Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social norms, collective efficacy, and smoking cessation in urban neighborhoods.

OBJECTIVES We examined the separate and combined relations of neighborhood-level social norms and collective efficacy with individuals' cigarette smoking cessation. METHODS We modeled the hazard of quitting over a 5-year period among 863 smokers who participated in the 2005 New York Social Environment Study. RESULTS In adjusted Cox proportional hazard models, prohibitive neighborhood smoking norms were significantly associated with higher rates of smoking cessation (second quartile hazard ratio [HR] = 1.17; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59, 2.32; third quartile HR = 2.37; 95% CI = 1.17, 4.78; fourth quartile HR = 1.80; 95% CI = 0.85, 3.81). We did not find a significant association between neighborhood collective efficacy and cessation or significant evidence of a joint relation of collective efficacy and smoking norms with cessation. CONCLUSIONS Neighborhood social norms may be more relevant than is collective efficacy to smoking cessation. The normative environment may shape health behavior and should be considered as part of public health intervention efforts.
Use of Campus Support Services by Ontario College Students

Offering an array of support services to meet the diverse needs of post-secondary learners assumes that these services improve success by providing students with compensatory resources and opportunities for engagement (Purnell & Blank, 2004). Little Canadian research, however, has examined students’ use of support services. This study describes how campus support services are used by Ontario college students and factors that influence the uptake of those ser vices. Results show that despite relatively high student-reported need, the majority of Ontario college students did not utilize most campus services. Age, gender and ethnicity, receptivity to support, negative college experiences, faculty referral, studying with peers, and poor grades were associated with increased use of some services. The findings argue for a proactive service de livery model using web-based resources to minimize location-based barriers and to more effectively promote services dedicated to student success. RESUME Pour offrir un eventail de services de soutien permettant de repondre aux differents besoins des apprenants du postsecondaire, il faut assumer que ces services ameliorent la reussite en offrant aux etudiants des ressources compensatoires et des possibilites d’engagement (Purnell & Blank, 2004). Toutefois, peu de recherches canadiennes se sont penche l’utilisation des services de soutien par les etudiants. Cette etude decrit comment les etudiants des colleges de l’Ontario utilisent les services de soutien sur les campus et elle
Functional Expression of Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Receptor on Nano-Sized Bacterial Magnetic Particles in Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1

The measurement of autoantibodies to thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) is important for the diagnosis of autoimmune thyroid disease such as Graves’ disease (GD). Although TSHR from porcine thyroid membrane is commonly used for the measurement of TSHR autoantibodies (TRAb), recombinant human TSHR (hTSHR) remains ideal in terms of stable supply and species identity. Here we set out to express recombinant hTSHR on the lipid-bilayer surface of magnetic nanoparticles from a magnetotactic bacterium, Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1. Using a tetracycline-inducible expression system, we successfully overexpressed functional hTSHR on bacterial magnetic particles (BacMPs) in AMB-1 via an anchor protein specific for BacMPs. The overexpressed hTSHR was membrane integrated and possessed both ligand and autoantibody binding activity. Our data suggest that hTSHR-displayed BacMPs have potential as novel tools for ligand-receptor interaction analysis or for TRAb immunoassay in GD patients.
Lone-Actor Terrorists: A behavioural analysis

© 2015 Paul Gill. All rights reserved. This book provides the first empirical analysis of lone-actor terrorist behaviour. Based upon a unique dataset of 111 lone actors that catalogues the life span of the individual's development, the book contains important insights into what an analysis of their behaviours might imply for practical interventions aimed at disrupting or even preventing attacks. It adopts insights and methodologies from criminology and forensic psychology to provide a holistic analysis of the behavioural underpinnings of lone-actor terrorism. By focusing upon the behavioural aspects of each offender and by analysing a variety of case studies, including Anders Breivik, Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and David Copeland, this work marks a pointed departure from previous research in the field. It seeks to answer the following key questions: Is there a lone-actor terrorist profile and how do they differ? What behaviours did the lone-actor terrorist engage in prior to his/her attack and is there a common behavioural trajectory into lone-actor terrorism? How 'lone' do lone-actor terrorists tend to be? What role, if any, does the internet play? What role, if any, does mental illness play? This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism/counter-terrorism studies, political violence, criminology, forensic psychology and security studies in general.
Relationship between Bone-Specific Physical Activity Scores and Measures for Body Composition and Bone Mineral Density in Healthy Young College Women

