Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attachment Theory and Close Relationships

JEFFREY A. SIMPSON AND W STEVEN RHOLES, EDS.: Attachment Theory and Close Relationships. The Guilford Press, New York, 1998, 438 pp., $50.00, ISBN 1-57230-102-3. Attachment theory, as first espoused by John Bowlby, became a pervasive theoretical influence on clinicans and researchers working with children, parents, and families. The work of Mary Ainsworth introducing the methodology of the Strange Situation made it possible to observe parent-child dyads and assess the type of relationship. The categories of secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-anxious attachment, later extended to include disorganized attachment, were ways of describing different attachment patterns. According to Bowlby, attachment paradigms are encoded in internal working models, the theorized basis for developing attachment systems. Both Bowlby and Ainsworth assumed internal working models formed in early childhood persisted throughout life and continued to be vital into maturity, and beyond maturity into old age. The concept of internal working models was used to account for continuity in relationships and transmission of trauma between generations. Can the attachment model be extended meaningfully to adult relationships and development throughout a lifetime? The purpose of this intriguing and informative synthetic volume edited by Jeffrey Simpson and Steven Rholes is to orient us to important theoretical and empirical advances that have taken place in the area of adult attachment during the last decade. They distinguish two components within attachment theory. The first component is normative and attempts to explain stages of development through which nearly all human beings pass. A second component is focused on individual differences and attempts to explain stable deviations from modal behavioral patterns. Simpson and Rholes note the study of individual differences has dominated research for adults as well as children. The authors distinguish two traditions emanating from the study of individual differences. The first tradition, the nuclear family tradition, is exemplified by the work of Mary Main and her colleagues. They developed the Adult Attachment Interview to predict the Strange Situation behavior of respondents' children. The peer/romantic partner tradition, on the other hand, focuses on contemporary views and perceptions of current life partners. These studies utilize self-report questionnaires, accessing a more conscious domain of feelings. In this book, Simpson and Rholes focus almost exclusively on research and clinical work utilizing self-report measures. They recognize that the two traditions of research diverge not only in methodology, but also in generalizability of results. …
A Configurable Time-Controlled Clustering Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

Future large-scale sensor networks may comprise thousands of wirelessly connected sensor nodes that could provide an unimaginable opportunity to interact with physical phenomena in real time. These nodes are typically highly resource-constrained. Since the communication task is a significant power consumer, there are various attempts to introduce energy-awareness at different levels within the communication stack. Clustering is one such attempt to control energy dissipation for sensor data routing. Here, we propose the time-controlled clustering algorithm to realise a network-wide energy reduction by the rotation of clusterhead role, and the consideration of residual energy in its election. A realistic energy model is derived to accurately quantify the network's energy consumption using the proposed clustering algorithm
Postnatal Development of Serotonergic Innervation, 5-HT1A Receptor Expression, and 5-HT Responses in Rat Motoneurons

