mass relative to body size was related to haematocrit, supporting the suggestion that haematocrit reflects condition in this species. Secondly, we found that the coefficient of residual (i.e. environmental) variation of haematocrit was larger than that of tarsus length, but smaller than those of body mass or body mass relative to body size. Under the hypothesis that traits closely related to condition (and, ultimately, to fitness) are characterized by large residual variance, these results also suggest that haematocrit is related to condition, but that this relationship must be weak. Therefore, the use of haematocrit as an estimate of condition is not recommended. Finally, heritabilities of the studied traits were calculated, differing significantly from zero only for tarsus length, the trait with the smallest residual variation. However, a consistent pattern in the relationship between heritability and genetic variation was not found.
Drug-induced acute interstitial nephritis: A clinicopathological study and comparative trial of steroid regimens

Steroids are used in the management of drug-induced acute interstitial nephritis (AIN). The present study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of pulse methyl prednisolone with oral prednisolone in the treatment of drug-induced AIN. Patients with biopsy-proven AIN with a history of drug intake were randomized to oral prednisolone (Group 1) 1 mg/kg for 3 weeks or a pulse methyl prednisolone (Group II) 30 mg/kg for 3 days followed by oral prednisolone 1 mg/kg for 2 weeks, tapered over 3 weeks. Kidney biopsy scoring was done for interstitial edema, infiltration and tubular damage. The response was reported as complete remission (CR) (improvement in estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] to ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2), partial remission (PR) (improvement but eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2) or resistance (no CR/PR). A total of 29 patients, Group I: 16 and Group II: 13 were studied. Offending drugs included nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, herbal drugs, antibiotics, diuretic, rifampicin and omeprazole. There was no difference in the baseline parameters between the two groups. The biopsy score in Groups I and II was 5.9 ± 1.1 and 5.1 ± 1.2, respectively. At 3 months in Group I, eight patients each (50%) achieved CR and PR. In Group II, 8 (61%) achieved CR and 5 (39%) PR. This was not significantly different. Percentage fall in serum creatinine at 1 week (56%) was higher in CR as compared to (42%) those with PR. (P = 0.14). Patients with neutrophil infiltration had higher CR compared to patients with no neutrophil infiltration (P = 0.01). Early steroid therapy, both oral and pulse steroid, is equally effective in achieving remission in drug-induced AIN.
The role of anthropogenic vs. natural in-stream structures in determining connectivity and genetic diversity in an endangered freshwater fish, Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica)

Abstract Habitat fragmentation is one of the leading causes of population declines, threatening ecosystems worldwide. Freshwater taxa may be particularly sensitive to habitat loss as connectivity between suitable patches of habitat is restricted not only by the natural stream network but also by anthropogenic factors. Using a landscape genetics approach, we assessed the impact of habitat availability on population genetic diversity and connectivity of an endangered Australian freshwater fish Macquarie perch, Macquaria australasica (Percichthyidae). The relative contribution of anthropogenic versus natural in‐stream habitat structures in shaping genetic structure and diversity in M. australasica was quite striking. Genetic diversity was significantly higher in locations with a higher river slope, a correlate of the species preferred habitat – riffles. On the other hand, barriers degrade preferred habitat and impede dispersal, contributing to the degree of genetic differentiation among populations. Our results highlight the importance of landscape genetics to understanding the environmental factors affecting freshwater fish populations and the potential practical application of this approach to conservation management of other freshwater organisms.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHILDHOOD EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE, POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS, RESILIENCE, AND ALCOHOL MISUSE IN MI'KMAQ ADOLESCENTS

This research was conducted in partnership with a Nova Scotain Mi’kmaq (First Nation) community that was interested in learning more about how exposure to violence (EV) might be related to youth alcohol use. There are many consequences of childhood exposure to violence (EV), but two of the more notable consequences of EV are posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and excessive or problematic alcohol misuse. Given the strong relationship in the literature between each of the PTS symptom clusters and alcohol problems, it was hypothesized that these symptom clusters would mediate the relationship between EV and alcohol misuse. Study 1 demonstrated that PTS hyperarousal symptoms, but none of the other PTS symptoms, fully mediated the relationship between EV and alcohol misuse, even after controlling for depressive symptoms, age and gender. The literature on EV also demonstrates that despite its numerous potential negative consequences, some youth continue to thrive. This thriving in the face of hardship is called resilience. Study 2 employed a direct measure of resilience (Child and Youth Resilience Measure; Ungar et al, 2008) to examine which if any aspects of resilience can successfully buffer youth from experiencing negative mental health consequences after EV. Study 2 demonstrated that all three aspects of resilience (i.e., individual, family, and community) moderated the relationship between EV and PTS reexperiencing symptoms. More specifically, at higher levels of resilience, the positive relationship between EV and PTS reexperiencing symptoms was dampened. Study 3 documented the collaborative-research process from beginning (i.e., research question formation) to end (i.e., implementation of action-based recommendations). It highlighted how the research questions outlined in Studies 1 and 2 were relevant to both the specific community in question, as well as some Aboriginal communities more broadly. It also highlighted how the first author participated in a research process that is described by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) as Integrated Knowledge Translation (KT). And finally, it identified via qualitative and quantitative methods how the research process as a whole has helped equip the community with more tools to tackle the problems that its members have identified as important for study and change.
Associations of Childhood Eczema Severity: A US Population-Based Study

