Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhancing the Protective Efficacy of Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccination against Tuberculosis by Boosting with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Major Secretory Protein

ABSTRACT Tuberculosis continues to ravage humanity, killing 2 million people yearly. Most cases occur in areas of the world to which the disease is endemic, where almost everyone is vaccinated early in life with Mycobacterium bovis BCG, the currently available vaccine against tuberculosis. Thus, while more-potent vaccines are needed to replace BCG, new vaccines are also needed to boost the immune protection of the 4 billion people already vaccinated with BCG. Until now, no booster vaccine has been shown capable of significantly enhancing the level of protective immunity induced by BCG in the stringent guinea pig model of pulmonary tuberculosis, the “gold standard” for testing tuberculosis vaccines. In this paper, we describe a booster vaccine for BCG comprising the purified recombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis 30-kDa protein, the major secreted protein of this pathogen. In the guinea pig model of pulmonary tuberculosis, boosting BCG-immunized animals once with the 30-kDa protein greatly increased cell-mediated and humoral immune responses to the protein in three consecutive experiments. Most importantly, boosting BCG-immunized animals once with the 30-kDa protein significantly enhanced protective immunity against aerosol challenge with highly virulent M. tuberculosis, as evidenced by a significantly reduced lung and spleen burden of M. tuberculosis compared with those for nonboosted BCG-immunized animals (mean additional reduction in CFU of 0.4 ± 0.1 log in the lung [P = 0.03] and 0.6 ± 0.1 log in the spleen [P = 0.002]). This study suggests that administering BCG-immunized people a booster vaccine comprising the 30-kDa protein may enhance their level of immunoprotection against tuberculosis.
A 'Uses and Gratification Expectancy Model' to Predict Students' 'Perceived e-Learning Experience'

This study investigates 'how and why' students' 'Uses and Gratification Expectancy' (UGE) for e-learning resources influences their 'Perceived e-Learning Experience. ' A 'Uses and Gratification Expectancy Model' (UGEM) framework is proposed to predict students' 'Perceived e-Learning Experience,' and their uses and gratifications for electronic media in a blended learning strategy. The study utilises a cross-sectional research design, and elicits data from secondary school students through a field survey-questionnaire. The findings suggest that there are significant relationships between five dimensions of students' UGE for e-learning resources, and their 'Perceived e-Learning Experience. ' It is plausible that these UGE aspects of students' 'communication behaviour' towards electronic media are important determinants of effective integration of the e-learning resources in school-curriculum. While this research focuses on students at secondary-school level, some elements in the UGE model may apply to students using e-learning resources at other levels of their education. This model gives researchers and educators a new tool to forecast the success of development and deployment of e-learning resources in education systems.
Teachers' attitudes towards adolescent sexuality and life skills education in rural South Africa

This study investigated the attitudes of 43 teachers and school administrators towards sex education, young people's sexuality and their communities in 19 secondary schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and how these attitudes affect school-based HIV prevention and sex education. In interviews, teachers expressed judgemental attitudes towards young people's sexuality and pregnant students, and focused on girls' perceived irresponsible behaviour instead of strategies to minimise HIV risk. Despite general awareness of the HIV epidemic, few teachers perceived it as an immediate threat, and teachers' own HIV risk was infrequently acknowledged. Teachers perceived themselves to have higher personal standards and moral authority than members of the communities and schools they served. Male administrators' authority to determine school policies and teachers' attitudes towards sexuality fundamentally affect the content and delivery of school-based sexuality education and HIV prevention activities. Opportunities to create a supportive educational environment for students and for female teachers are frequently missed. Improving teachers' efficacy to deliver impartial, non-judgemental and accurate information about sex and HIV is essential, as are efforts to acknowledge and address their own HIV risks.
The Effects of Motivational versus Instructional Self-Talk on Improving Motor Performance

