Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Smad1/5 and Smad4 Expression Are Important for Osteoclast Differentiation

To investigate the necessity of the canonical BMP pathway during osteoclast differentiation, we created osteoclasts with a conditional gene deletion for Smad1 and Smad5 (SMAD1/5), or Smad4 using adenovirus expressing CRE recombinase (Ad‐CRE). Reduction of either Smad4 or Smad1/5 expression resulted in fewer and smaller multinuclear cells compared to control cells. We also detected changes in osteoclast enriched genes, demonstrated by decreased Dc‐stamp and cathepsin K expression in both Smad4 and Smad1/5 Ad–CRE osteoclasts, and changes in c‐fos and Nfatc1 expression in only Smad4 Ad–CRE cells. Lastly we also detected a significant decrease in resorption pits and area resorbed in both the Smad4 and Smad1/5 Ad‐CRE osteoclasts. Because we inhibited osteoclast differentiation with loss of either Smad4 or Smad1/5 expression, we assessed whether BMPs affected osteoclast activity in addition to BMP's effects on differentiation. Therefore, we treated mature osteoclasts with BMP2 or with dorsomorphin, a chemical inhibitor that selectively suppresses canonical BMP signaling. We demonstrated that BMP2 stimulated resorption in mature osteoclasts whereas treatment with dorsomorphin blocks osteoclast resorption. These results indicate that the BMP canonical signaling pathway is important for osteoclast differentiation and activity. J. Cell. Biochem. 116: 1350–1360, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Survey of Research on Moral Development in Japan

This article is a selective review of recent psychological research on the moral development of Japanese children and adolescents from a cultural point of view. The author begins with a short introduction to the characteristics of Japanese society suggested by social scientists. Based on the findings of current educational surveys, the problems of children and adolescents are discussed. Studies that use cognitive developmental approaches in researching moral development in Japan are also reviewed. Some of the findings support the characteristics of Japanese morality in the framework of this approach, but several studies suggest exceptions. The exceptions de rive from Japanese beliefs concerning nature, the social world, and the nature of the universe. Suggestions are made for future research.
Dual-frequency IVUS transducer for acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging

Coronary atherosclerotic disease is the major cause of mortality in the United States. Elasticity imaging techniques such as acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) transducers can be used to characterize coronary plaque. Conventional IVUS transducers with frequencies of 20 MHz - 60 MHz are not optimized for high-voltage, long-duration pulses required for ARFI imaging. In this work, a dual-frequency IVUS transducer, consisting of a 6.5 MHz “pushing” element and a 26 MHz “tracking” element, was designed and fabricated for ARFI application. In ARFI testing with a 160 V, 1000-cycle burst excitation, a displacement of 12.3 μm was detected in a phantom with a Young's modulus of 10 kPa at an axial depth of 3.5 mm. The result of this study suggests great potential of this dual-frequency IVUS transducer for intravascular ARFI imaging.
Studies in Ethnomethodology

1. What is Ethnomethodology? 2. Studies of the Routine Grounds of Everyday Activities. 3. Common Sense Knowledge of Social Structures: The Documentary Method of Interpretation in Lay and Professional Fact Finding. 4. Some Rules of Correct Decisions that Jurors Respect. 5. Passing and the Managed Achievement of Sex Status in the Intersexed Person. 6. "Good Organizational Reasons for a Bada Clinic Records". 7. Methodological Adequacy in the Quantitative Study of Selection Criteria and Selection Practices in Psychiatric Outpatient Clinics. 8. The Rational Properties of Scientific and Common Sense Activities. Appendix.
Evaluation of the skin sensitization, photoirritation, and photoallergic potential of ingenol mebutate gel in healthy volunteers.

