Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The analysis of family risk factors associated with the occurrence of suicidal attempts among girls aged 12–16 years old. A pilot study

Objective: The analysis of family risk factors associated with the occurrence of suicidal attempts and self-mutilation in girls aged 12–16 years old. Material and method: The participants of this study consisted of 34 girls aged 12–16 years old, hospitalized in the Department of Paediatrics of the Medical University (Klinika Pediatrii UM) in Lublin due to suicidal attempts. Fifty-five percent of the participants came from complete families, 20% were brought up by mothers only, 20% declared their parents to be divorced. The majority of the girls (76%) were hospitalized due to medication overdose, 8% due to medication overdose and vein cutting, and 5% due to medication and alcohol overdose. The participants were presented with a complementary metric survey, and guided interviews were carried out with them. Results: A positive relationship between the number of self-mutilation acts and the number of suicidal attempts has been shown. The greatest number of suicidal attempts has been observed in the group of girls whose parents were divorced. Such a relationship has not been observed in the case of self-mutilation acts. A positive correlation has been observed between the feeling of isolation and the number of self-mutilation acts and suicidal attempts. The increase in the number of family rows was indicative of the increase in the number of self-mutilation acts. The feeling of being rejected by the family was positively related to the number of suicidal attempts. Conclusions: Adolescent girls with a tendency towards suicidal behaviours are simultaneously prone to self-destructive behaviours. Parental relationships affect the girls’ functioning, with the risk of suicidal attempts being higher in the group of girls whose parents are divorced. The risk of suicidal attempts and self-mutilation acts increases with the feeling of isolation in teenage girls. Wraz ze wzrostem awantur domowych wzrastała liczba samookaleczeń. Poczucie odrzucenia ze strony rodziny wpływało dodatnio na liczbę prób samobójczych. Wnioski: Dziewczęta w wieku dorastania z tendencją do zachowań samobójczych są jednocześnie podatne na zachowania autodestrukcyjne. Relacje rodziców wpływają na ich funkcjonowanie – ryzyko wystąpienia prób samobójczych jest wyższe w grupie dziewcząt, których rodzice są po rozwodzie. Ryzyko prób samobójczych oraz samookaleczeń zwiększa się wraz z poczuciem osamotnienia dziewcząt. Słowa kluczowe: próby samobójcze, zachowania ryzykowne, adolescencja Abstract Streszczenie
Discovery and Confirmation of Ligand Binding Specificities of the Schistosoma japonicum Polarity Protein Scribble

Background Schistosomiasis is a chronic debilitating parasitic disease that afflicts more than 200 million individuals worldwide. Long-term administration of chemotherapy with the single available drug, praziquantel, has led to growing concerns about drug resistance. The PSD-95/Dlg/ZO-1 (PDZ) domain is an important module found in many scaffolding proteins, which has been recognized as promising targets for the development of novel drugs. However, the parasite-derived PDZ domains and their associated functions are still largely unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings The gene encoding the Schistosoma japonicum Scribble protein (SjScrib) was identified by homologous search with the S. mansoni Scrib sequence. By screening an arbitrary peptide library in yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays, we identified and confirmed the ligand binding specificity for each of the four PDZ domains of SjScrib. Both SjScrib-PDZ1 and SjScrib-PDZ3 recognize type I C-terminal PDZ-domain binding motifs (PBMs), which can be deduced as consensus sequences of -[Φ][x][E][TS][x][ILF] and -[x][RKx][ETS][T][WΦ][ILV], respectively. SjScrib-PDZ2 prefers stringent type II C-terminal PBMs, which significantly differs from that of its human ortholog. SjScrib-PDZ4 binds to typical II C-terminal PBMs with a consensus sequence -[x][FW][x][LI][x][LIV], in which the aromatic residue Phe is predominantly selected at position -4. The irregular and unconventional internal ligand binding specificities for the PDZ domains of SjScrib were confirmed by point mutations of the key amino acids within the ligand binding motifs. We also compared the differences in ligand specificities between SjScrib-PDZs and hScrib-PDZs, and explored the structural basis for the ligand binding properties of SjScrib-PDZs. Conclusions/Significance In this study, we characterized and confirmed the ligand binding specificities of all four PDZ domains of SjScrib for the first time. We denoted the differential ligand binding specificities between SjScrib-PDZs and hScrib-PDZs as well as the structural basis for these properties. This work may provide a fundamental basis for the rational design of novel anti-schistosomal drugs.
Basics of research paper writing and publishing