This study examined the effectiveness of different self-talk strategies on increasing performance in different motor tasks. Specifically, four laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the effect of motivational versus instructional self-talk strategies on four different tasks. Included in the experiments were a soccer accuracy lest, a badminton service test, a sit up test, and a knee extension task on an isokinetic dynamometer. Results of the first two experiments indicated that only the participants of the instructional group improved their performance significantly more than the motivational and control groups. Results of the third experiment indicated no significant differences between the three groups, although all groups showed improvements across trials. Results of the fourth experiment showed a significant improvement for both the motivational and instructional groups compared to the control group. It appears that when the task requires fine motor movements, an instructional self-talk strat.
Relationship Between the Temporal Profile of Plasma microRNA and Left Ventricular Remodeling in Patients After Myocardial Infarction

Background— microRNAs (miRs) are small noncoding RNAs that recognize and bind to mRNAs and inhibit protein translation or degrade mRNA. Studies in animal models have suggested that miRs play a translational or posttranslational regulatory role in myocardial growth, fibrosis, viability, and remodeling. However, whether specific temporal changes in miRs occur in patients during the left ventricular (LV) remodeling process that follows a myocardial infarction (post-MI) remains unknown. The current pilot study tested the hypotheses that plasma miRs could be reliably measured in post-MI patients and that there is a relationship between temporal changes in specific miRs and post-MI LV structural remodeling. Methods and Results— LV end-diastolic volume (echocardiography) and plasma miR were measured in age-matched referent controls (CTLs, n=12) and post-MI patients (n=12) from day 2 through day 90 post-MI. Selected miRs (miR-1, miR-21, miR-29a, miR-133a, and miR-208) were measured using quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction and normalized for endogenous small nuclear RNA U6. After MI, LV end-diastolic volume increased progressively compared with CTL; this was accompanied by time-dependent changes in specific miRs. For example, miR-21 initially decreased 2 days post-MI (0.3±0.1-fold versus CTL; P<0.05), increased 5 days post-MI (2±1-fold versus CTL; P<0.05), and returned to CTL values at later post-MI time points. In contrast, miR-29a increased 5 days post-MI (4±1-fold versus CTL; P<0.05) and then decreased to CTL at later time points. miR-208 increased 5 days post-MI (3±1-fold versus CTL; P<0.05) and remained elevated up to 90 days post-MI. Conclusions— A time-dependent change in miRs occurred in post-MI patients, including an early and robust increase in miRs that has affected myocardial growth, fibrosis, and viability. Thus, serially profiling miRs in the plasma of post-MI patients may hold both mechanistic and prognostic significance.
Adolescents' self-reported sleep quantity and sleep-related personality traits—A pilot study