OBJECTIVES Phase 1 studies were conducted to determine the sensitization (PEP005-005; NCT00357916; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00357916), photoirritation (PEP005-023; NCT00850811; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00850811? term=PEP005-023&rank=1), and photoallergic (photosensitizing) potential (PEP005-024; NCT00850681; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00850681? term=PEP005-024&rank=1) of ingenol mebutate gel 0.01% versus vehicle on normal skin. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND MEASUREMENTS Healthy volunteers were enrolled in single-center, randomized, controlled, within-subject comparison trials. PEP005-005 was designed as a repeat-insult patch test study. In PEP005-023, treatment areas were examined after irradiation for photoirritation potential; dermal reactions were evaluated. In PEP005-024, irradiation was performed to determine the photoallergic (photosensitizing) potential of the medication. All treatment areas were graded immediately prior to irradiation and 24, 48, and 72 hours following irradiation. In all studies, local tolerability was assessed visually using an ordinal scoring system at set intervals before and after medication application/irradiation. RESULTS In PEP005-005 (n=238), a significant difference (p<0.001) was seen between ingenol mebutate and vehicle for mean and total cumulative irritation scores. In PEP005-023 (n=34), mild erythema in all irradiated treatment areas was as expected for the ultraviolet dose. There was no clinically significant irritation in response to ingenol mebutate or vehicle, irrespective of irradiation. In PEP005-024 (n=60), there was no significant irritation in response to either ingenol mebutate or vehicle at their irradiated treatment areas. CONCLUSION RESULTS from three pharmacology studies in healthy volunteers indicate a favorable topical safety profile for ingenol mebutate gel, with no evidence seen of skin sensitization, photoirritation, or photoallergic potential.
Methods of coping with social desirability bias: A review.

Social desirability is one of the most common sources of bias affecting the validity of experimental and survey research findings. From a self-presentational perspective, social desirability can be regarded as the resultant of two separate factors: self-deception and other-deception. Two main modes of coping with social desirability bias are distinguished. The first mode comprises two methods aimed at the detection and measurement of social desirability bias: the use of social desirability scales, and the rating of item desirability. A second category comprises seven methods to prevent or reduce social desirability bias, including the use of forced-choice items, the randomized response technique, the bogus pipeline, self-administration of the questionnaire, the selection of interviewers, and the use of proxy subjects. Not one method was found to excel completely and under all conditions in coping with both other-deceptive and self-deceptive social desirability bias. A combination of prevention and detection methods offers the best choice available.
Costs of adjustment to climate change

The present paper argues that the costs of climate change are primarily adjustment costs. The central result is that climate change will reduce welfare whenever it occurs more rapidly than the rate at which capital stocks (interpreted broadly to include natural resource stocks) would naturally adjust through market processes. The costs of climate change can be large even when lands are close to their climatic optimum, or evenly distributed both above and below that optimum.
Decreasing Authority Dependence During the First Year of College

Annual interviews with 228 students at 6 diverse campuses in the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education reveal 123 students’ developmental growth away from authority dependence between the beginning of the first and second years of college. In the first year of college, 86% of participants relied solely on external authorities to define their beliefs, identity, and relationships. At the start of their second year, 57% relied solely on external authorities. We used students’ narratives about the effect of their academic, cocurricular, and personal learning experiences to map the nature of their journeys out of authority dependence and toward self-authorship.
Dynamic packet fragmentation for wireless channels with failures