We compared the electrophysiological responses to serotonin (5-HT) of neonatal and juvenile rat hypoglossal motoneurons (HMs) by using intracellular recording techniques in a brainstem slice preparation. In neonatal HMs (≤P8), 5-HT caused a substantial decrease in the amplitude of spike afterhyperpolarization (AHP) that was associated with an increase in the minimal repetitive firing frequency (Fmin). Previous work has shown that this effect of 5-HT was mediated by the 5-HT1A receptor and may be secondary to inhibition of N- and P/Q-type calcium channels. In contrast to results from neonates, we found that 5-HT did not inhibit the AHP in juvenile HMs (≥ P20). Application of a cocktail of calcium channel toxins (ω-Conotoxin-GVIA and ω-Agatoxin-IVA) to juvenile HMs substantially inhibited the AHP, indicating that calcium entry through N- and P/Q-type channels supports the AHP in juvenile HMs, as it does in neonates. In addition, intracellular injection of the long-lasting GTP analog GTPγS induced an agonist-independent increase in Fmin similar to that seen in neonates in the presence of 5-HT. Together, these results suggested that intracellular mechanisms downstream of the 5-HT1A receptor capable of inhibiting the AHP were intact in juvenile HMs. Therefore, we investigated the possibility that age-related changes in effects of 5-HT on the AHP resulted from altered expression of the 5-HT1A receptor. To this end, we performed ligand-binding autoradiography using [3H]8-OH-DPAT, a 5-HT1Aagonist, and in situ hybridization using radiolabeled oligonucleotide probes specific for the 5-HT1A receptor. The two approaches gave remarkably similar results. The highest levels of 5-HT1A receptor expression were found in neonatal HMs, with maximal binding and hybridization at approximately postnatal day 7 (P7) and only low levels of receptor expression by P28. Finally, immunohistochemistry for 5-HT revealed that these developmental changes in 5-HT1A receptor expression occurred coincident with a postnatal increase in serotonergic innervation of the hypoglossal nucleus (nXII). Together, these findings indicate that developmental changes occur in the serotonergic innervation of nXII and in the expression of 5-HT1A receptors in HMs during the early postnatal period, resulting in markedly different effects of 5-HT on firing behavior in neonatal and juvenile HMs.
Syntrophin-dependent expression and localization of Aquaporin-4 water channel protein

The Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channel contributes to brain water homeostasis in perivascular astrocyte endfeet where it is concentrated. We postulated that AQP4 is tethered at this site by binding of the AQP4 C terminus to the PSD95-Discs large-ZO1 (PDZ) domain of syntrophin, a component of the dystrophin protein complex. Chemical cross-linking and coimmunoprecipitations from brain demonstrated AQP4 in association with the complex, including dystrophin, β-dystroglycan, and syntrophin. AQP4 expression was studied in brain and skeletal muscle of mice lacking α-syntrophin (α-Syn−/−). The total level of AQP4 expression appears normal in brains of α-Syn−/− mice, but the polarized subcellular localization is reversed. High-resolution immunogold analyses revealed that AQP4 expression is markedly reduced in astrocyte endfeet membranes adjacent to blood vessels in cerebellum and cerebral cortex of α-Syn−/− mice, but is present at higher than normal levels in membranes facing neuropil. In contrast, AQP4 is virtually absent from skeletal muscle in α-Syn−/− mice. Deletion of the PDZ-binding consensus (Ser-Ser-Val) at the AQP4 C terminus similarly reduced expression in transfected cell lines, and pulse–chase labeling demonstrated an increased degradation rate. These results demonstrate that perivascular localization of AQP4 in brain requires α-Syn, and stability of AQP4 in the membrane is increased by the C-terminal PDZ-binding motif.
Haptoglobin Genotype Is a Regulator of Reverse Cholesterol Transport in Diabetes In Vitro and In Vivo

Two common alleles exist at the haptoglobin (Hp) locus, and the Hp2 allele is associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease, specifically in diabetes mellitus (DM). Oxidative stress is increased in Hp2 mice and humans with DM. Oxidative modification of the apolipoprotein A-I inhibits reverse cholesterol transport. We sought to test the hypothesis that reverse cholesterol transport is impaired in Hp2 DM mice and humans. In vitro, using serum from non-DM and DM individuals, we measured cholesterol efflux from 3H-cholesterol–labeled macrophages. In vivo, we injected 3H-cholesterol–loaded macrophages intraperitoneally into non-DM and DM mice with the Hp1-1 or Hp2-2 genotype and monitored 3H-tracer levels in plasma, liver, and feces. In vitro, in DM individuals only, we observed significantly decreased cholesterol efflux from macrophages incubated with serum from Hp2-1 or Hp2-2 as compared with Hp1-1 individuals (P<0.01). The interaction between Hp type and DM was recapitulated using purified Hp and glycated Hb. In vivo, DM mice loaded with 3H-cholesterol–labeled macrophages had a 40% reduction in 3H-cholesterol in plasma, liver, and feces as compared with non-DM mice (P<0.01). The reduction in reverse cholesterol transport associated with DM was significantly greater in Hp2-2 mice as compared with Hp1-1 mice (54% versus 25% in plasma; 52% versus 27% in liver; 57% versus 32% in feces; P<0.03). reverse cholesterol transport is decreased in Hp2-2 DM. This may explain in part the increased atherosclerotic burden found in Hp2-2 DM individuals.
New Efficient Proxy Blind Signature Scheme Using Verifiable Self-certified Public Key