Publishing research results is an integral part of a researcher's professional life. However, writing is not every researcher's favourite activity, and getting a paper published can be a very tedious and time-consuming process. Fortunately, many of the obstacles along the writing and publishing path can be avoided by following some simple guidelines and practices. This paper presents a synthesis of guidelines found in literature about structuring and writing scientific papers. The paper outlines the process of publishing research papers in journals and conference proceedings, aiming to provide early-stage researchers with a handy introduction to essential issues. The paper takes an interdisciplinary stance by giving examples from technology-enhanced learning research and borrowing from literature in social, natural and computing sciences.
The Mediating Effects of LMX on the Relationship Between Supervisor and Employee Age Differences, Satisfaction, and Retirement Intentions

i Acknowledgements . ii List of Tables . iv List of Figures. v Introduction . 1 What Do “Younger Worker” and “Older Worker” Mean? 8 Understanding Supervisor/Employee Age Differences . 9 Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) as a Mediator . 15 Distal Outcomes: Job Satisfaction, Life Satisfaction, and Preference to Retire . 19 Hypotheses . 31 Method . 34 Results . 44 Discussion. 51 Tables . 67 Figures . 71 References . 79 AGE DIFFERENCES AND LMX iv List of Tables Table 1: Survey Measures . 67 Table 2: Descriptive Statistics, Correlations, and Alpha Reliabilities . 68 Table 3: Cross-level Polynomial Regression and Response Surface Test Results . 70 AGE DIFFERENCES AND LMX v
Epidemiology of Neisseria meningitidis infections: case distribution by age and relevance of carriage

Summary Notwithstanding different meningococcal serogroups have changed their distribution and their impact in different age classes over time, N. meningitidis' invasive diseases are a major public health issue worldwide, due to the related complications and severe sequelae. Nowadays, the highest rates of invasive disease are registered in children younger than 1 year of age, with a second lesser peak in adolescents and young adults (15-25 years of age). On the contrary, the prevalence of carriage is low in newborns and in school-age children, and increases during adolescence and young-adult age; then it decreases again in older age. N. meningitidis' infection prevalence has greatly decreased in Europe and North America thanks to the use of conjugate vaccines (MenC and MenACWY) as well as the incidence of invasive disease due to serogroup A in sub-saharian Africa after the introduction of MenAfriVac conjugate vaccine. The great success of conjugate vaccines is related not only to the direct protection from disease but also to the impact on carriage; this latter allows an indirect protection of unimmunized subjects. For these reasons, the implementation of immunization with the new generation vaccines in the age classes most impacted by disease and carriage (first year of life, adolescence and young adulthood) could permit to achieve an extraordinary decrease of the incidence of meningococcal disease.
Structural Equation Modeling of Determinants of Implementation Intentions

Gärling, T. , & Fujii, S. Structural equation modeling of determinants of implementation intentions. Göteborg Psychological Reports, 1999, 29, No. 4. The hypothesis is proposed that the formation of an implementation intention or planning is causally related to behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control whereas, in accordance with the theory of planned behavior (I. Ajzen, 1985, 1991), behavioral intention is assumed to be causally related to attitude and perceived behavioral control. Indices of attitude towards the behavior, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and planning intention were constructed from 192 undergraduates ́ ratings of descriptions of two fictitious situations in which the target behavior was varied with respect to benefit and actual behavioral control. Structural equation modeling based on the covariances between the measures yielded an acceptable fit of the proposed model including a causal path from attitude to perceived behavioral control. The results are consistent with and extend the findings in several recent studies showing that inducing an implementation intention increases the likelihood that a behavior is performed.
Cellular heterogeneity in cultured human chondrocytes identified by antibodies specific for alpha 2(XI) collagen chains