It was shown recently [7-9], under quite general conditions, that retransmission-based protocols may result in power-law delays and possibly zero throughput even if the distribution of packets (data units) is very concentrated, e.g., exponential or Gaussian. This phenomenon occurs irrespective of whether the cause of retransmissions is due to channel failures in the data link layer [7] or collisions in ALOHA-type protocols in the MAC layer [9]. These theoretical findings are in agreement with empirical measurements in [18], showing that the utilization of the 802.11 protocol is only 40%, basically due to retransmissions. In order to alleviate this problem, we propose a new dynamic packet fragmentation algorithm that can adaptively match channel failure characteristics. This algorithm is based on the mathematical insights developed in [7, 8]. As a first order approximation to the channel dynamics, we assume that the channel is either available for a period of time or unavailable. Then, our fragmentation algorithm divides the original packets into smaller ones whose size is bounded by the kth largest value among the last k+m channel availability periods. We also discuss mechanisms for aggregating smaller packets into larger ones, which, in combination with fragmentation, can further improve the performance. Under the renewal assumptions on the channel dynamics, we prove that our fragmentation method results in k additional moments for the total transmission time until all the fragments are successfully transmitted, i.e., the transmission time has a much more concentrated distribution and, in particular, the channel will always have a positive throughput. In addition, we argue that by tuning the parameter m, the number of introduced new packets can be kept reasonably small as well. Furthermore, we demonstrate through simulations that the superior performance of our fragmentation algorithm extends beyond the renewal assumptions used in the analysis to time varying and/or correlated channels. For practical implementation of the algorithm, we also discuss approaches to measuring the channel availability periods, especially in situations when the channel dynamics may not be directly observable. It is worth mentioning that our algorithm can be used for designing efficient checkpointing schemes in other systems that are prone to failures, e.g., distributed computing systems.
Monitoring the acute phase response to vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease.

AIMS--To identify suitable acute phase proteins as objective markers of tissue ischaemia during painful vaso-occlusive crises in sickle cell disease. METHODS--The prodromal and established phases of 14 vaso-occlusive crises were studied longitudinally in 10 patients with sickle cell anaemia. Automated solid phase enzyme immunoassays were used to measure the fast responding acute phase proteins C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A protein. Slower responding glycoproteins (fibrinogen, orosomucoid, sialic acid and concanavalin-A binding) were measured in parallel. RESULTS--C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A protein increased early in crisis, sometimes within the early (prodromal) phase. Crises that resolved within 24 hours in hospital showed a minor and transient rise compared with crises that required treatment for four days or more. In eight crises treated by patients at home the acute phase response ranged from minor to a level consistent with extensive tissue ischaemia. CONCLUSIONS--Sensitive enzyme immunoassays for C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A protein are of potential value for monitoring the onset of tissue ischaemia in sickle cell crisis and for confirming subsequent resolution.
Codes of Accountability in the New Public Sector

Elaborates a model of accountability as a relationship of three parties: principal, steward and the codes on which stewardship is established, executed and adjudicated. Describes how the enhancement of accountable management in the public sector, through the Financial Management Initiative, the Next Steps Agencies and, most recently, market testing, has brought changes to these codes and thus to accountability itself.
Uncovering the blind spot of patient satisfaction: an international survey

Background To achieve a high level of patient satisfaction, providers need to identify and address patients' expectations. However, providers' beliefs and attitudes regarding expectations, as well as how to manage them, are not well understood. Methods The authors developed a survey to assess clinicians' awareness, attitudes, competence and performance with respect to patient expectations. The authors surveyed clinicians in four academic hospitals located in Denmark, Israel, the UK and the USA. Results The authors collected 1004 questionnaires (79.9% response rate) from four hospitals in four countries spanning three continents. Overall, 88.8% of respondents stated that clinician awareness regarding patient expectations was moderate to low, with significant differences between countries (p<0.001). Although 89.4% of clinicians believed it was important to ask patients about expectations, only 16.1% reported actually asking (p<0.0001). Nurses were more likely than physicians to ask patients about expectations (20.1% vs 11.5%, p<0.001). Only 19.6% of respondents felt they had adequate training to handle patients' expectations. In multivariate analyses, clinicians with greater awareness and adequate training were more likely to ask patients about their expectations. Conclusion While clinicians think it is important to ask patients about their expectations, they often fail to do so and consequently may not respond adequately. These results identify a ‘blind spot’ in clinicians' approach when attempting to address patient expectations and improve patient satisfaction, suggesting that healthcare organisations should take a more active role in increasing clinicians' awareness and initiating structured training programmes to cope with patient expectations.
Hydrogen Sulfide Regulates Cardiovascular Function by Influencing the Excitability of Subfornical Organ Neurons

