Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Promoting children's mental, emotional and social health through contact with nature: a model.

Purpose – This paper aims to determine educators' perceptions about the benefits of contact with nature for children's mental, emotional and social health.Design/methodology/approach – The approach was exploratory using qualitative methods. Face‐to‐face interviews were conducted with school principals and teachers as well as professionals from the environmental education industry. Interviews focused on the perceived benefits for children's health from school activities involving hands‐on contact with nature.Findings – Hands‐on contact with nature is perceived by educators to improve self‐esteem, engagement with school and a sense of empowerment, among other benefits. Different types of activities are perceived to have different outcomes. A model is proposed to illustrate the findings.Research limitations/implications – Activities involving hands‐on contact with nature may have significant health outcomes for children. Further empirical work is needed to determine the extent of the benefits and provide fur.
Hepatitis A virus receptor blocks cell differentiation and is overexpressed in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND The molecular mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis and progression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) are not well understood. We aimed to identify new molecular markers to provide insight into these processes. METHODS This work reports on the identification of human hepatitis A virus cellular receptor 1 (hHAVcr-1) as a differentially expressed gene in ccRCC using RNA-based arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (RAP-PCR). Results were further confirmed by Northern and Western blot assays. Carcinoma 769-P and normal HK-2 cells derived from proximal tubule epithelial cells, grown under different culture conditions, were used to understand the putative role of hHAVcr-1 in renal malignancy. hHAVcr-1 stable transfected clones and dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) assays allowed assessing its involvement in cell differentiation. RESULTS The hHAVcr-1 is overexpressed in eight out of 13 ccRCC and its expression neglected in benign oncocytomas. In culture, hhavcr-1 is dramatically overexpressed in normal and tumor cell lines that, having acquired the fully differentiated phenotype, are induced to de-differentiate by means of phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) treatment. Similarly, differentiation prevention by addition of PMA to confluent cells also increases hhavcr-1 expression. hHAVcr-1 stable transfected 769-P cells proved that hhavcr-1 itself blocks differentiation. Since hhavcr-1 is expressed at higher levels in tumor cells, we used an African green monkey cell model to show that immunotoxins directed against the monkey homologue of hhavcr-1 could kill kidney cells. CONCLUSION Our results showed that hHAVcr-1 blocks differentiation of proximal tubule epithelial cells and that it could be used as a target for therapy of kidney carcinomas.
The efficacy of traditional, low-cost and nonsplint therapies for temporomandibular disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Treatment recommendations for patients with painful temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) range from conservative treatments such as physiotherapy to aggressive and irreversible treatments such as restorative reconstruction and joint surgery. METHODS The authors randomized 200 subjects diagnosed with TMD into three groups: usual conservative, dentist-prescribed self-care treatment without any intraoral splint appliance (UT); UT plus a conventional flat-plane hard acrylic splint (HS); and UT plus a soft vinyl (a low-cost athletic mouth guard) splint (SS). Subjects completed questionnaires and clinical examinations at three, six and 12 months. RESULTS The authors observed no significant differences among the groups in TMD-related pain levels or other common signs and symptoms of TMD at baseline (BL) or at any follow-up. The changes from BL were comparable for all three groups. The authors did not note any significant differences at any follow-up for compliance with study protocols or for occurrences of adverse effects from either splint type. For HS versus SS, there were significant differences in rates of splint use, but these differences were not accompanied by differences in either self-reported symptoms or in clinical findings. CONCLUSIONS All patients improved over time, and traditional splint therapy offered no benefit over the SS splint therapy. Neither splint therapy provided a greater benefit than did self-care treatment without splint therapy. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS These findings suggest that clinicians who treat patients with TMD should consider prescribing low-cost nonsplint self-care therapy for most patients.
Unsupervised categorization with a child sample: category cohesion development

Abstract Studies into categorization have demonstrated that the ability to form concepts is an essential ability in cognitive development. For example, before a decision about anything can be made, firstly category concepts need to be acquired in order to make efficient decisions about that situation. The present study explored a particular type of category learning, not previously explored in this particular context – unsupervised categorization with 16 items and two dimensions, and comparing specifically children vs. adults. Previous studies have typically focused on simpler designs such as three items of two dimensions in the triad tasks, or a greater number of dimensions but with much fewer items per category in other unsupervised settings. This study investigated unsupervised categorization with two levels of task difficulty, and compared two different populations, children and adults. The findings revealed that adults performed better for the easy condition but there was no difference between these groups for the more difficult category task. The findings also revealed that unsupervised categorization in more complex settings result in more one dimensional sorting, for both children and adults. The results are discussed in the context of unsupervised categorization development abilities in children.
Identification of ZNF366 and PTPRD as novel determinants of plasma homocysteine in a family-based genome-wide association study.