Collagen type XI is a component of hyaline cartilage consisting of alpha 1(XI), alpha 2(XI), and alpha 3(XI) chains; with 5-10% of the total collagen content, it is a minor but significant component next to type II collagen, but its function and precise localization in cartilaginous tissues is still unclear. Owing to the homology of the alpha 3(XI) and alpha 1(II) collagen chains, attempts to prepare specific antibodies to native type XI collagen have been unsuccessful in the past. In this study, we report on the preparation and use for immunohistochemistry of a polyclonal antibody specific for alpha 2(XI) denatured collagen chains. The antibody was prepared by immunization with the isolated alpha 2(XI) chain and reacts neither with native type XI collagen nor type I, II, V, or IX by ELISA or immunoblotting, nor with alpha 1(XI) or alpha 3(XI), but with alpha 2(XI) chains. Using this antibody, it was possible to specifically localize alpha 2(XI) in cartilage by pretreating tissue sections with 6 M urea. In double immunofluorescence staining experiments, the distribution of alpha 2(XI) as indicative for type XI collagen in fetal bovine and human cartilage was compared with that of type II collagen, using a monoclonal antibody to alpha 1(II). Type XI collagen was found throughout the matrix of hyaline cartilage. However, owing to cross- reactivity of the monoclonal anti-alpha 1(II) with alpha 3(XI), both antibodies produced the same staining pattern. Cellular heterogeneity was, however, detected in monolayer cultures of human chondrocytes. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Scale Changes Provide an Alternative Cue For the Discrimination of Heading, But Not Object Motion

Background Understanding the dynamics of our surrounding environments is a task usually attributed to the detection of motion based on changes in luminance across space. Yet a number of other cues, both dynamic and static, have been shown to provide useful information about how we are moving and how objects around us move. One such cue, based on changes in spatial frequency, or scale, over time has been shown to be useful in conveying motion in depth even in the absence of a coherent, motion-defined flow field (optic flow). Material/Methods 16 right handed healthy observers (ages 18–28) participated in the behavioral experiments described in this study. Using analytical behavioral methods we investigate the functional specificity of this cue by measuring the ability of observers to perform tasks of heading (direction of self-motion) and 3D trajectory discrimination on the basis of scale changes and optic flow. Results Statistical analyses of performance on the test-experiments in comparison to the control experiments suggests that while scale changes may be involved in the detection of heading, they are not correctly integrated with translational motion and, thus, do not provide a correct discrimination of 3D object trajectories. Conclusions These results have the important implication for the type of visual guided navigation that can be done by an observer blind to optic flow. Scale change is an important alternative cue for self-motion.
Effect of Presentation Modality on Learning and Memory Performance in Children with Specific Learning Disabilities in the Area of Language

THE EFFECTS OF PRESENTATION MODALITY ON LEARNING AND MEMORY PERFORMANCE IN CHILDREN WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES IN THE AREA OF LANGUAGE By Marijo F. O’Connell This study investigated the learning and memory patterns in low-income, AfricanAmerican children ages 9-13 with specific learning disabilities in the area of language (SLD/SLI) as compared to typically developing peers. All subjects (n=34) were administered the California Verbal Learning Test for Children (CVLT-C) and the experimental tasks. The experimental tasks measured supralist free recall under three presentation modalities; auditory, visual and simultaneous presentation of auditory and visual. Results indicate SLD/SLI children show significantly slower rates of learning than controls. Additionally, the visual presentation modality, with or without auditory information, demonstrates significantly better learning rates than the auditory modality alone. The results support the hypotheses stating that SLD/SLI children learn verbal information at a slower rate than typical children and the superiority of the visual presentation modality for verbal learning and memory. Effect of Presentation Modality on Learning and Memory Performance in Children with Specific Learning Disabilities in the Area of Language
Who Adopts What Kind of Technologies? The Case of Bt Eggplant in India