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gasotransmitter endogenously found in the central nervous system, has recently been suggested to act as a signalling molecule in the brain having beneficial effects on cardiovascular function. This study was thus undertaken to investigate the effect of NaHS (an H2S donor) in the subfornical organ (SFO), a central nervous system site important to blood pressure regulation. We used male Sprague-Dawley rats for both in vivo and in vitro experiments. We first used RT-PCR to confirm our previous microarray analyses showing that mRNAs for the enzymes required to produce H2S are expressed in the SFO. We then used microinjection techniques to investigate the physiological effects of NaHS in SFO, and found that NaHS microinjection (5 nmol) significantly increased blood pressure (mean AUC = 853.5±105.7 mmHg*s, n = 5). Further, we used patch-clamp electrophysiology and found that 97.8% (88 of 90) of neurons depolarized in response to NaHS. This response was found to be concentration dependent with an EC50 of 35.6 µM. Coupled with the depolarized membrane potential, we observed an overall increase in neuronal excitability using an analysis of rheobase and action potential firing patterns. This study has provided the first evidence of NaHS and thus H2S actions and their cellular correlates in SFO, implicating this brain area as a site where H2S may act to control blood pressure.
Gradient flows and geometric active contour models

In this paper, we analyze the geometric active contour models discussed previously from a curve evolution point of view and propose some modifications based on gradient flows relative to certain new feature-based Riemannian metrics. This leads to a novel snake paradigm in which the feature of interest may be considered to lie at the bottom of a potential well. Thus the snake is attracted very naturally and efficiently to the desired feature. Moreover, we consider some 3-D active surface models based on these ideas. <<ETX>>
Critical Illness Is Associated With Impaired Gallbladder Emptying as Assessed by 3D Ultrasound

Objective: To quantify gallbladder dysfunction during critical illness. Design: Prospective observational comparison study of nutrient-stimulated gallbladder emptying in health and critical illness. Setting: Single-centre mixed medical/surgical ICU. Patients: Twenty-four mechanically ventilated critically ill patients suitable to receive enteral nutrition were compared with 12 healthy subjects. Interventions: Participants were studied after an 8-hour fast. Between 0 and 120 minutes, high-fat nutrient (20% intralipid) was infused via a postpyloric catheter into the duodenum at 2 kcal/min. Measurements and Main Results: Three-dimensional images of the gallbladder were acquired at 30-minute intervals from –30 to 180 minutes. Ejection fraction (%) was calculated as changes between 0 and 120 minutes. Blood samples were obtained at 30-minute intervals for plasma cholecystokinin. Data are mean (SD) or median [interquartile range]. In the critically ill, fasting gallbladder volumes (critically ill, 61 mL [36–100 mL] vs healthy, 22 mL [15–25] mL; p < 0.001] and wall thickness (0.45 mm [0.15 mm] vs 0.26 mm [0.08 mm]; p < 0.001] were substantially greater, and sludge was evident in the majority of patients (71% vs 0%). Nutrient-stimulated emptying was incomplete in the critically ill after 120 minutes but was essentially complete in the healthy individuals (22 mL [9–66 mL] vs 4 mL [3–5 mL]; p < 0.01]. In five critically ill patients (21%), there was no change in gallbladder volume in response to nutrient, and overall ejection fraction was reduced in the critically ill (50% [8–83%] vs 77 [72–84%]; p = 0.01]. There were no differences in fasting or incremental cholecystokinin concentrations. Conclusions: Fasted critically ill patients have larger, thicker-walled gallbladders than healthy subjects and nutrient-stimulated gallbladder emptying is impaired with “gallbladder paresis” occurring in approximately 20%.
Nicknames of Kuwaiti Teenagers