BackgroundLittle is known about the predictors of eczema severity in the US population. ObjectivesWe sought to determine the distribution and associations of childhood eczema severity in the United States. MethodsWe analyzed the data from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health, a prospective questionnaire-based study of a nationally representative sample of 91,642 children (range, 0–17 years). ResultsThe prevalence of childhood eczema was 12.97% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 12.42–13.53); 67.0% (95% CI, 64.8–69.2) had mild disease, 26.0% (95% CI, 23.9–28.1) had moderate disease, and 7.0% (95% CI, 5.8–8.3) had severe disease. There was significant statewide variation of the distribution of eczema severity (Rao-Scott &khgr;2, P = 0.004), with highest rates of severe disease in Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states. In univariate models, eczema severity was increased with older age, African American and Hispanic race/ethnicity, lower household income, oldest child in the family, home with a single mother, lower paternal/maternal education level, maternal general health, maternal/paternal emotional health, dilapidated housing, and garbage on the streets. In multivariate survey logistic regression models using stepwise and backward selection, moderate-to-severe eczema was associated with older age, lower household income, and fair or poor maternal health but inversely associated with birthplace outside the United States. ConclusionsThese data indicate that environmental and/or lifestyle factors play an important role in eczema severity.
Bioaccumulation of metals in reeds collected from an acid mine drainage contaminated site in winter and spring

ABSTRACT Wetland plants such as Phragmites australis has been used to treat acid mine drainage (AMD) contaminated soil which is a serious environmental issue worldwide. This project investigated metal plaque content(s) and metal uptake in reeds grown in an AMD field in winter and spring. The results indicated that the level of Fe plaque was much higher than Mn and Al plaque as the soil contained more Fe than Al and Mn. The amounts of Mn and Al plaque formed on reeds in spring were not significantly different from that in winter (p > .05). However, more Fe plaque was formed on reeds collected in spring. The concentrations of metals in underground organs were positively related to the metal levels in soils. More Mn and Al transferred to the aboveground tissues of reeds during the spring while the Fe levels in reeds did not significantly vary with seasons. Roots and rhizomes were the main organs for Fe sequestration (16.3 ± 4.15 mg/g in roots in spring) while most Al was sequestered in the shoots of reeds (2.05 ± 0.09 mg/g in shoots in spring). Further research may be needed to enhance the translocation of metals in reeds and increase the phytoremediation efficiency.
Outcome After Liver Transplantation for NASH Cirrhosis

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) associated cirrhosis is an increasing indication for liver transplant (LT). The aim of this study was to determine outcome and poor predictive factors after LT for NASH cirrhosis. We analyzed patients undergoing LT from 1997 to 2008 at a single center. NASH was diagnosed on histopathology. LT recipients with hepatitis C, alcoholic or cholestatic liver disease and cryptogenic cirrhosis acted as matched controls.
General route for the decomposition of InAs quantum dots during the capping process

The effect of the capping process on the morphology of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) by using different GaAs-based capping layers (CLs), ranging from strain reduction layers to strain compensating layers, has been studied by transmission microscopic techniques. For this, we have measured simultaneously the height and diameter in buried and uncapped QDs covering populations of hundreds of QDs that are statistically reliable. First, the uncapped QD population evolves in all cases from a pyramidal shape into a more homogenous distribution of buried QDs with a spherical-dome shape, despite the different mechanisms implicated in the QD capping. Second, the shape of the buried QDs depends only on the final QD size, where the radius of curvature is function of the base diameter independently of the CL composition and growth conditions. An asymmetric evolution of the QDs’ morphology takes place, in which the QD height and base diameter are modified in the amount required to adopt a similar stable shape characterized by a averaged aspect ratio of 0.21. Our results contradict the traditional model of QD material redistribution from the apex to the base and point to a different universal behavior of the overgrowth processes in self-organized InAs QDs.
Divorce and Suicide

