Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Factors in Patients with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis

Objective. Patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome compared to the normal population. Patients with psoriasis and PsA may also have increased risk from nonconventional risk factors such as raised levels of homocysteine and excessive alcohol consumption. We conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on CVD and all cardiovascular risk factors in patients with psoriasis and PsA. Methods. Data sources: All studies identified from a Medline (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) search pertaining to CVD, individual risk factors in psoriasis, and PsA were included. Study selection: Studies included a healthy reference population, were published between 1975 and 2009, and were written in English. Results. Our search yielded 14 studies that documented rates of CVD in patients with psoriasis and PsA compared to controls. Substantial evidence points to elevated risk of CVD in patients with psoriasis and PsA. Conclusion. It remains difficult to conclude if risk factors are caused by psoriasis or share a common pathogenesis. Physicians treating patients with psoriasis and PsA must be aware of all potential cardiovascular risk factors in their patients.
Determination of acrylamide in Thai-conventional snacks from Nong Mon market, Chonburi using GC-MS technique

Acrylamide in Thai-conventional snacks was analysed by GC/MS with a linear response ranged of 5–50 µg and r 2 > 0.99. The limit of detection (s/n = (3) and limit of quantification (s/n = 10) were 4 and 15 µg kg−1, respectively, and RSD < 2%. Acrylamide in 19 food samples ranged from <15 µg kg−1 to 1.26 mg kg−1 with highest concentrations in Kanom Jak. Moderate levels (150–500 µg kg−1) were detected mostly in deep-fried products, especially sweet potato and taro crisps, Kanom Kai Hong, banana fritters, durian chips and spring rolls. Thai-conventional snacks possessed low concentrations (<150 µg kg−1) including Khao Larm, Pa Tong Koo, sweet banana crisps and deep-fried Chinese wonton. Acrylamide was lowest (<15 µg kg−1) in fish strips, rice crackers, Hoi Jor and fried fish balls. Dietary habits by 400 tourists indicate a daily intake of acrylamide <150 ng, well below a toxic dose.
Is the Multiracial Congregation an Answer to the Problem of Race? Comparative Perspectives from South Africa and the USA

This paper uses a comparative perspective to analyze how multiracial congregations may contribute to racial reconciliation in South Africa. Drawing on the large-scale study of multiracial congregations in the USA by Emerson et al., it examines how they help transform antagonistic identities and make religious contributions to wider reconciliation processes. It compares the American research to an ethnographic study of a congregation in Cape Town, identifying cross-national patterns and South African distinctives, such as discourses about restitution, AIDS, inequality and women. The extent that multiracial congregations can contribute to reconciliation in South Africa is linked to the content of their worship and discourses, but especially to their ability to dismantle racially aligned power structures.
Gender differences in mathematics and science: the role of the actiotope in determining individuals’ achievements and confidence in their own abilities

Despite changes, gender differences in math and science continue to exist in some countries. We examined whether the actiotopes of boys and girls at the high school level in math and science differed and the extent to which (a) their actiotope components, (b) the progressive development of their actiotopes (dynamic perspective), and (c) the co-adaptation of their actiotopes (systems perspective) function as predictors for girls’ and boys’ achievements and confidence in one’s own abilities in math and science. To answer these questions, we examined girls and boys (N = 361) in Canada, the Czech Republic, and Germany with a questionnaire. The results suggest that girls are less effective at progressively developing their actiotopes in the fields of math and science and that modifications in their actiotopes were less well balanced by stabilizing forces. Independent of gender, the actiotope aspects considered here are suited to predicting achievements and confidence in one’s own abilities in math and science.
Online Literacies and Learning: Operational, Cultural and Critical Dimensions

This paper addresses the nature of literacy practices in online distance learning environments, specifically those involved in text-based collaborative discussion at post-compulsory level. A three-dimensional framework, relating operational, cultural and critical aspects of linguistic interaction online, is used to argue that research in this field needs to take account of wider institutional and social contexts if it is to address issues of student resistance to socialisation into virtual learning communities. Some methodologies for research of this kind are discussed, and sample analyses of participant interaction on UK Open University Masters courses are presented.
The eye caught in the Net: A study on attention and motivation in virtual environment exploration

