Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of exercise and training on serum enzyme and tissue changes in rats.

Young adult male rats received 1–20 successively daily 6-hr exercise tests in a rotating cage. Serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase and aldolase and blood urea nitrogen values rose sharply and serum alkaline phosphatase fell immediately after each of the first four tests with only partial recovery after an overnight rest. Subsequently, the serum alkaline phosphatase and blood urea nitrogen values returned to normal, but the transaminase and aldolase values were slightly elevated even after 17–20 tests. Weight loss was 15% in 3–6 days and 7% after 17–20 tests. Transient fatty changes were noted in the thigh muscles after the first test. Necrotic muscle lesions, most pronounced after three tests, regressed after the 1st week. Rats given 17–20 successive daily 6-hr exercise tests, contrary to untrained rats, showed no apparent fatigue, no muscle lesions, and no significant changes in serum enzymes immediately after a 16-hr exercise test. These findings emphasize the importance of properly graded training e.
Book Reviews: American Politics

thus exclusively focuses on FDR's public speaking, which, Ryan assumes, was intended to motivate the people behind the president's policies. Yet Ryan also notes Aristotle's definition of the art of rhetoric as encompassing the "available means" of persuasion in any given situation. And at various places in the text the author points up different functions of rhetoric —the tapping of public hopes and fears, the unification of an audience, the rehearsing of communal values, and the demonstration of the orator's self-consciousness of his role and station—and their powers and their restrictions.
International Comparisons and the Condition of American Education

I nternational comparisons of achievement levels across various curriculum subject areas have received a considerable amount of publicity. Indeed, some argue that trends on domestic achievement tests are no longer relevant because the salient reference groups are students in other nations. In articles outside of educational research, the reports on international comparisons have accentuated the negative, even when the results have been positive. For instance, the November, 1992 issue of The American School Board Journal carried an unbylined report on How in the World Do Students Read? under the headline, "Good News: Our 9-Year-Olds Read Well; Bad News: Our 14-Year-Olds Don't. " In fact, as discussed in more detail below, 14-yearolds finished eighth among 31 nations, and only one of the seven countries ahead of the United States actually had significantly higher scores. On the pages of educational research journals, such comparisons have also been the subject of debate: Is the United States an underachiever in comparison to Japan or not? (Baker, 1993; Westbury, 1992, 1993). Stedman (1994a) addressed the isjjue in a more balanced manner than most commentators, but even his treatment detailed problems while giving short shrift to positive results (the reading study mentioned previously received only a one-sentence mention, for instance). As noted, though various researchers have made various interpretations of the studies, elsewhere there has been little ambiguity about what the results show:
Role of the School Psychologist

School psychologists often report that they would like to reduce their involvement in assessment activities in favour of an increase in other service delivery roles. Surveys of teachers and administrators reveal that they do not want a reduction in assessment services. Rather, they want more school psychology services of all kinds. In this study, 522 school staff from a suburban southwestern school district in the USA were surveyed regarding the importance of nine school psychology services. School staff gave ‘very important’ ratings to six services: assessment, special education input, consultation, counselling, crisis intervention and behaviour management. School-community liaison and parent education roles were rated as ‘fairly important’ and staff development was considered to be ‘somewhat important. ’ School staff also wanted a school psychologist to be available on a daily basis at their schools. These results are discussed in terms of the ‘paradox of school psychology’ and the skills required of school psychologists who wish to deliver diverse school psychological services.
Visualizing of the cellular uptake and intracellular trafficking of exosomes by live‐cell microscopy

Cells release exosomes to transfer various molecules to other cells. Exosomes are involved in a number of physiological and pathological processes. They are emerging great potential utility for diseases diagnosis and treatment recently. However, the internalization and intracellular trafficking of exosomes have not been described clearly. In this work, exosomes were isolated from the culture medium of PC12 cells, labeled by lipophilic dye and amino‐reactive fluorophore, incubated with resting PC12 cells. The results of live‐cell microscopy indicated that exosomes were internalized through endocytosis pathway, trapped in vesicles, and transported to perinuclear region. Particle tracking fluorescent vesicles suggested that the active transport of exosomes may be mediated by cytoskeleton. The proteins on exosome membrane were found to be released from exosomes and trapped in lysosome. The inverted transport of lipophilic dye from perinuclear region to cell peripheries was revealed, possibly caused by recycling of the exosome lipids. This study provides new sight into the mechanisms of exosome uptake and intracellular fate. J. Cell. Biochem. 111: 488–496, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Heart of the Matter: Composing Music with an Adolescent with Special Needs