Total plasma homocysteine concentration (tHcy) is a biomarker for atherothrombotic disease, but causality remains uncertain. Polymorphisms in the genes involved in methionine metabolism explain only a small fraction of the heritability of tHcy levels. In a genome-wide association study, we examined the genetic determinants of tHcy using a 2-stage design. First, 283 437 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested for association with tHcy in 387 persons recruited from 21 large Spanish families. Of those, 17 SNPs showed equal or stronger association with tHcy level compared with the MTHFR 677C>T SNP (beta = 0.10, P = .0001). Second, a replication analysis of these 17 SNPs was performed in patients with premature myocardial infarction (n = 1238). Novel associations were found for SNPs near the ZNF366 gene (lead SNP rs7445013; discovery stage: adjusted beta = -0.12, P = 5.30 x 10(-6), replication stage: adjusted beta = -0.13, P = . 004) and the PTPRD gene (lead SNP rs973117; discovery stage: adjusted beta = 0.11, P = 5.5 x 10(-6), replication stage: adjusted beta = 0.10, P = . 005). These associations were independent of known confounders, including creatinine clearance and plasma fibrinogen concentration. Our findings implicate novel pathways in homocysteine metabolism, and highlight the need for investigation of the associated genes in the etiology of vascular diseases.
Effects of sex on the incidence and prognosis of spinal meningiomas: a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results study.

OBJECT Most spinal meningiomas are intradural lesions in the thoracic spine that present with both local pain and myelopathy. By using the large prospective Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, the authors studied the incidence of spinal meningiomas and examined demographic and treatment factors predictive of death. METHODS Using SEER*Stat software, the authors queried the SEER database for cases of spinal meningioma between 2000 and 2010. From the results, tumor incidence and demographic statistics were computed; incidence was analyzed as a function of tumor location, pathology, age, sex, and malignancy code. Survival was analyzed by using a Cox proportional hazards ratio in SPSS for age, sex, marital status, primary site, size quartile, treatment modality, and malignancy code. In this analysis, significance was set at a p value of 0.05. RESULTS The 1709 spinal meningiomas reported in the SEER database represented 30.7% of all primary intradural spinal tumors and 7.9% of all meningiomas. These meningiomas occurred at an age-adjusted incidence of 0.193 (95% CI 0.183-0.202) per 100,000 population and were closely related to sex (337 [19.7%] male patients and 1372 [80.3%] female patients). The Cox hazard function for mortality in males was higher (2.4 [95% CI1.7-3.5]) and statistically significant, despite the lower lesion incidence in males. All-cause survival was lowest in patients older than 80 years. Primary site and treatment modality were not significant predictors of mortality. CONCLUSIONS Spinal meningiomas represent a significant fraction of all primary intradural spinal tumors and of all meningiomas. The results of this study establish the association of lesion incidence and survival with sex, with a less frequent incidence in but greater mortality among males.
The Hagedorn Transition and the Matrix Model for Strings

We use the matrix formalism to investigate what happens to strings above the Hagedorn temperature. We show that is not a limiting temperature but a temperature at which the continuum string picture breaks down. We study a collection of N D-0-branes arranged to form a string having N units of light-cone momentum. We find that at high temperatures the favored phase is one where the string worldsheet has disappeared and the low-energy degrees of freedom consists of N2 massless particles ("gluons"). The nature of the transition is very similar to the deconfinement transition in large-N Yang–Mills theories.
Implicit theories, attributions, and coping : A meaning system approach

This research sought to integrate C. S. Dweck and E. L. Leggett's (1988) model with attribution theory. Three studies tested the hypothesis that theories of intelligence—the belief that intelligence is malleable (incremental theory) versus fixed (entity theory)—would predict (and create) effort versus ability attributions, which would then mediate mastery-oriented coping. Study 1 revealed that, when given negative feedback, incremental theorists were more likely than entity theorists to attribute to effort. Studies 2 and 3 showed that incremental theorists were more likely than entity theorists to take remedial action if performance was unsatisfactory. Study 3, in which an entity or incremental theory was induced, showed that incremental theorists' remedial action was mediated by their effort attributions. These results suggest that implicit theories create the meaning framework in which attributions occur and are important for understanding motivation.
Subversive-C: Abusing and Protecting Dynamic Message Dispatch