Objective The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between bone-specific physical activity (BPAQ) scores, body composition, and bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy young college women. Methods Seventy-three college women (21.7 ± 1.8 years; 162.1 ± 4.6 cm; 53.9 ± 5.8 kg) between the ages of 19 and 26 years were recruited from the universities in Seoul and Gyeonggi province, South Korea. We used dual energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure the lumbar spine (L2-L4) and proximal femur BMD (left side; total hip, femoral neck). The BPAQ scores (past, pBPAQ; current, cBPAQ; total, tBPAQ) were used to obtain a comprehensive account of lifetime physical activity related to bone health. We used X-scan plus II instrumentation to measure height (cm), weight (kg), fat free mass (FFM, kg), percent body fat (%), and body mass index (BMI). Participants were asked to record their 24-hour food intake in a questionnaire. Results There were positive correlations between BPAQ scores and total hip (pBPAQ r = 0.308, p = 0.008; tBPAQ, r = 0.286, p = 0.014) and FN BMD (pBPAQ r = 0.309, p = 0.008; tBPAQ, r = 0.311, p = 0.007), while no significant relationships were found in cBPAQ (p > 0.05). When FFM, Vitamin D intake, cBPAQ, pBPAQ, and tBPAQ were included in a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis, FFM and pBPAQ were predictors of total hip, accounting for 16% (p = 0.024), while FFM and tBPAQ predicted 14% of the variance in FN (p = 0.015). Only FFM predicted 15% of the variance in L2-L4 (p = 0.004). There was a positive correlation between Vitamin D intake and L2-L4 (p = 0.025), but other dietary intakes variables were not significant (p > 0.05). Conclusions BPAQ-derived physical activity scores and FFM were positively associated with total hip and FN BMD in healthy young college women. Our study suggests that osteoporosis awareness and effective bone healthy behaviors for college women are required to prevent serious bone diseases later in life.
Micro-Based Estimates of Demand Functions for Local School Expenditures

We devise and apply a new method for estimating demand for local public goods from survey data. Individuals' responses to questions about whether they want more or less of various public goods are combined with observations of their incomes, tax rates, and of actual spending in their home communities to obtain estimates of demand functions. This estimation technique requires no "median voter" assumptions. Functions estimated in this way can be much richer in detail than estimates obtained from aggregate cross-section studies and allow one to distinguish between the effects of individual characteristics and the effects of the character of one's home jurisdiction on demand. Estimates of the effects of income and price turn out to be quite similar to those found in aggregate studies. INDIVIDUAL PREFERENCES are as central to modern public goods analysis as they are to the study of markets for private goods. The well-known Samuelson conditions for efficient provision of public goods involve the sum of individuals' marginal rates of substitution between public and private goods. Economic theories of the behavior of democratic governments have it that the supply of public goods by a community is determined by the pattern of preferences in the electorate.2 Thus, whether we wish to investigate the efficiency of government institutions or to forecast the effects of anticipated changes in economic and demographic variables on public expenditure, we would like to be able to relate the indifference maps of individuals to observable characteristics of these individuals and their environments. A standard result in the theory of demand for private goods is that (subject to certain regularity conditions) knowing a consumer's demand function is equiva
Inositol phosphates and Ca2+ entry: toward a proliferation or a simplification?

Intracellular mobilization of Ca2+ by inositol trisphosphate (IP3) is only a temporary phenomenon; the more crucial process of stimulated entry of Ca2+ by inositol phosphates is still poorly understood, with apparently conflicting data and hypotheses arising from different tissues and experimental protocols. There is clear evidence that the intracellular Ca2+ stores themselves can control Ca2+ entry and that IP3 may exert a direct effect on Ca2+ entry over and above its function in emptying those stores. There is also clear evidence that inositol tetrakisphosphate (IP4) can control Ca2+ entry, but there is controversy over whether it is actually necessary. Thus at present the combined evidence suggests that there must be a multiplicity of mechanisms extant, with different mechanisms being emphasized in different tissues. Alternatively, there could be one common mechanism, discussed here, which may lead to apparently different emphases as a result of the various experimental protocols. — Irvine, R. F. Inositol phosphates and Ca2+ entry: toward a proliferation or a simplification? FASEB J. 6: 3085‐3091; 1992.
Structure and Protein-Protein Interaction Studies on Chlamydia trachomatis Protein CT670 (YscO Homolog)