The author examines the relationship between divorce and suicide using a multiple regression analysis of data from 43 Belgian arrondissements for 1974 and 1975. The results indicate a close relationship between the incidence of divorce and the rate of suicide after controlling for a selection of other possible relevant variables (SUMMARY IN ENG) (ANNOTATION)
Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Understandings of Competing Notions of Academic Achievement Coexisting in Post-NCLB Public Schools

Background/Context Since the 2002 implementation of No Child Left Behind, teaching in public school contexts has become more complex and challenging. Today, public school teachers at all grade levels are accountable for maintaining a steady focus on their students’ academic achievement. However, many teachers have found themselves wrestling with two conflicting understandings of academic achievement. These two conflicting understandings reflect two existing discourses used to frame students’ acquisition of school-centered knowledge and skills: academic progress and academic success. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of the Study In this article, we focus on the coexisting discourses of academic achievement circulating within in our participants’ teaching credential preparation experience. We present the data, drawn from the first two sets of interviews completed for our larger study of preservice teachers’ understandings of the relationship between sociocultural factors and academic achievement, that document our participants’ confusion and uncertainty about the meaning of “academic achievement. ” We draw from the notion of discourse, as theorized by Michel Foucault, to foreground the need to establish specific terminology—namely, academic progress and academic success—to clarify the various aspects of academic achievement and to facilitate discussion of this critically important construct. Research Design The study draws from a basic or generic qualitative methodology in which the aim is to understand a situation by exploring, analyzing, and interpreting the perspectives and understandings of individuals within that situation. The findings come from data generated across two interviews conducted with preservice teachers at the beginning and conclusion of their first semester in the professional development sequence of their elementary (pk–4) teacher education program. Setting The study takes place at a large urban university teacher education program in the U.S. South. Population/Participants/Subjects Participants are a racially and ethnically diverse set of 12 preservice teacher candidates. Ten were pursuing a elementary generalist teaching credential, and 2 were pursuing a elementary generalist-bilingual teaching credential.
Severe coagulation factor V deficiency caused by a 4 bp deletion in the factor V gene

Factor V (FV) deficiency (parahaemophilia) is an autosomal recessive bleeding disorder with an incidence of 1:106. We have studied a young girl with very mild bleeding symptoms and undetectable levels of plasma factor V antigen and activity (<0.3% and <1.6% of normal, respectively). Both parents showed plasma levels of factor V activity of about 50% of normal. Sequence analysis of the 5′‐ and 3′‐untranslated, coding and adjacent regions of the factor V gene revealed the presence of a 4 bp deletion in exon 13. Subsequent screening of members of the family for the mutation showed that both parents were heterozygous for the mutation, that one healthy sister carried only normal alleles, and that the patient was homozygous for the mutated allele. The mutation introduced a frameshift and a novel premature stop codon in codon 1303, and would predict the synthesis of a truncated factor V molecule that lacks part of the B domain and the complete light chain. However, no factor V heavy chain could be detected in the plasma of the patient. Furthermore, factor V activity could not be detected in the patients' platelets. This is the first reported mutation in the factor V gene that predicts a type I quantitative factor V deficiency. Surprisingly, the patient, who is homozygous for the mutation, so far has only a very mild bleeding tendency.
Benchmark Duration of Work Hours for Development of Fatigue Symptoms in Japanese Workers with Adjustment for Job‐Related Stress

The objective of this study was to calculate benchmark durations and lower 95% confidence limits for benchmark durations of working hours associated with subjective fatigue symptoms by applying the benchmark dose approach while adjusting for job‐related stress using multiple logistic regression analyses. A self‐administered questionnaire was completed by 3,069 male and 412 female daytime workers (age 18–67 years) in a Japanese steel company. The eight dependent variables in the Cumulative Fatigue Symptoms Index were decreased vitality, general fatigue, physical disorders, irritability, decreased willingness to work, anxiety, depressive feelings, and chronic tiredness. Independent variables were daily working hours, four subscales (job demand, job control, interpersonal relationship, and job suitability) of the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire, and other potential covariates. Using significant parameters for working hours and those for other covariates, the benchmark durations of working hours were calculated for the corresponding Index property. Benchmark response was set at 5% or 10%. Assuming a condition of worst job stress, the benchmark duration/lower 95% confidence limit for benchmark duration of working hours per day with a benchmark response of 5% or 10% were 10.0/9.4 or 11.7/10.7 (irritability) and 9.2/8.9 or 10.4/9.8 (chronic tiredness) in men and 8.9/8.4 or 9.8/8.9 (chronic tiredness) in women. The threshold amounts of working hours for fatigue symptoms under the worst job‐related stress were very close to the standard daily working hours in Japan. The results strongly suggest that special attention should be paid to employees whose working hours exceed threshold amounts based on individual levels of job‐related stress.
Emotional outcomes of regulation strategies used during personal music listening: A mobile experience sampling study