Proxy blind signature, which combines the properties of both proxy signature and blind signature, is useful in e-cash and e-commerce. In this paper, we present a verifiable self-certified public key scheme and a proxy blind signature scheme using the verifiable self-certified public key. The self-certified public key has an advantage which can withstand public key substitution attacks. As far as we know, this is the first scheme that satisfies the security properties of both the proxy blind signature and verifiable self-certified public key. Another advantage is that the proposed verifiable self-certified public key scheme overcomes the weakness of repudiability of the self-certified public key. Analysis shows that our scheme are secure and efficient.
Visual Working Memory Contents Bias Ambiguous Structure from Motion Perception

The way we perceive the visual world depends crucially on the state of the observer. In the present study we show that what we are holding in working memory (WM) can bias the way we perceive ambiguous structure from motion stimuli. Holding in memory the percept of an unambiguously rotating sphere influenced the perceived direction of motion of an ambiguously rotating sphere presented shortly thereafter. In particular, we found a systematic difference between congruent dominance periods where the perceived direction of the ambiguous stimulus corresponded to the direction of the unambiguous one and incongruent dominance periods. Congruent dominance periods were more frequent when participants memorized the speed of the unambiguous sphere for delayed discrimination than when they performed an immediate judgment on a change in its speed. The analysis of dominance time-course showed that a sustained tendency to perceive the same direction of motion as the prior stimulus emerged only in the WM condition, whereas in the attention condition perceptual dominance dropped to chance levels at the end of the trial. The results are explained in terms of a direct involvement of early visual areas in the active representation of visual motion in WM.
Methionine and Choline Supply during the Periparturient Period Alter Plasma Amino Acid and One-Carbon Metabolism Profiles to Various Extents: Potential Role in Hepatic Metabolism and Antioxidant Status

The objective of this study was to profile plasma amino acids (AA) and derivatives of their metabolism during the periparturient period in response to supplemental rumen-protected methionine (MET) or rumen-protected choline (CHOL). Forty cows were fed from −21 through 30 days around parturition in a 2 × 2 factorial design a diet containing MET or CHOL. MET supply led to greater circulating methionine and proportion of methionine in the essential AA pool, total AA, and total sulfur-containing compounds. Lysine in total AA also was greater in these cows, indicating a better overall AA profile. Sulfur-containing compounds (cystathionine, cystine, homocystine, and taurine) were greater in MET-fed cows, indicating an enriched sulfur-containing compound pool due to enhanced transsulfuration activity. Circulating essential AA and total AA concentrations were greater in cows supplied MET due to greater lysine, arginine, tryptophan, threonine, proline, asparagine, alanine, and citrulline. In contrast, CHOL supply had no effect on essential AA or total AA, and only tryptophan and cystine were greater. Plasma 3-methylhistidine concentration was lower in response to CHOL supply, suggesting less tissue protein mobilization in these cows. Overall, the data revealed that enhanced periparturient supply of MET has positive effects on plasma AA profiles and overall antioxidant status.
[Remission and relapse in the outpatient treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Outcomes at 3 years].