In virtual environment exploration, the user's gaze must be attracted by important features and information, but capturing user attention is not a straightforward task for designers. The dynamics of attention have been generally thought to be affected either by factors in the external environment, or by internal, motivational factors. The interaction between these two types of factor guides the user's exploration and hence should be taken into consideration in web design. Two experiments were carried out to explore the role of internal and external factors in controlling attention processes in a website task. The results suggested that the dynamics of attention are strongly influenced by internal motivation in this context. It was concluded that individual motivation plays a crucial and often predominant role in controlling attention when participants are engaged in activities using the internet.
Minireview: Translational Animal Models of Human Menopause: Challenges and Emerging Opportunities

Increasing importance is placed on the translational validity of animal models of human menopause to discern risk vs. benefit for prediction of outcomes after therapeutic interventions and to develop new therapeutic strategies to promote health. Basic discovery research conducted over many decades has built an extensive body of knowledge regarding reproductive senescence across mammalian species upon which to advance animal models of human menopause. Modifications to existing animal models could rapidly address translational gaps relevant to clinical issues in human menopausal health, which include the impact of 1) chronic ovarian hormone deprivation and hormone therapy, 2) clinically relevant hormone therapy regimens (cyclic vs. continuous combined), 3) clinically relevant hormone therapy formulations, and 4) windows of opportunity and optimal duration of interventions. Modifications in existing animal models to more accurately represent human menopause and clinical interventions could rapidly provide pr.
A new predictive molecular marker for cetuximab benefit in rectal cancer?

Sclafani et al present data and suggest that tumor protein 53 (TP53) may be a predictive marker of cetuximab benefit in patients with rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiation in this issue of the Journal (1). This article relies on an unplanned, retrospective analysis of molecular marker data on a subset of patients participating in the randomized phase II EXPERT-C clinical trial initially reported in 2012 (2). Patients with operable magnetic resonance imaging– defined high-risk rectal cancer received four cycles of capecitabine/ oxaliplatin (CAPOX) followed by capecitabine chemoradiotherapy, surgery, and adjuvant CAPOX (four cycles) or the same regimen plus weekly cetuximab (CAPOX-C). The primary endpoint was complete tumor response, which was modified during conduct of the study to include only the subset of patients whose tumors were KRAS/BRAF wild type. This was quite reasonably done when the impact of KRAS status on antitumor activity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-inhibiting monoclonal antibodies was documented (3). However, the sample size of the study was not increased to assure the intended statistical power. One hundred and fifty eligible patients were randomly assigned. Based on a subset of patients with KRAS/BRAF wild-type tumors (46 patients who received cetuximab vs 44 patients who did not receive cetuximab as a component of treatment), the authors concluded that cetuximab led to a statistically significant increase in response rate and overall survival, but the primary end point of improved complete pathologic response was not met. Further follow-up revealed that contrary to the initial report, adding cetuximab was not associated with a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival or overall survival in either KRAS/BRAF wild-type or unselected
COMPENSATORY RENAL ENLARGEMENT HYPERTROPHY VERSUS HYPERPLASIA