As a support worker for adolescents with special needs, I have found that they have few opportunities to play music. While previous research emphasizes that students with special needs can enjoy music in multiple capacities, little has been written about their ability to play, improvise, or compose. I employed a qualitative approach for this case study in which a 17-year-old male with Down syndrome attended two 40-minute music sessions a week over the course of three months with me as the researcher and musical accompanist. Video was used to document the teacher-learner experience as the participant explored collaborative improvising and computer-based recording. General suggestions are made for supporting adolescents with special needs in music.
Botox Therapy for Refractory Chronic Migraine

Chronic migraine is unfortunately both common and often resistant to treatment even with prophylactic medications known to be effective in populations with episodic migraine. We undertook an open‐label study to evaluate the safety and utility of botulinum toxin type A injection therapy for patients with chronic migraine who previously had failed to respond to at least three prophylactic medications.
Efficient Measurement of Opsonising Antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum Merozoites

Background Antibodies targeting merozoites are important in protection from malaria. Therefore, merozoite surface proteins are attractive vaccine candidates. There is a need for robust functional assays to investigate mechanisms of acquired immunity and vaccine efficacy. To date, the study of merozoite phagocytosis has been confounded by the complexity and variability of in vitro assays. Methodology/Principal findings We have developed a new flow cytometry-based merozoite phagocytosis assay. An optimized merozoite preparation technique produced high yields of merozoites separated from haemozoin. Phagocytosis by the undifferentiated THP-1 monocytic cell line was mediated only by Fc Receptors, and was therefore ideal for studying opsonising antibody responses. The assay showed robust phagocytosis with highly diluted immune sera and strong inter-assay correlation. The assay effectively measured differences in opsonisation-dependent phagocytosis among individuals. Conclusions/Significance This highly reproducible assay has potential applications in assessing the role of opsonic phagocytosis in naturally acquired immunity and vaccine trials.
Wnt signalling in osteoblasts regulates expression of the receptor activator of NFκB ligand and inhibits osteoclastogenesis in vitro

Reports implicating Wnt signalling in the regulation of bone mass have prompted widespread interest in the use of Wnt mimetics for the treatment of skeletal disorders. To date much of this work has focused on their anabolic effects acting on cells of the osteoblast lineage. In this study we provide evidence that Wnts also regulate osteoclast formation and bone resorption, through a mechanism involving transcriptional repression of the gene encoding the osteoclastogenic cytokine receptor activator of NFκB ligand (RANKL or TNFSF11) expressed by osteoblasts. In co-cultures of mouse mononuclear spleen cells and osteoblasts, inhibition of GSK3β with LiCl or exposure to Wnt3a inhibited the formation of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive multinucleated cells compared with controls. However, these treatments had no consistent effect on the differentiation, survival or activity of osteoclasts generated in the absence of supporting stromal cells. Activation of Wnt signalling downregulated RANKL mRNA and protein expression, and overexpression of fulllength β-catenin, but not transcriptionally inactive β-catenin ΔC(695-781), inhibited RANKL promoter activity. Since previous studies have demonstrated an absence of resorptive phenotype in mice lacking LRP5, we determined expression of a second Wnt co-receptor LRP6 in human osteoblasts, CD14+ osteoclast progenitors and mature osteoclasts. LRP5 expression was undetectable in CD14-enriched cells and mature human osteoclasts, although LRP6 was expressed at high levels by these cells. Our evidence of Wnt-dependent regulation of osteoclastogenesis adds to the growing complexity of Wnt signalling mechanisms that are now known to influence skeletal function and highlights the requirement to develop novel therapeutics that differentially target anabolic and catabolic Wnt effects in bone.
Marital prospects of people with epilepsy among Asians

Epilepsy can have serious consequences on marriage among Asians. The marriage rate among Korean people with epilepsy was about 80% of expected in general population. Other than seizures, unemployment in men and earlier onset of seizures are significant factors for lower marriage rate. The overall divorce rate in general population aged more than 20 years in Korea was 0.7% as compared with 9% in people with epilepsy. Similar high divorce rate was also reported in India particularly among women. Active seizures and unemployment may be factors in divorce particularly among Active seizures and unemployment may be factors in divorce particularly among particularly among men in Korea
Free-Surface Profiles, Velocity and Pressure Distributions on a Broad-Crested Weir: A Physical Study

AbstractBasic experiments were conducted on a large-size broad-crested weir with a rounded corner. Detailed free-surface, velocity, and pressure measurements were performed for a range of flow conditions. The results showed the rapid flow distribution at the upstream end of the weir and next to the weir brink at large flow rates. The flow properties above the crest were analyzed taking into account the nonuniform velocity and nonhydrostatic pressure distributions. Introducing some velocity and pressure correction coefficients, it is shown that critical flow conditions were achieved above the weir crest for 0.1<x/Lcrest<1. The velocity measurements highlighted a developing boundary layer. The data differed from the smooth turbulent boundary layer theory, although the present results were consistent with earlier studies. On average, the boundary stress was approximately τo/(ρ×g×H1) 0.0015–0.0025.
The Effect of Exercise on Global Self-Esteem: A Quantitative Review