ABSTRACT Comparative genomic studies have identified many proteins that are found only in various Chlamydiae species and exhibit no significant sequence similarity to any protein in organisms that do not belong to this group. The CT670 protein of Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the proteins whose genes are in one of the type III secretion gene clusters but whose cellular functions are not known. CT670 shares several characteristics with the YscO protein of Yersinia pestis, including the neighboring genes, size, charge, and secondary structure, but the structures and/or functions of these proteins remain to be determined. Although a BLAST search with CT670 did not identify YscO as a related protein, our analysis indicated that these two proteins exhibit significant sequence similarity. In this paper, we report that the CT670 crystal, solved at a resolution of 2 Å, consists of a single coiled coil containing just two long helices. Gel filtration and analytical ultracentrifugation studies showed that in solution CT670 exists in both monomeric and dimeric forms and that the monomer predominates at lower protein concentrations. We examined the interaction of CT670 with many type III secretion system-related proteins (viz., CT091, CT665, CT666, CT667, CT668, CT669, CT671, CT672, and CT673) by performing bacterial two-hybrid assays. In these experiments, CT670 was found to interact only with the CT671 protein (YscP homolog), whose gene is immediately downstream of ct670. A specific interaction between CT670 and CT671 was also observed when affinity chromatography pull-down experiments were performed. These results suggest that CT670 and CT671 are putative homologs of the YcoO and YscP proteins, respectively, and that they likely form a chaperone-effector pair.
Experimental studies on amphibian oocyte nuclei I. Investigation of the structure of the nuclear membrane by means of the electron microscope

The membrane surrounding the nucleus of the oocytes of two species of amphibian is shown to consist of two structures, an outer porous layer and an inner layer which is apparently continuous. The porous layer is about twice as thick as the inner layer, the dried membrane as a whole having a thickness of approximately 500 Å. The pores are of regular size and arrangement in the outer layer; pore diameter is approximately 400 Å, the separation distance between pore centres 1000 Å. Both layers consist of relatively insoluble protein materials, the porous layer also containing some lipoid.
Convex Variational Formulation with Smooth Coupling for Multicomponent Signal Decomposition and Recovery

A convex variational formulation is proposed to solve multicomponent signal processing problems in Hilbert spaces. The cost function consists of a separable term, in which each component is modeled through its own potential, and of a coupling term, in which constraints on linear transformations of the components are penalized with smooth functionals. An algorithm with guaranteed weak convergence to a solution to the problem is provided. Various multicomponent signal decomposition and recovery applications are discussed. AMS subject classifications: 94A12, 90C25
Notes on theorizing racism and other things

ABSTRACT In the spirit of ‘furthering debate and reflection’ in this response to Theories of Race and Ethnicity, we consider here the pertinence of the theme of resistance that occupies particular chapters within the collection and that has been central to key works within the wider race critical scholarship. Yet, when the larger field of contemporary race study is considered, we also note that other contiguous concerns – including capitalism, religion, nation, and war – are key factors in thinking through racism. Here, we further elaborate on how future theorizations of race and ethnicity must engage with these domains.
Building intercultural competence in the language classroom

This article reviews and summarizes the literature on intercultural competence and intercultural communicative competence in order to better understand how these notions can impact the cultural component of a foreign language curriculum. Building on various models of intercultural communicative competence, examples of cultural tasks that promote intercultural communicative competence and represent best practices in language teaching and learning are presented and illustrated for classroom
Regulation of anaphylactic responses by phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase type I α

The membrane phospholipid phosphatidylinositol 4, 5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] is a critical signal transducer in eukaryotic cells. However, the physiological roles of the type I phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinases (PIPKIs) that synthesize PI(4,5)P2 are largely unknown. Here, we show that the α isozyme of PIPKI (PIPKIα) negatively regulates mast cell functions and anaphylactic responses. In vitro, PIPKIα-deficient mast cells exhibited increased degranulation and cytokine production after Fcɛ receptor-I cross-linking. In vivo, PIPKIα−/− mice displayed enhanced passive cutaneous and systemic anaphylaxis. Filamentous actin was diminished in PIPKIα−/− mast cells, and enhanced degranulation observed in the absence of PIPKIα was also seen in wild-type mast cells treated with latrunculin, a pharmacological inhibitor of actin polymerization. Moreover, the association of FcɛRI with lipid rafts and FcɛRI-mediated activation of signaling proteins was augmented in PIPKIα−/− mast cells. Thus, PIPKIα is a negative regulator of FcɛRI-mediated cellular responses and anaphylaxis, which functions by controlling the actin cytoskeleton and dynamics of FcɛRI signaling. Our results indicate that the different PIPKI isoforms might be functionally specialized.
Convergence Theorems for Total Asymptotically Nonexpansive Mappings in Hyperbolic Spaces