The compensatory growth of the remaining kidney following unilateral nephrectomy has, over the years, been referred to alternatively as hypertrophy or hyperplasia, but the relative importance of these processes is a long-standing and still unresolved question. Since the investigations of Arataki I and Moore2 it has been an accepted fact that mature nephrons can increase in size but not in number, and in this sense compensatory renal enlargement is purely hypertrophic. At the cellular level, however, there has been a variance of opinion. Initially it was thought that renal epithelium, like neurons, could not be stimulated to divide and that nephrons could increase in size only as a result of cellular hypertrophy. This concept dates back to I902, when Galeotti and Villa-Santal found no evidence that hyperplasia played any role in the enlargement of the adult kidney. Twenty-five years later Saphir,4 in a study of compensatory growth of the rabbit kidney, stated definitely that he saw no mitotic figures in glomeruli or renal tubular epithelium, and again attributed the renal enlargement wholly to cellular hypertrophy. This remained the prevailing opinion, as reflected by standard pathology textbooks of that time,5 until I949, when RollasonI demonstrated a brief burst of mitotic activity in young rats, chiefly in convoluted tubular epithelium, within the first few days after unilateral nephrectomy. In addition to this clear-cut cellular hyperplasia, Rollason saw an increase in size of epithelial cells and concluded that both cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasia contributed to compensatory renal growth.
Improving Interactive Retrieval by Combining Ranked List and Clustering

We study the problem of organizing the documents returned by an information retrieval system in response to a natural language query. We consider two well-known approaches - the ranked list and clustering of the results - and we show how they can be integrated. This new procedure is designed to accept user feedback and direct the user toward the relevant material as effectively as the traditional relevance feedback approach. We show how our technique can be explained to the user by visualizing the process in two or three dimensions, providing him or her with complete control of the procedure. We show that increasing the dimensionality of the visualization generally improves its quality, albeit only a small amount Additionally we present the result of a small user study designed to investigate how effective our visualization is in supporting the user navigating the retrieved results.
The Effect of Trimipramine on Sleep in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder

Antidepressants generally inhibit REM sleep. This effect is often considered to be a crucial feature of these drugs. Trimipramine, however, is a tricyclic antidepressant which does not inhibit REM sleep in rats (Khazan and Brown, 1970; Wassennan and Khazan, 1971). This result could be confirmed in man: Dunleavy et al. (1972) administered this drug to two healthy volunteers and found no alteration of REM sleep. In our present study we examined the action of trimipramine on sleep in patients with major depressive disorder. We were especially interested in the effect on REM sleep parameters. In order to elucidate the mode of action of this 'drug, we investigated, in addition, the question of whether the effect of trimipramine on prolactin, human growth hormone, and cortisol resembled that of other antidepressants.
Book Review: The Aim of Management Education: Reflections on Mintzberg’s Managers not MBAs

If I had my way, every management academic involved in teaching MBAs should be required to read Alfred North Whitehead's The Aims of Education and especially the chapter on 'Universities and their Function'. Only then will they begin to truly understand the central point that Mintzberg is making in his controversial and provocative book. Both Whitehead and Mintzberg speak out forcefully against the passive ingestion of 'inert ideas' that passes for management education. Writing nearly 70 years ago, Whitehead noted a worrying trend towards 'mental dryrot' in institutions of higher learning, a trend well criticized in Allan Bloom's (1987) The Closing of the American Mind. 'Education with inert ideas is not only useless: it is above all things, harmful - Corruptio optimi, pessima' (Whitehead 1932: 2). It produces 'minds in a groove' (Whitehead 1926[1985]: 245). Both Mintzberg and Whitehead argue against the 'silo-type' disciplinary mentality which characterizes the typical MBA curriculum. To be mentally caught in a groove, says Whitehead, is to live in contemplation of a given set of abstractions that are inevitably privileged and mistaken for reality itself. A 'Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness' (Whitehead 1926[1985]: 64) ensues and this manifests itself in business schools that confuse neat business specialisms for the integrative practice that is management.
The visual reproduction subtest as a measure of visual perceptual/constructional functioning in dementia of the Alzheimer's type

Abstract Interpretation of performance on the Visual Reproduction (VR) subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R; Wechsler, 1987) is potentially confounded by visual perceptual or constructional problems. In order to assess this potential confound, this study examined the performance of patients with Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT), patients with right frontal-lobe lesions, and normal elderly controls in terms of ability to accurately match and copy the VR designs. Patients with DAT were significantly worse at matching and copying the designs relative to the two comparison groups. The results suggest that caution is warranted when interpreting the VR subtest as a measure of memory functioning in patients with DAT.
Role of endothelin-1 in choroidal blood flow regulation during isometric exercise in healthy humans.