INTRODUCTION Three year data collected in the frame of the SOHO study within Spain were used to evaluate antipsychotic treatment outcomes by analyzing remission and relapse as well as the factors influencing them. METHODS The SOHO was a prospective, long-term, observational study of the outcomes of schizophrenia treatment in ambulatoty who initiated therapy or who changed to a new antipsychotic drug performed in 10 European countries, with a focus on olanzapine. This article reports the attainment of international schizophrenia clinical remission and relapse criteria and the associated correlates in these patients. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS A total of 2,020 patients were recruited in Spain. Almost 2/3 (60.1%) of the patients met the criteria for clinical remission. Factors that influence the likelihood of remission were identified, such as gender, baseline clinical and/or functional status, time since treatment initiation, treatment with olanzapine versus oral typical antipsychotics, duration of treatment, gender or the need for concomitant anxiolytics. Relapse occurred in 18.7% of patients. Treatment with quetiapine or the prescription of anticholinergics was associated with a greater risk of relapse. CONCLUSIONS These results highlight some prognostic factors of the course of schizophrenia and underscore the importance of the antipsychotic choice and its maintenance to achieve favorable long-term clinical outcomes in routine practice.
Plant cell wall integrity maintenance as an essential component of biotic stress response mechanisms

Plant cell walls provide structural support during development and represent together with the cuticle the first line of defense against biotic and abiotic stress. In recent years, evidence has accumulated that a dedicated plant cell wall integrity (CWI) maintenance mechanism exists. This mechanism monitors and maintains functional integrity of the cell wall during different biological processes. The available data suggest that it may represent a component of the stress response mechanisms underlying biotic and abiotic stress responses, which has not been identified previously as a distinct mechanism. Here I will review the available evidence regarding the mode of action of the CWI maintenance mechanism and discuss its role in the context of biotic plant stress response mechanisms.
EXIT-Chart-Matching-Aided Near-Capacity Coded Modulation Design and a BICM-ID Design Example for Both Gaussian and Rayleigh Channels

Bit-interleaved coded modulation with iterative decoding (BICM-ID) is investigated, wherein a novel method of designing amplitude phase-shift keying (APSK) constellations is proposed, which is capable of outperforming both traditional quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and nonuniformly spaced QAM (NU-QAM). It is shown that the channel capacity can be approached by the proposed M-APSK constellation as M tends to infinity. Additionally, a new algorithm is introduced for finding the best bit-to-symbol mapping. Furthermore, when signal space diversity is also employed, our extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart analysis and Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the proposed BICM-ID schemes exhibit a near-Shannon-capacity performance for transmission over both additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and Rayleigh fading channels. For a block length of 64 800 bits, the bit-error-rate (BER) curve of the proposed BICM-ID 16/64-APSK scheme is only about 0.8 and 1.0 dB away from the Gaussian-input Shannon limit over AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels, respectively, at the BER of 10-5 and for a code rate of 1/2.
Compressive strength of delaminated aerospace composites

An efficient analytical model is described which predicts the value of compressive strain below which buckle-driven propagation of delaminations in aerospace composites will not occur. An extension of this efficient strip model which accounts for propagation transverse to the direction of applied compression is derived. In order to provide validation for the strip model a number of laminates were artificially delaminated producing a range of thin anisotropic sub-laminates made up of 0°, ±45° and 90° plies that displayed varied buckling and delamination propagation phenomena. These laminates were subsequently subject to experimental compression testing and nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) using cohesive elements. Comparison of strip model results with those from experiments indicates that the model can conservatively predict the strain at which propagation occurs to within 10 per cent of experimental values provided (i) the thin-film assumption made in the modelling methodology holds and (ii) full elastic coupling effects do not play a significant role in the post-buckling of the sub-laminate. With such provision, the model was more accurate and produced fewer non-conservative results than FEA. The accuracy and efficiency of the model make it well suited to application in optimum ply-stacking algorithms to maximize laminate strength.
Training executive functions in the laboratory and in real life : cognitive consequences of computer-based exercises and bilingualism