SummaryQuestion of the studyThe aim of this pilot study was to assess adolescents' self-reported sleep quantity and personality traits in order to describe typical personality patterns related to sleep and characteristics that distinguish between good and poor sleepers.Participants and methodsA total of 134 adolescents (mean age: 18.60; 74 females and 60 males) completed a single sleep-related personality traits questionnaire (FEPS-I) and daily sleep logs for seven consecutive days. The daily logs data were used to cluster participants in three subgroups of poor, normal, and good sleep quality.ResultsUp to 25 % of the adolescents could be considered ‘poor’ sleepers and displayed personality traits such as decreased self-confidence, increased mental arousal, and self-perception of body sensations. Female adolescents were at high risk of being ‘poor’ sleepers, yet up to 20 % of the adolescents could be described as ‘good’ sleepers. Fifty-five per cent of the adolescents could be considered ‘normal’ sleepers without appropriate sleep-related personality traits or sleeping habits.ConclusionsThe pilot project, using exclusively self-reported sleep data, showed that about a quarter of adolescents were considered ‘poor’ sleepers with specific sleep-related personality traits. Further investigations are needed to support these results and to allow possible preventive interventions.ZusammenfassungFragestellungDiese Pilotstudie hatte zum Ziel, die Schlafquantität sowie schlafbezogene Persönlichkeitsmerkmale von Adoleszenten mittels Selbsteinschätzung zu erfassen, um spezifische Persönlichkeitsmuster zu beschreiben und gute von schlechten Schläfern zu unterscheiden.Teilnehmer und Methodik134 Adoleszente (Alter: 18,60; 74 weibliche und 60 männliche Teilnehmer) füllten einen Fragebogen zu schlafbezogenen Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen, sowie eine Woche lang ein Schlafprotokoll aus. Aus den Daten des Protokolls wurden mittels Clusteranalyse drei Untergruppen mit guter, normaler und schlechter Schlafqualität definiert.ErgebnisseRund 25 % der Adoleszenten konnten als schlechte Schläfer bezeichnet werden, welche ein verringertes Selbstvertrauen, sowie erhöhte psychische Erregung und Körperbeachtung aufwiesen. Das Risiko, zur Gruppe der ‘schlechten’ Schläfer zu gehören, war für weibliche Adoleszente erhöht. Rund 20 % der Adoleszenten waren ‘gute’ Schläfer. 55% der Adoleszenten waren ‘normale’ Schläfer mit entsprechenden Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen und Schlafgewohnheiten.SchlussfolgerungenDas ausschließlich auf Selbsteinschätzungen basierende Pilotprojekt zeigte, dass rund 25 % der Adoleszenten ‘schlechte’ Schläfer waren und spezifische Persönlichkeitsmerkmale aufwiesen. Breiter angelegte Untersuchungen sind notwendig, um die gefundenen Resultate zu erhärten und um präventive Maßnahmen zu formulieren.
English as the Lingua Franca and the Economic Value of Other Languages: the Case of the Language of Work of Immigrants and Non-immigrants in the Montreal Labour Market

With data from the 2006 Canadian census, we investigate the determinants and the economic values of different languages used at work in the Montreal metropolitan area. The working population is divided into three mother tongues groups: French, English and Others. Three indicators are defined: use of French at work as a second language, and use of an official language at work as opposed to an non-official language. One interesting result is that there is no relationship between schooling and the use of French at work for the English mother tongue group, while schooling is positively related to the use of English at work for the French mothe tongue group and to the use of an offical language at work for the Other mother tongues group. We look at the returns to using a second language at work by means of earnings regressions (with both OLS and IV to account for the endogeneity of the language of work). We find that for the English mother tongue group, using French at work does not pay. In contract, there is a high payoff to using English at work for the French Mother tongue group. For the Other mother tongues group, there is a high payoff to using an official language at work and a modest one to using English instead of French.
Preformed CD40L Is Stored in Th1, Th2, Th17, and T Follicular Helper Cells as Well as CD4+8− Thymocytes and Invariant NKT Cells but Not in Treg Cells

CD40L is essential for the development of adaptive immune responses. It is generally thought that CD40L expression in CD4+ T cells is regulated transcriptionally and made from new mRNA following antigen recognition. However, imaging studies show that the majority of cognate interactions between effector CD4+ T cells and APCs in vivo are too short to allow de novo CD40L synthesis. We previously showed that Th1 effector and memory cells store preformed CD40L (pCD40L) in lysosomal compartments and mobilize it onto the plasma membrane immediately after antigenic stimulation, suggesting that primed CD4+ T cells may use pCD40L to activate APCs during brief encounters. Indeed, our recent study showed that pCD40L is sufficient to mediate selective activation of cognate B cells and trigger DC activation in vitro. In this study, we show that pCD40L is present in Th1 and follicular helper T cells developed during infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, Th2 cells in the airway of asthmatic mice, and Th17 cells from the CNS of animals with experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE). pCD40L is nearly absent in both natural and induced Treg cells, even in the presence of intense inflammation such as occurs in EAE. We also found pCD40L expression in CD4 single positive thymocytes and invariant NKT cells. Together, these results suggest that pCD40L may function in T cell development as well as an unexpectedly broad spectrum of innate and adaptive immune responses, while its expression in Treg cells is repressed to avoid compromising their suppressive activity.
Brothers and Others