Abstract Although nicknaming among teenagers and nicknaming among Arab adults has been studied, nicknaming among Arab teenagers has not. Nicknames of their peers were collected from Kuwaiti teenagers, and Kuwaiti undergraduates judged the nicknames as derogatory, affectionate or neutral. In spite of religious injunctions against the practice, hurtful nicknames were the most common and females were as likely as males to receive uncomplimentary nicknames. Nicknames were also classified as based on appearance or on personality/behaviors, and how they reflected local or western culture. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and practices arising out of rapid oil-funded development are presented as possible explanations for some of the results.
Detailed investigation of geometrical factor for pseudo-MOS transistor technique

The pseudo-MOS transistor technique is useful for quick and accurate characterization of as-fabricated silicon-on-insulator wafers. The sample size and probe-pressure effects on the drain current are revisited. It is demonstrated that the geometrical factor is significantly affected by the probe-to-edge distance and probe pressure. The correct geometrical factor, reflecting silicon island size, and probe pressure effects, is extracted from systematic experimental results and used to determine the actual carrier mobility.
Zen in the Art of Archery

The path to achieving Zen (a balance between the body and the mind) is brilliantly explained by Professor Eugen Herrigel in this timeless account. This book is the result of the author's six year quest to learn archery in the hands of Japanese Zen masters. It is an honest account of one man's journey to complete abandonment of 'the self' and the Western principles that we use to define ourselves. Professor Herrigel imparts knowledge from his experiences and guides the reader through physical and spiritual lessons in a clear and insightful way. Mastering archery is not the key to achieving Zen, and this is not a practical guide to archery. It is more a guide to Zen principles and learning and perfect for practitioners and non-practitioners alike.
Emergency Airway Response Team Simulation Training: A Nursing Perspective

Background: Simulation-based education is an important tool in the training of professionals in the medical field, especially for low-frequency, high-risk events. An interprofessional simulation-based training program was developed to enhance Emergency Airway Response Team (EART) knowledge, team dynamics, and personnel confidence. This quality improvement study evaluated the EART simulation training results of nurse participants. Method: Twenty-four simulation-based classes of 4-hour sessions were conducted during a 12-week period. Sixty-three nurses from the emergency department (ED) and the intensive care units (ICUs) completed the simulation. Participants were evaluated before and after the simulation program with a knowledge-based test and a team dynamics and confidence questionnaire. Additional comparisons were made between ED and ICU nurses and between nurses with previous EART experience and those without previous EART experience. Results: Comparison of presimulation (presim) and postsimulation (postsim) results indicated a statistically significant gain in both team dynamics and confidence and Knowledge Test scores (P < .01). There were no differences in scores between ED and ICU groups in presim or postsim scores; nurses with previous EART experience demonstrated significantly higher presim scores than nurses without EART experience, but there were no differences between these nurse groups at postsim. Conclusions: This project supports the use of simulation training to increase nurses' knowledge, confidence, and team dynamics in an EART response. Importantly, nurses with no previous experience achieved outcome scores similar to nurses who had experience, suggesting that emergency airway simulation is an effective way to train both new and experienced nurses.
A role of OCRL in clathrin-coated pit dynamics and uncoating revealed by studies of Lowe syndrome cells

Mutations in the inositol 5-phosphatase OCRL cause Lowe syndrome and Dent's disease. Although OCRL, a direct clathrin interactor, is recruited to late-stage clathrin-coated pits, clinical manifestations have been primarily attributed to intracellular sorting defects. Here we show that OCRL loss in Lowe syndrome patient fibroblasts impacts clathrin-mediated endocytosis and results in an endocytic defect. These cells exhibit an accumulation of clathrin-coated vesicles and an increase in U-shaped clathrin-coated pits, which may result from sequestration of coat components on uncoated vesicles. Endocytic vesicles that fail to lose their coat nucleate the majority of the numerous actin comets present in patient cells. SNX9, an adaptor that couples late-stage endocytic coated pits to actin polymerization and which we found to bind OCRL directly, remains associated with such vesicles. These results indicate that OCRL acts as an uncoating factor and that defects in clathrin-mediated endocytosis likely contribute to pathology in patients with OCRL mutations. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.02975. 001