The lower layers in the modern computing infrastructure are written in languages threatened by exploitation of memory management errors. Recently deployed exploit mitigations such as control-flow integrity (CFI) can prevent traditional return-oriented programming (ROP) exploits but are much less effective against newer techniques such as Counterfeit Object-Oriented Programming (COOP) that execute a chain of C++ virtual methods. Since these methods are valid control-flow targets, COOP attacks are hard to distinguish from benign computations. Code randomization is likewise ineffective against COOP. Until now, however, COOP attacks have been limited to vulnerable C++ applications which makes it unclear whether COOP is as general and portable a threat as ROP. This paper demonstrates the first COOP-style exploit for Objective-C, the predominant programming language on Apple's OS X and iOS platforms. We also retrofit the Objective-C runtime with the first practical and efficient defense against our novel attack. Our defense is able to protect complex, real-world software such as iTunes without recompilation. Our performance experiments show that the overhead of our defense is low in practice.
Adaptive clutter filtering based on tissue vector velocities

Color Doppler and Vector Flow imaging are ultrasound imaging modalities that are primarily used for qualitative measurements or navigation. One main challenge before these modalities can be used quantitatively in clinical applications, is that clutter suppression filters or residual clutter signal lead to bias and variance in the blood velocity estimates which varies throughout the cardiac cycle. In this work, a Finite Impulse Response filter with adaptive filter order is evaluated for quantification of blood flow velocities, and compared to an eigenvector based filter with adaptive clutterspace dimension. The techniques were applied to data from a healthy volunteer, and data from a volunteer with a carotid stenosis. Results showed good correspondence between the two adaptive methods, and both methods produced more robust results than obtained using a Finite Impulse Response with fixed filter order.
Splenectomy Is Modifying the Vascular Remodeling of Thrombosis

Background Splenectomy is a clinical risk factor for complicated thrombosis. We hypothesized that the loss of the mechanical filtering function of the spleen may enrich for thrombogenic phospholipids in the circulation, thereby affecting the vascular remodeling of thrombosis. Methods and Results We investigated the effects of splenectomy both in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), a human model disease for thrombus nonresolution, and in a mouse model of stagnant flow venous thrombosis mimicking deep vein thrombosis. Surgically excised thrombi from rare cases of CTEPH patients who had undergone previous splenectomy were enriched for anionic phospholipids like phosphatidylserine. Similar to human thrombi, phosphatidylserine accumulated in thrombi after splenectomy in the mouse model. A postsplenectomy state was associated with larger and more persistent thrombi. Higher counts of procoagulant platelet microparticles and increased leukocyte–platelet aggregates were observed in mice after splenectomy. Histological inspection revealed a decreased number of thrombus vessels. Phosphatidylserine‐enriched phospholipids specifically inhibited endothelial proliferation and sprouting. Conclusions After splenectomy, an increase in circulating microparticles and negatively charged phospholipids is enhanced by experimental thrombus induction. The initial increase in thrombus volume after splenectomy is due to platelet activation, and the subsequent delay of thrombus resolution is due to inhibition of thrombus angiogenesis. The data illustrate a potential mechanism of disease in CTEPH.
Assessment of Oxidative Stress Biomarkers and Body Mass Index in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients: A Case-Control Study

Background Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is a major public health concern in most underdeveloped and developing countries. PTB affects the nutritional status of the patients and influences the body mass index (BMI). There is tissue inflammation and free radical burst from activated phagocytes resulting in oxidative stress. The present study was designed to assess the relationship between oxidative stress and body mass index in newly detected pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Method This was a case-control study designed to assess oxidative stress parameters such as nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in 40 consecutives newly diagnosed PTB patients and compared with 40 age-matched healthy controls. The nutritional status of the study subjects was measured by calculating the BMI. Results The mean BMI was 21.61±3.52 Kg/m2 in controls and 17.47±1.56 Kg/m2 in PTB patients and the difference was statistically significant (p <0.0001). The mean levels of MDA (7.65±0.65 nmol/ml) and NO (36.12±1.07 μmol/l) were significantly higher in PTB patients compared to controls (MDA 3.56±0.41 nmol/ml and NO 14.48±0.93 μmol/l). Conclusions Increased levels of malondialdehyde and nitric oxide were observed in newly diagnosed PTB patients when compared to controls indicating oxidative stress in PTB. The BMI of these patients was significantly lower than the controls. Thus, it is concluded that there is an inverse relationship between oxidative stress and BMI in PTB patients and antioxidant supplementation in addition to nutritional intervention under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program may help to improve the BMI and promote better recovery in these patients.
Coping With Relationship Stressors: A Decade Review

This review identifies key issues in research on adolescent coping with stress with parents, friends, and romantic partners during the past decade. An analysis of 78 studies revealed findings on relationship stressors and the potential links between the use of different coping styles for different relationship types. Research has confirmed consistent gender differences in dealing with relationship stress and shown how individual factors (e.g., personality factors and attachment style) contribute to variations in stress perception and coping styles. Implications for prevention and intervention are identified and suggestions are made for future research, particularly with respect to complex and important developmental questions that have not yet been fully addressed.
Non-cardiac issues in patients with heterotaxy syndrome