The public-private partnership involved in the development of Bt eggplant in India is unique in the context of developing countries, where poor farmers' access to technology is limited. The key questions arising in this context are: Who adopts what kind of technology? What are the factors influencing their decisions? We answer these questions using data from a farm-level survey conducted in Maharashtra, India. Our results indicate that factors influencing hybrid adoption exert similar effects on the expected adoption of Bt hybrid eggplant and opposite effects on the decision to adopt Bt open-pollinated varieties (OPV). Even though some farmers who decided to grow Bt hybrid eggplant might switch to Bt OPVs when available, most of the early adopters of Bt hybrid would continue to grow Bt hybrid eggplant. Thus, our study gives initial empirical evidence on the economic feasibility of the public-private partnership in the research and development of Bt eggplant in India.
Causal Model of Variables Affecting the Creativity of Undergraduate Students

This research aims to select variables affecting the creativity of undergraduate students and to develop a causal model from the results. A total of 760 students participated in this study. The instruments used were the Torrance Tests of visual and written language and a questionnaire about the variables that influence creativity. Also a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), mean and standard deviations, and a path analysis with the LISREL version 8.8 and SPSS program were used. The results show that administration, teaching, instructional climate, motivation, and personality are the variables that affect the creativity of the undergraduate students. The results from the CFA show an acceptable goodness-of-fit. The means of creativity and variables affecting creativity of the undergraduate students were at a medium and high level (between 2.98 to 3.05 and between 3.94 to 4.13), respectively. The goodness-of-fit of the causal model of the variables affecting the creativity of the undergraduate students was developed on the basis of the empirical data as well. The statistical results obtained were χ2 = 125.28, df = 104, p-value = 0.07622, GFI = 0.98, AGFI = 0.97 and RMSEA = 0.016, all of which are based on specified criteria.
Smart specialisation in regions with less-developed research and innovation systems: A changing role for universities?

Universities and other knowledge institutions have quickly come to be seen as central to smart specialisation. However, their exact role in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation has yet to receive much critical attention in the academic literature. This is particularly notable as defining features of smart specialisation – such as the entrepreneurial dynamic of the strategy-formation process, and differentiated nature of the goals for strategies in regions with varying research and innovation capabilities – represent challenges to the notion that public research organisations should be drivers of smart specialisation in all regions. This paper articulates these conceptual tensions and then explores how they are unfolding in practice with particular reference to regions with less-developed research and innovation systems. The empirical material is drawn from a European-wide survey of institutional factors affecting the implementation of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation and two regional case studies from Central and Eastern Europe. Overall the paper reveals a multifaceted picture of still emerging (and potentially conflicting) dynamics around the introduction of smart specialisation that have the potential to reconfigure the role of universities in regional innovation systems in Europe.
Towards the design of trouble-free smartphones for middle-aged adults in Mexico

In this work, we investigate the reasons behind adoption and use of mobile phones in adults in Mexico. We aim at obtaining a better understanding of the characteristics of mobile phone users in Mexico, particularly middle-aged adults. We carried out 11 semi-structured interviews with adults in northwest Mexico, and analyzed the data using qualitative methods for analysis. Results from this work suggest that older adults do not fully embrace the adoption of mobile phones, but rather they partially use a limited number of features in the mobile phone. The results of this work will be used to derive better mobile phone interfaces that can be used to carry out some of the main activities and actions carried out by adults in their mobile phones.
How Expensive is Commitment