The question of the trainability of executive functions and the impact of such training on related cognitive skills has stirred considerable research interest. Despite a number of studies investigating this, the question has not yet been solved. The general aim of this thesis was to investigate two very different types of training of executive functions: laboratory-based computerized training (Studies I-III) and realworld training through bilingualism (Studies IV-V). Bilingualism as a kind of training of executive functions is based on the idea that managing two languages requires executive resources, and previous studies have suggested a bilingual advantage in executive functions. Three executive functions were studied in the present thesis: updating of working memory (WM) contents, inhibition of irrelevant information, and shifting between tasks and mental sets. Studies I-III investigated the effects of computer-based training of WM updating (Study I), inhibition (Study II), and set shifting (Study III) in healthy young adults. All studies showed increased performance on the trained task. More importantly, improvement on an untrained task tapping the trained executive function (near transfer) was seen in Study I and II. None of the three studies showed improvement on untrained tasks tapping some other cognitive function (far transfer) as a result of training. Study I also used PET to investigate the effects of WM updating training on a neurotransmitter closely linked to WM, namely dopamine. The PET results revealed increased striatal dopamine release during WM updating performance as a result of training. Study IV investigated the ability to inhibit task-irrelevant stimuli in bilinguals and monolinguals by using a dichotic listening task. The results showed that the bilinguals
Thrombelastography Detects Possible Coagulation Disturbance in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage With Hematoma Enlargement

Background and Purpose— Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) has high morbidity, and hematoma enlargement (HE) causes worse outcome. Thrombelastography (TEG) measures the dynamics of clot formation and dissolution, and might be useful for assessing bleeding risk. We used TEG to detect changes in clotting in patients with and without HE after ICH. Methods— This prospective study included 64 patients with spontaneous ICH admitted from 2009 to 2013. TEG was performed within 6 hours of symptom onset and after 36 hours. Brain imaging was obtained at baseline and at 36±12 hours, and HE was defined as total volume increase >6 cc or >33%. TEG was also obtained from 57 controls. Results— Compared with controls, patients with ICH demonstrated faster and stronger clot formation; shorter R and delta (P<0.0001) at baseline; and higher MA and G (P<0.0001) at 36 hours; 11 patients had HE. After controlling for potential confounders, baseline K and delta were longer in HE+ compared with HE− patients, indicating that HE+ patients had slower clot formation (P<0.05). TEG was not different between HE+ and HE− patients at 36 hours. Conclusions— TEG may detect important coagulation changes in patients with ICH. Clotting may be faster and stronger in immediate response to ICH, and a less robust response may be associated with HE. These findings deserve further investigation.
Temperature and Light-Induced Changes in Bulk and Passivation Quality of Boron-Doped Float-Zone Silicon Coated With SiNx:H

In this study, it is observed that boron-doped float-zone silicon coated with hydrogenated silicon nitride shows strong instabilities in effective minority carrier lifetime after a fast firing step and subsequent treatment at elevated temperatures and illumination. During such a treatment, both degradation and recovery features are visible over time scales from minutes to months. To further investigate the observed behavior, corona charging series, capacitance voltage measurements, and chemical repassivation methods are applied. It is shown that a first fast degradation and recovery is associated with changes in the bulk lifetime, and it is observed that the fast firing step strongly influences this bulk instability. A subsequent slower degradation and recovery reflects changes in the effective surface recombination velocity that can be attributed to changes in the chemical passivation quality. It can be concluded that care has to be taken when boron-doped float-zone silicon is used as a supposedly stable high lifetime reference material after a fast firing step. Additionally, it can be stated that a silicon nitride related passivation may be far from stable at elevated temperatures and illumination after a fast firing step.
Use of technologies for American expatriate training

This study examined the use of technology-based training and development within expatriate populations after the 2008 global recession. A quantitative survey design was used to collect data. The study results were shared with a live, face-to-face group forum of training and development practitioners. A total of 46 participants answered the survey. Findings related to participant demographic data as well as their perceptions regarding the impacts of the 2008 recession, training timing and topics, and training methods were reported. The study findings indicated that the 2008 global recession did not have a strong impact on these participants. They also tended to receive training after they arrived onsite. Technology-based training was not viewed as highly effective by expatriates. Rather, it is traditional instructor-led classroom training that best prepared American expatriates for their work assignment abroad, second to blended learning of classroom and technology training.