Music is frequently used to support emotional health and well-being, with emotion regulation the most commonly reported mechanism. Music-based emotion regulation has not yet been extensively investigated within the broader emotion regulation framework. The effects of music-based emotion regulation on emotional state and well-being outcomes have also rarely been tested in real time. The current study aimed to determine the consequences of emotion regulation strategies used during music listening, in terms of hedonic outcomes, and associations with emotional health and well-being. A sample of 327 participants used the MuPsych application (app), a mobile experience sampling methodology designed for the real-time and ecologically-valid measurement of personal music listening. Results revealed that using music to regulate a recently experienced emotion (response-focused strategies) yielded the greatest hedonic success, but was associated with poorer emotional health and well-being. Music-based emotion regulation differed from non-music emotion regulation findings in several key ways, suggesting that music-based emotion regulation does not occur in accordance with the process model. This supported the notion that personal music listening is utilized as an independent regulatory resource, allowing listeners to reach specific emotional goals. Regulation strategies are selected to reach a desired hedonic outcome, based on initial mood, and influenced by emotional health and well-being.
RF Performance of Single Sideband Modulation Versus Dual Sideband Modulation in a Photonic Link

Single sideband optical modulation can be used in multiple RF photonic link applications. However, single sideband optical modulation is often thought to provide lower RF output power than traditional dual sideband modulation techniques. While true in one specific case, it is not true in all cases. We theoretically and experimentally analyze the RF performance of a photonic link utilizing a Z-cut dual-electrode Mach-Zehnder intensity modulator with a 90° RF hybrid that produces optical single sideband modulation. The single sideband performance is compared to double sideband modulation using the same Mach-Zehnder modulator in either a push-pull configuration using a 180° RF hybrid or a single-arm drive configuration. The optical sideband powers, RF output power and the output intercept power and spur-free dynamic range of the third-order intermodulation nonlinearity are compared both theoretically and experimentally for each of the three cases. The performance of a double sideband modulated link using an X-cut inherently push-pull Mach-Zehnder modulator is also compared theoretically, assuming the same Vπ and insertion loss as the dual-electrode Mach-Zehnder modulator.
Persistence of Wild-Type Virus and Lack of Temporal Structure in the Latent Reservoir for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 in Pediatric Patients with Extensive Antiretroviral Exposure

ABSTRACT Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection can reduce levels of HIV-1 RNA in plasma to below the limit of detection, replication-competent forms of the virus persist in all infected individuals. One form of persistence involves a stable reservoir of latent but potentially infectious virus that resides in resting memory CD4+ T cells. The mechanisms involved in maintaining this latent reservoir are incompletely understood. In the present study, we examined the dynamic characteristics of this reservoir in a cohort of children who developed drug-resistant HIV-1 as a result of extensive exposure to inadequately suppressive one- or two-drug regimens prior to the advent of HAART. We have previously shown that drug-resistant viruses selected by nonsuppressive pre-HAART regimens can enter and persist in this reservoir. We have extended these findings here by demonstrating that archival wild-type HIV-1 persists in this reservoir despite the fact that in these patients drug-resistant mutants have been favored by the selective conditions for many years. Phylogenetic analysis of replication-competent viruses persisting in resting CD4+ T cells revealed a striking lack of temporal structure in the sense that isolates obtained at later time points did not show greater sequence divergence than isolates from earlier time points. The persistence of drug-sensitive virus and the lack of temporal structure in the latent reservoir provide genetic evidence for the idea that HIV-1 can persist in a latent form free of selective pressure from antiretroviral drugs in long-lived resting memory CD4+ T cells. Although there may be other mechanisms for viral persistence, this stable pool of latently infected cells is of significant concern because of its potential to serve as a lasting source of replication-competent viruses, including the infecting wild-type form and all drug-resistant variants that have arisen subsequently.