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively review the body of research on exercise and global self-esteem (GSE). This review focuses specifically on studies using adults and also incorporates both published and unpublished works. Computer and manual searches identified 113 studies matching the selection criteria. Each study was coded according to 20 study features. A total of 128 effect sizes (d) were derived. As indicated by effect-size magnitude, participation in exercise brought about a small change in GSE (d = +0.23). Change in physical fitness and type of program were significant moderators of the effect of exercise on GSE. Larger effect sizes were observed for those who experienced significant changes in physical fitness and those participating in exercise or lifestyle programs as opposed to skills training.
Texture and composition of the Lajishankou accretionary wedge of the South Qilian belt, NW China

Detailed studies on the texture and composition of accretionary wedge/complex can provide important information on the evolution of ancient ocean basins and the reconstruction of ancient plate tectonics. The North Qilian belt contains multiple belts of accretionary complex and record Early Paleozoic subduction and closure processes of the Proto-Tethyan Ocean between the Alxa and Central Qilian blocks. However, the tectonic evolution of the South Qilian belt is still hotly debated. Recently, our geological mapping demonstrates that the Lajishankou accretionary complex of the South Qilian belt, which consists of highly foliated basalt, black and red chert, sandstone, mudstone, and melanges showing typical block-in-matrix fabric and is characterized by intense deformation recorded by duplex, thrust faults, rootless intrafolial folds, tight fold, and penetrative foliations, crops out structurally beneath the ophiolite complex. The melange is composed of various exotic or native blocks, including plagiogranite (561Ma), anorthosite (507Ma), dolerite, basalt, chert and sandstone, within a foliated fine-grained turbiditic matrix. The synsedimentary structures in matrix and sandstone blocks suggest an olistostromal origin for this melange. Spatially, the Lajishankou accretionary complex and the overlying ophiolite complex were thrust over turbidite of Qingshipo Formation and share the similar composition, deformation, spatial and temporal distribution with those in Angsiduo area. The accretionary complex, ophiolite, and the southern island arc rocks exposed in both Lajishankou and Angsiduo areas constitute a Cambrian-Early Ordovician trench-arc system within South Qilian belt during the Cambrian-Early Ordovician southward subduction of the South Qilian Ocean.
Picture naming and word frequency: Comments on Alario, Costa and Caramazza, Language and Cognitive Processes, 17(3), 299-319

This commentary on Alario et al. (2002) addresses two issues: (1) Different from what the authors suggest, there are no theories of production claiming the phonological word to be the upper bound of advance planning before the onset of articulation; (2) Their picture naming study of word frequency effects on speech onset is inconclusive by lack of a crucial control, viz., of object recognition latency. This is a perennial problem in picture naming studies of word frequency and age of acquisition effects.
Premature birth and later insulin resistance.

BACKGROUND Term infants who are small for gestational age appear prone to the development of insulin resistance during childhood. We hypothesized that insulin resistance, a marker of type 2 diabetes mellitus, would be prevalent among children who had been born prematurely, irrespective of whether they were appropriate for gestational age or small for gestational age. METHODS Seventy-two healthy prepubertal children 4 to 10 years of age were studied: 50 who had been born prematurely (32 weeks' gestation or less), including 38 with a birth weight that was appropriate for gestational age (above the 10th percentile) and 12 with a birth weight that was low (i.e., who were small) for gestational age, and 22 control subjects (at least 37 weeks' gestation, with a birth weight above the 10th percentile). Insulin sensitivity was measured with the use of paired insulin and glucose data obtained by frequent measurements during intravenous glucose-tolerance tests. RESULTS Children who had been born prematurely, whether their weight was appropriate or low for gestational age, had an isolated reduction in insulin sensitivity as compared with controls (appropriate-for-gestational-age group, 14.2x10(-4) per minute per milliunit per liter [95 percent confidence interval, 11.5 to 16.2]; small-for-gestational-age group, 12.9x10(-4) per minute per milliunit per liter [95 percent confidence interval, 9.7 to 17.4]; and control group, 21.6x10(-4) per minute per milliunit per liter [95 percent confidence interval, 17.1 to 27.4]; P=0.002). There were no significant differences in insulin sensitivity between the two premature groups (P=0.80). As compared with controls, both groups of premature children had a compensatory increase in acute insulin release (appropriate-for-gestational-age group, 2002 pmol per liter [95 percent confidence interval, 1434 to 2432] [corrected]; small-for-gestational-age group, 2253 pmol per liter [95 percent confidence interval, 1622 to 3128]; and control group, 1148 pmol per liter [95 percent confidence interval, 875 to 1500]; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Like children who were born at term but who were small for gestational age, children who were born prematurely have an isolated reduction in insulin sensitivity, which may be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Reward and Punishment Essays on Party Popularity and Economy