PURPOSE There is evidence that the choroid has some autoregulatory capacity in response to changes in ocular perfusion pressure (OPP). The mediators of this response are hitherto unidentified. The hypothesis for the current study was that endothelin (ET)-1 and/or angiotensin (ANF)-II may be involved in choroidal vasoconstriction during an increase in OPP. METHODS To test this hypothesis a randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled, three way crossover study was performed in 12 healthy male volunteers. Subjects received on different study days intravenous infusions of the specific ET(A) receptor antagonist BQ-123, the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril or placebo. During these infusion periods subjects were asked to squat for 6 minutes. Choroidal blood flow was measured using a confocal laser Doppler flowmeter and ocular perfusion pressure (OPP) was calculated from mean arterial pressure and intraocular pressure. RESULTS BQ-123 and enalapril had no effect on basal blood pressure, pulse rate, intraocular pressure, or choroidal blood flow. During isometric exercise, a pronounced increase in mean arterial pressure paralleled by an increase in OPP was observed. Although choroidal blood flow slightly increased during squatting, the increase was much less pronounced than the increase in OPP, indicating some regulatory potential of the choroid. Enalapril did not alter the choroidal pressure-flow relationship during isometric exercise, but BQ-123 induced a significant leftward shift of the pressure-flow curve (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The present data indicate that ET-1, but not ANG II, plays a role in choroidal blood flow regulation during isometric exercise in healthy humans. Hence, impaired choroidal autoregulation in patients with ocular vascular diseases may arise from an altered endothelin system. Further studies in such patients are warranted to verify this hypothesis.
Temporal stability and replicability of a workplace stress and coping model for managerial women : a multiwave panel study

Stability and replicability of a stress-coping model were tested with data collected from 230 managerial women 8 times over a 1-year period. One year later, 135 women who remained in the study completed 3 additional assessments. Tests of mean stability, stability of individual differences, and factorial invariance revealed that virtually all constructs exhibited strong mean stability and that all multi-indicator constructs possessed stable factor loadings. The women were consistent in the way they described themselves over time on all constructs except Appraisals. Disengagement Coping, Appraisals, and Distress were affected more by an underlying trait not accounted for in the model than was Engagement Coping. Replicability indicated that the model reliably represented the relationships among the measures over a 2-year interval.
Visual Function, Visual Perception and Visual Recognition in Japanese Children with Developmental Dyslexia

本研究の目的は, 日本語話者の発達性読み書き障害児における視覚情報処理過程を体系的に評価し発達性読み書き障害の背景となる認知障害構造を明らかにすることである. 対象は日本語話者の発達性読み書き障害児20名と定型発達児59名である. 視機能, 視知覚, 視覚認知機能および視覚性記憶機能を測定, 評価した. 本研究の結果から, 視機能の問題は読み書きの正確性に大きな影響を与えないのではないかと思われた. 線分の傾き知覚と視覚性記憶機能は本研究で対象とした発達性読み書き障害児全例で低下していた. 視知覚と関連のあるvisual magnocellular systemとvisual parvocellular systemを検討した結果, 双方の視覚経路で機能低下を認める発達性読み書き障害児が20名中８名いた. 日本語圏の発達性読み書き障害児は海外での報告とは異なり２つの視覚経路の問題を併せもつことが多いのではないかと思われた.
Linguistic Capital and Home-School Relationships: Mothers' Interactions with their Children's Primary School Teachers

Talking to teachers is an important part of home-school relationships, and yet research into parental involvement rarely includes an analysis of home-school interaction. Drawing on a UK study of mothers' involvement in their children's primary schooling, this paper uses Bourdieu's concepts of linguistic and cultural capitals to explore the differences in both how mothers approach teaching staff and how they perceive the contact they have with their children's teachers. The paper examines some of the ways in which maternal involvement is mediated by power relations between mothers and teachers, and draws on empirical data, which suggest that social class positioning has a powerful influence on mothers' ability to get what they want for their children. Cultural capital, including linguistic capital, personal histories and mothers' own educational experiences all contribute to mothers' sense of efficacy in relation to home-school interaction.
Transplantation of liver and kidney from donors with malignancy at the time of donation: an experience from a single centre