After their voyage through the United States, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont each wrote about the nature of race relations there. The author offers two theses regarding the nature of U.S. racism and its relation to U.S. democracy as revealed in Tocqueville’s and Beaumont’s texts. First, these works illustrate how European Americans, in subordinating Indians and blacks, produce not a politically and socially egalitarian democracy situated amid an otherwise racist society and culture but, rather, a social state internally structured by inegalitarian relations with non-Europeans. Second, in Tocqueville’s and Beaumont’s portraits there operate (1) a critical narrative of European Americans’ fraternalized relations with Indians, marked by sibling-rivalry-like democratic envy, and (2) a critical narrative of European Americans’ relations of absolute differentiation with blacks, marked by desire to secure inalienable status. Both strategies are, nonetheless, rooted in European American anxiety over democracy’s flux.
The development of whole-word representations in compound word processing: Evidence from eye fixation patterns of elementary school children

The role of morphology in reading development was examined by measuring participants’ eye movements while they read sentences containing either a hyphenated (e.g., ulko-ovi “front door”) or concatenated (e.g., autopeli “racing game”) compound. The participants were Finnish second, fourth, and sixth graders (aged 8, 10, and 12 years, respectively). Fast second graders and all four and sixth graders read concatenated compounds faster than hyphenated compounds. This suggests that they resort to slower morpheme-based processing for hyphenated compounds but prefer to process concatenated compounds via whole-word representations. In contrast, slow second graders’ fixation durations were shorter for hyphenated than concatenated compounds. This implies that they process all compounds via constituent morphemes and that hyphenation comes to aid in this process.
The epidemiology of hyperferritinaemia.

AIM To discover the causes of markedly raised ferritin levels in patients seen at a teaching hospital in Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom. METHODS Demographic and medical data were collected for all patients over 18 years who had a serum ferritin levels recorded as >=1500 microg/L during the period January to September 2002. The cause or causes for their hyperferritinaemia were identified from their medical notes. Patients from a defined local population were identified. RESULTS A total of 19583 measurements were provided of which 406 from 199 patients were >=1500 microg/L. An annual incidence for the local population was determined to be 0.44/1000. 150/199 medical notes were scrutinised and 81 patients were identified as having a single cause for their raised ferritin level. The most common single cause was alcoholic liver disease in the local population and renal failure was the most common single cause in the overall population. Confirmed hereditary haemochromatosis was the 10th most common cause. Liver disease contributed to hyperferritinaemia in 44% of the patients. Weight loss may have contributed to hyperferritinaemia in up to 11%. CONCLUSION Alcohol related liver disease, haemat-ological disease, renal failure and neoplasia are much more common causes of marked hyperferritinaemia than haemochromatosis. The role of weight loss in hyperferritinaemia may warrant further investigation.
Paths to Depression Among Two Different Cultural Contexts

Over the past two decades, there has been an increase in the number of Bedouin Arab students studying at institutions of higher education in Southern Israel. To date, research on Bedouin students is limited, particularly with regard to their coping and adjustment. The main aim of the current study is to shed more light on potential pathways between vulnerability factors and depression among Bedouin Arab and Jewish students. This study was designed to explore cultural differences in the levels of self-criticism, depression, coping, and social support among Bedouin Arab college/university students and their Jewish peers, and to examine the effects of self-criticism on depression in the two cultural contexts. To that end, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 108 Bedouin students and 109 Jewish students. The participants completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, Orientations to Problems Experienced Inventory, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and demographic questionnaire. In this work, we observed differences in the levels of self-criticism, depression, avoidant coping, and social support in the different groups. Moreover, among the Jewish participants, self-criticism affected depression directly. However, among the Bedouin Arabs, self-criticism affected depression only indirectly, through avoidant coping. The present study highlights the possibility that specific cultural contexts underscore the role of avoidant coping in the pathways between self-criticism and depression, whereas other cultural contexts underscore the direct effect of self-criticism on depression levels. Furthermore, the current research underscores the importance of cross-cultural perspectives in studies of vulnerability factors and depression.
A methodology for risk measurement in e-transactions