A time series with a unit root or fractional root can be miscategorized in stationarity tests if the series has structural breaks. We test this Þnding on Finnish and Swedish party popularity series. The composition and nature of popularity series provide reasons to assume fractional dynamics. Our observation period, 1987-2001, offers several reasons for the existence of structural breaks. We Þnd that three series have breaks and in two cases control of the structural breaks changes the unit root assumption to a fractional root. Thus, popularity series have either long or perfect memory, but this property cannot be explained by controlling structural breaks.
Effects of Cyclic Strain and Growth Factors on Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Responses

Under physiological and pathological conditions, vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) are exposed to different biochemical factors and biomechanical forces. Previous studies pertaining to SMC responses have not investigated the effects of both factors on SMCs. Thus, in our research we investigated the combined effects of growth factors like Bfgf (basic fibroblast growth factor), TGF-β (transforming growth factor β) and PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor) along with physiological cyclic strain on SMC responses. Physiological cyclic strain (10% strain) significantly reduced SMC proliferation compared to static controls while addition of growth factors bFGF, TGF-β or PDGF-AB had a positive influence on SMC growth compared to strain alone. Microarray analysis of SMCs exposed to these growth factors and cyclic strain showed that several bioactive genes (vascular endothelial growth factor, epidermal growth factor receptor, etc.) were altered upon exposure. Further work involving biochemical and pathological cyclic strain stimulation will help us better understand the role of cyclic strain and growth factors in vascular functions and development of vascular disorders.
Clinical and psychosocial correlates of post‐herpetic neuralgia

Post‐herpetic neuralgia is the most challenging and debilitating complication of herpes zoster in the immunocompetent host. Because the effect of treatment is disappointing once the syndrome has developed, it is important to know which factors predict post‐herpetic neuralgia occurrence to facilitate selection of herpes zoster patients with a higher risk of developing neuralgia and undertake preventative strategies. The present study aimed at identifying demographic, clinical and psychosocial correlates of post‐herpetic neuralgia in a sample of 219 immunocompetent patients, who were examined by dermatologists in private practice in Italy and who completed a questionnaire designed to evaluate their clinical and psychosocial profile at the time of clinical diagnosis of herpes zoster and at a follow‐up visit 6 months later. In a univariate analysis, post‐herpetic neuralgia was associated significantly with older age, longer duration of prodromal pain, greater acute pain intensity, greater extent of rash, presence of abnormal sensations and use of systemic antiviral therapy. Compared to the values at herpes zoster onset, at the follow‐up visit patients with post‐herpetic neuralgia presented with similar high mean scores of pain intensity, anxiety and depression and greatly reduced quality of life, whereas patients without neuralgia presented with improved scores. In a multivariate model, older age, greater acute pain intensity, greater extent of rash and longer duration of prodromal pain were independently associated with post‐herpetic neuralgia. The results of this study may help physicians to identify patients with a higher risk of developing post‐herpetic neuralgia and undertaking preventative strategies. J. Med. Virol. 80:1646–1652, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Characteristics of Insured Patients With Persistent Gaps in Diabetes Care Services: The Translating Research into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) Study

Background:Although preventing diabetes complications requires long-term management, little is known about which patients persistently fail to get recommended care. Objective:To determine the frequency and correlates of persistent, long-term gaps in diabetes care. Methods:The study population included 8392 patients with diabetes. Patient surveys and medical records from 10 health plans over 3 years provided data on socioeconomic characteristics, access to care, social support, and mental and physical health, and diabetes preventive care services. We defined a “persistent gap” as a participant's missing a preventive care service for the entire 3 years. Services considered included hemoglobin A1c, cholesterol, and albuminuria tests, and foot and dilated eye examinations. Results:Thirty percent of participants had at least 1 persistent gap. The most common gaps were lipid testing (11.6%), microalbuminuria testing (9.7%), and eye examinations (9.0%). Persistent gaps were 18% to 42% higher for young patients, lean persons, those with low income, employed persons, smokers, those with diabetes less than 5 years, and patients with none or 1 comorbid conditions. Sex, education, marital status, family demands, transportation, trust in physicians, and mental health were not associated with gaps in care. Conclusions:Persistent gaps in diabetes care are common even among insured patients. Patients with lower income, younger age, fewer years of diabetes, having fewer comorbidities, taking fewer medications, and poor health behaviors are vulnerable to persistent gaps in care and a group who warrant targeted interventions to improve preventive diabetes care.