Transplantation of organs from donors with malignancy poses clinical and ethical questions regarding outcome, informed consent, immunosuppression and follow‐up. We review our experience of kidney and liver transplantation from such donors. Our database was complemented by data from National Health Service Blood and Transplant. All patients who received a renal or liver transplant in our institution between April 2003 and January 2014 were included. About 2546 liver and kidney transplants were performed: 71 recipients received 53 kidney and 18 liver transplants. These included 51 (36 kidney, 15 liver) CNS malignancy, and six kidneys, three ipsilateral and three contralateral with RCC. One kidney recipient developed donor‐transmitted lung cancer in the transplant kidney, and one liver transplant recipient developed donor‐transmitted lymphoma; both subsequently died. Seven recipients developed donor‐unrelated cancer. No recipient developed cancer, whereas the donor had a CNS or RCC. The 1‐, 3‐ and 5‐year patient survival was 96%, 93.3% and 75%, respectively, for kidneys and 83.3%, 75% and 50%, respectively, for liver. Where donor malignancy was known and assessed before transplantation, judicious use of kidney and liver for transplant achieved satisfactory outcome. The risk of transmission from donors with CNS and low‐grade renal malignancy remains extremely low.
Arabidopsis ELONGATED MITOCHONDRIA1 Is Required for Localization of DYNAMIN-RELATED PROTEIN3A to Mitochondrial Fission Sites[W]

Mitochondrial fission is achieved partially by the activity of self-assembling dynamin-related proteins (DRPs) in diverse organisms. Mitochondrial fission in Arabidopsis thaliana is mediated by DRP3A and DRP3B, but the other genes and molecular mechanisms involved have yet to be elucidated. To identify these genes, we screened and analyzed Arabidopsis mutants with longer and fewer mitochondria than those of the wild type. ELM1 was found to be responsible for the phenotype of elongated mitochondria. This phenotype was also observed in drp3a plants. EST and genomic sequences similar to ELM1 were found in seed plants but not in other eukaryotes. ELM1:green fluorescent protein (GFP) was found to surround mitochondria, and ELM1 interacts with both DPR3A and DRP3B. In the elm1 mutant, DRP3A:GFP was observed in the cytosol, whereas in wild-type Arabidopsis, DRP3A:GFP localized to the ends and constricted sites of mitochondria. These results collectively suggest that mitochondrial fission in Arabidopsis is mediated by the plant-specific factor ELM1, which is required for the relocalization of DRP3A (and possibly also DRP3B) from the cytosol to mitochondrial fission sites.
Overexpression and Characterization of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides PufX Membrane Protein in Escherichia coli  †

Heterologous expression of the PufX membrane protein from purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides was attempted by using Escherichia (E.) coli cells. The PufX was overexpressed as a recombinant protein with a histidine tag added to the carboxyl terminus, and can be extracted from the cell membrane by various detergents. Circular dichroism measurements showed that the expressed PufX protein had α‐helix contents of 29% in organic solvents and 22–26% in 0.8–2.0% (w/v) n‐octyl β‐d‐glucopyranoside solutions, suggesting that the PufX contains a substantial α‐helical region composed of 18–22 amino acids. The PufX expressed in E. coli was examined by reconstitution experiments with LH1 α‐ and β‐polypeptides and bacteriochlorophyll a. It was shown that the PufX inhibited not only the reconstitution of the LH1 complex, but also the formation of the B820 subunit type complex at high concentrations, indicating that the expressed PufX is biologically active. Large‐scale expression of the functional PufX membrane protein provides sufficient quantity for further biophysical and structural analyses of its biological function, and adds another example for producing highly hydrophobic integral membrane proteins using the E. coli expression system.