In this paper I show, for a general class of models with limited commitment, that an economy is able to efiectively buy a commitment technology by accumulating assets that can be seized by its counterparts in case if the economy deviates from the originally prescribed action plan. In fact, this strategy is optimal if the economy is patient enough, i.e. fl(1 + r) > 1, and the welfare costs of this strategy compared to flrst best are very low. As a result, many of the models, the central feature of which is limited commitment in some form, do not deliver interesting results in the long-run, as the problem of the lack of commitment is entirely resolved by optimal asset accumulation. It is not the case, however, if the economy is impatient, i.e. fl(1 + r) < 1, or along the transition path with the growth rates higher than in the long-run. In case of impatience, the limited commitment problem is never resolved fully even in the long-run. The main focus of the paper are small open economy models with endogenously incomplete markets and other frictions.
Immobilization-Based Control of Spider-Like Robots in Tunnel Environments

This paper presents an immobilization-based control method for spider-like robots that move quasi-statically in tunnel environments. The control method is based on a recent immobilization theory of bodies in contact. This theory ensures that when a spider-like mechanism is bracing against the environment at an immobile posture, the naturally occurring compliance at the contacts stabilizes the mechanism as a single body. Based on this result, we present two versions of a position control law for general k-limbed robots. We show that if the controller’s stiffness (i.e., proportional gain) is above a lower limit determined by the robot and environment parameters, stability of the closed-loop spider system is guaranteed. Next, we present dynamic simulations of a spider robot moving in a tunnel under the influence of the immobilization-based control law. The simulations show excellent convergence properties of the control algorithm. A four-legged spider prototype has been built, and we conclude with a description of initial experiments with this prototype.
The intragroup medium in loose groups of galaxies

We have used the ROSAT PSPC to study the properties of a sample of 24 X-ray-bright galaxy groups, representing the largest sample examined in detail to date. Hot plasma models are fitted to the spectral data to derive temperatures, and modified King models are used to characterize the surface brightness profiles. In agreement with previous work, we find evidence for the presence of two components in the surface brightness profiles. The extended component is generally found to be much flatter than that observed in galaxy clusters, and there is evidence that the profiles follow a trend with system mass. We derive relationships between X-ray luminosity, temperature and optical velocity dispersion. The relation between X-ray luminosity and temperature is found to be LX∝T4.9, which is significantly steeper than the same relation in galaxy clusters. These results are in good agreement with pre-heating models, in which galaxy winds raise the internal energy of the gas, inhibiting its collapse into the shallow potential wells of poor systems.
Intima-media thickness: setting a standard for a completely automated method of ultrasound measurement

The intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery is a widely used clinical marker of severe cardiovascular diseases. IMT is usually manually measured on longitudinal B-mode ultrasound images. Many computer-based techniques for IMT measurement have been proposed to overcome the limits of manual segmentation. Most of these, however, require a certain degree of user interaction. In this paper we describe a new, completely automated layer extraction technique (named CALEXia) for the segmentation and IMT measurement of the carotid wall in ultrasound images. CALEXia is based on an integrated approach consisting of feature extraction, line fitting, and classification that enables the automated tracing of the carotid adventitial walls. IMT is then measured by relying on a fuzzy K-means classifier. We tested CALEXia on a database of 200 images. We compared CALEXia? s performance with those of a previously developed methodology that was based on signal analysis (CULEXsa). Three trained operators manually segmented the images and the average profiles were considered as the ground truth. The average error from CALEXia for lumen-intima (LI) and media- adventitia (MA) interface tracings were 1.46 ? 1.51 pixel (0.091 ? 0.093 mm) and 0.40 ? 0.87 pixel (0.025 ? 0.055 mm), respectively. The corresponding errors for CULEXsa were 0.55 ? 0.51 pixels (0.035 ? 0.032 mm) and 0.59 ? 0.46 pixels (0.037 ? 0.029 mm). The IMT measurement error was equal to 0.87 ? 0.56 pixel (0.054 ? 0.035 mm) for CALEXia and 0.12 ? 0.14 pixel (0.01 ? 0.01 mm) for CULEXsa. Thus, CALEXia showed limited performance in segmenting the LI interface, but outperformed CULEXsa in the MA interface and in the number of images correctly processed (190 for CALEXia and 184 for CULEXsa). Based upon two complementary strategies, we anticipate fusing them for further IMT improvements.