Management of complex congenital heart disease in patients with Heterotaxy syndrome (HS) has steadily improved. However, there is an insufficient appreciation of various non-cardiac issues that might impact the overall status of these patients. This article briefly reviews the implications of gastrointestinal, immunologic, genitourinary, respiratory, and central nervous system involvement in HS patients with a view to aid in their comprehensive clinical management.
Pausing as an indicator of fluency in the Russian of Finnish learners

Previous research shows that pausing and disfluenci es are common in non-native speech. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fluency and pa using in Russian read-aloud speech of 12 Finnish university s tudents and examine their fluency development during a 3.5month study-period in Russia. To assess fluency, 30 Russia n teachers rated the students’ speech samples (on a 1–5 scale) . Th samples were then analysed perceptually and acousti ally for pause frequency, duration and placement. Results sho w t at pausing can be an indicator of foreign language flu ncy and that most students develop considerably in their Rus sian readaloud fluency during their stay in Russia. Hence, wh en teaching students to read aloud in a foreign langua ge, pausing should be emphasized as a way to become a fluent re ader.
A piecewise correction method for high-resolution image of wide-angle lens

In this paper, we investigate the distortion features of high-resolution image from wide-angle lens, and propose a piecewise correction method based on the grid template. From the distorted image, the ideal and the distorted coordinates of the grid intersection are extracted to search the optimal distortion center. Subsequently, we piecewise map the ideal and distorted coordinate to obtain the distortion coefficients, and finally correct distorted images with nonlinear radial mapping and bilinear interpolation. This method uses a single template image to obtain the geometric optimal parameter without solving linear equations. Experimental results show that the correction method is effective and practically used in the radial distortion images of high-resolution wide-angle lens, and preserves the undistorted edge of image.
Myopia and misrecognition: The impact of managerialism on the management of compliance

This article explores the construction of a particular form of compliance in probation practice during a period in which policy shifted from enforcement towards compliance. The article uses four concepts from Bourdieu’s field theory (habitus, field, misrecognition and symbolic violence) to highlight the way in which the shift in policy was attuned to the subjective structure of probation practitioners’ habitus but resulted in a form of compliance which was myopic in nature and thus did not adhere to what we know about habitus in probation from other research. The article explores this phenomenon through Bourdieu’s notion of misrecognition, suggesting that whilst the policy change was regarded generally positively, it is an example of ‘symbolic violence’. In turn, this tells us about practitioners’ position in the field, which is useful in terms of future analyses of how changes to the delivery of community sanctions will manifest in the coming years.
Type I Interferon Plays Opposing Roles in Cytotoxicity and Interferon-γ Production by Natural Killer and CD8+ T Cells after Influenza A Virus Infection in Mice

Type I interferons (IFNs) promote natural killer (NK) and CD8+ T-cell responses, which play a role not only in the resolution of infection but also in the induction of acute lung injury following influenza A virus infection. We show here that IFN-α receptor knock-out (Ifnar1-/-) mice exhibited impaired cytotoxic activity as well as an increased ability of NK and CD8+ T cells to produce IFN-γ after infection with influenza virus A/FM/1/47 (H1N1, a mouse-adapted strain). A deficiency in IFNAR signaling significantly impaired IL-10 production in influenza virus-infected lungs and enhanced IFN-γ production by NK cells, which were suppressed by exogenous IL-10. Depletion of NK cells but not CD8+ T cells in Ifnar1-/- mice improved the survival rate after A/FM/1/47 infection, indicating that NK cells are responsible for acute lung injury in Ifnar1-/- mice following influenza A virus infection, although the depletion of IFN-γ did not improve the outcome. Thus, type I IFN signaling plays a role not only in the upregulation of cytotoxicity but also in the downregulation of some effector mechanisms including IFN-γ production by NK and CD8+ T cells via IL-10 production.
Vitamin B12-dependent propionate production by the ruminal bacterium Prevotella ruminicola 23

When Prevotella ruminicola 23 was grown in a defined medium containing a vitamin mixture, significant amounts of propionate were formed. Succinate and acetate were the major fermentation acids produced when vitamins were omitted, and further experiments demonstrated that propionate formation was dependent on vitamin B12. When the organism was grown in continuous culture at dilution rates of less than 0.20 h-1, propionate and acetate were the predominant fermentation products and little succinate was formed when vitamin B12 was present. However, at higher dilution rates, propionate formation declined and succinate accumulated. Since cell protein yields were reduced 15 to 25% in the absence of vitamin B12, the pathway for propionate formation may contain an energy-conserving step.