Risk is present in almost every activity. Alternately speaking, almost every activity may have some undesired outcomes which the person doing the activity hopes that they do not occur when it undertakes that particular activity. The quantification of those undesired outcomes can be termed as Risk. Risk is associated with Trust, Security and Privacy. Risk is also associated with transactions, businesses, information systems, environments, networks, partnerships, etc. Generally speaking, Risk signifies the likelihood of financial loss, human casualties, business destruction and environmental damages. It is important to define Risk according to the context of the transaction in order to understand and analyse it better. In the literature Risk has been defined and discussed in areas such as security, health, finance, environment and social life, but there is no systematic study of Risk in decentralized communications, which involves e-business, computer networks and service oriented environments. Hence in this paper, a particular attention is given to define and analyse Risk in the area of Peer-to-Peer business communications, where Risk is every individual and organization? s concern. Also in this paper we develop a risk indicator scale and develop a methodology by which the Riskiness of the peer can be rated according to its behaviour in an interaction. Risk indicator gives an early warning to the party involved and helps avoid disasters.
Characterization of the putative chloride channel xClC‐5 expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and comparison with endogenous chloride currents

1 We recently cloned a putative chloride channel (xClC‐5) from the renal cell line A6, which induced the appearance of a Cl− conductance not found in control oocytes after homologous expression in Xenopus oocytes. With the aim of increasing the Xenopus oocyte xClC‐5 expression, we constructed a new plasmid in which the native 5′ and 3′ non‐coding regions of xClC‐5 were replaced by the non‐coding regions of the Xenopusβ‐globin sequence and in which a Kozak consensus site was introduced before the initiator ATG. 2 We then compared the induced currents Inative (induced by injection of cRNA presenting the native non‐coding regions of xClC‐5) and Iβ‐globin (induced by injection of cRNA presenting the non‐coding regions of the Xenopusβ‐globin sequence) investigating anion selectivity and anion blocker sensitivity. Several differences were found: (1) expression yield and oocyte surviving rate were largely increased by injecting (β) xClC‐5 cRNA, (2) the Iβ‐globin outward rectification score was 2.6 times that of Inative, (3) the anion conductivity sequence was nitrate > bromide > chloride > iodide >> gluconate for Iβ‐globin and iodide > bromide > nitrate > chloride >> gluconate for Inative, (4) 5‐nitro‐2‐(3‐phenylpropylamino)‐benzoic acid (NPPB), anthracene‐9‐carboxylic acid (9‐AC), DIDS, lanthanum ions, cAMP and ionomycin‐induced [Ca2+]i increase inhibited Inative but had no effect on Iβ‐globin, and (5) Inative showed considerable similarity to the previously reported endogenous current appearing after ClC‐6 or pICln cRNA injection. 3 Comparison of Inative with the endogenous chloride current ICl,swell which develops under hyposmotic conditions demonstrated several similarities in their electrophysiological and pharmacological characteristics but were nevertheless distinguishable. 4 In vitro translation assays demonstrated that protein synthesis was much greater using the (β) xClC‐5 construct than that of xClC‐5. Furthermore, immunoreactivity of membrane preparations of Xenopus oocytes was only observed with the (β) xClC‐5 construct, its intensity being positively correlated with Iβ‐globin levels. 5 In addition, the current induced in (β) xClC‐5 cRNA‐injected oocytes presented a very marked pH dependence (inhibition by acid external media) with a pKa value (negative log of the acid dissociation constant) of 5.67. 6 In conclusion, Iβ‐globin may be due to the presence of xClC‐5 in the oocyte plasma membrane playing a role as an anion channel whereas Inative may represent an endogenous current induced by xClC‐5 cRNA injection. The use of antibodies will facilitate the tissue and subcellular localization of xClC‐5 and the identification of its physiological role.