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of total asymptotically nonexpansive mappings and to prove some -convergence theorems of the iteration process for this kind of mappings in the setting of hyperbolic spaces. The results presented in the paper extend and improve some recent results announced in the current literature.
A system for automated quantification of cutaneous electrogastrograms

Clinical evaluation of cutaneous electrogastrograms (EGG) is important for understanding the role of slow waves in functional motility disorders and may be a useful diagnostic aid. An automated software package has been developed which computes metrics of interest from EGG and from slow wave recordings from the gastric mucosa and serosa in a reliable and efficient manner. In particular, the frequency and amplitude of the gastric slow waves were computed, after which signal integrity checks were performed to assess if the signals are valid. For validation, manual estimates of the frequency and amplitude were compared to automated estimates. The methods were packaged into a software executable which processes the data and presents the results in an intuitive graphical and a spreadsheet formats. Automated EGG analysis allows for clinical translation of bio-electrical analysis for potential diagnostics, as commonly used in the cardiac field.
Intractable Hepatic Encephalopathy After Tips with Polytetrafluoroethylene-covered Stent-Graft

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"Moving the Stone…" Israeli Women Telling Their Learning Empowerment Stories

and Intangible Concrete and Real Specified time range Non-specified time range The product: negotiable goods, services and money The product: people, social relationship, establish a community, attitudes, values, Eliminate tensions The context of differential rewards The context of creating a collective Individual-oriented Community oriented Necessary skills can be taught Necessary skills are innate and inherent. Work not seen as too complicated These limitations are relevant to this research as it engages in 'ordinary women', who are not defined as 'breakthrough makers', and although career women also encounter the same problems, 'ordinary women' are under more stress in terms of their empowerment. Empowerment groups have developed during the last decade as a mechanism by which women are inspired to deal with inequality and discrimination with a specific intention to provide them with adequate tools and methods that enable them to cope with the obstacles they face (Kieffer, 1984; Lee, 1994; Sadan, 1997). Empowerment groups are built and activated by women's organisations, regional and municipal women's councils and welfare departments in local authorities. Some of these are advocating organisations while others are state organisations and/or associations sponsored and supported by the state and a variety of social institutions. The significance of these public and governmental agents lies in that they were the ones to envisage the enterprise/idea and the underpinning ideology.
Long-Term Administration of Mifepristone (RU486): Clinical Tolerance During Extended Treatment of Meningioma

Background: Mifepristone (RU486) is an oral antiprogestational and, to a lesser extent, antiglucocorticoid agent commonly used for short-term (single-day) therapy. However, treatment of neoplasms or chronic conditions will require long-term administration. Meningioma is a benign central nervous system tumor that is often progesterone-but not estrogen-receptor positive, making long-term antiprogestational therapy a logical treatment strategy. Methods: Patients with unresectable meningioma were treated with oral mifepristone 200 mg/day. This dose was selected to provide significant antiprogestational but not antiglucocorticoid activity. Patients also received oral dexamethasone 1 mg/day for the first 14 days. Serial follow-up allowed evaluation for tolerability and side effects of long-term therapy as well as observation for efficacy (tumor shrinkage or improvement in visual fields). Results: Twenty-eight patients received daily oral mifepristone for a total of 1,626 patient-months of treatment. The median duration of therapy was 35 months (range 2–157 months). Repeated oral administration was well tolerated with mild fatigue (22 patients), hot flashes (13 patients), and gynecomastia/breast tenderness (6 patients) being the most common side effects. However, endometrial hyperplasia or polyps were documented in 3 patients and one patient developed peritoneal adenocarcinoma after 9 years of therapy. Minor responses (improved automated visual field examination or improved CT or MRI scan) were noted in 8 patients, 7 of whom were male or premenopausal female. Conclusions: Long-term administration of mifepristone is feasible and clinically well tolerated, with generally mild toxicity. However, endometrial hyperplasia was noted in several patients. In view of the association between long-term treatment with tamoxifen (another agent that can induce an unopposed estrogen effect) and endometrial cancer, this observation will require further investigation and screening. Minor regression of meningioma that can result in significant clinical benefit is suggested in the male and premenopausal female subgroups of patients.