Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-Determination and Social Comparison in a Health-Promotion Setting

Self-concordant motivation to improve one's health may influence concurrent experiences of social comparison and later membership in a health-promotion facility. Adult members of such a facility (N = 473) completed brief measures of their main goal in joining; self-concordance of that goal; and typical frequency, direction, consequences, and motives of social comparison. Continuing membership was assessed after 2 years. Logistic and ordinary least squares regression analyses, controlling for respondents' age, sex, and years of membership, supported hypothesized associations of higher self-concordance with (a) greater odds of continuing membership, (b) lower frequency of comparing oneself with others, (c) lower odds of feeling worse about oneself on account of social comparison, and (d) less agreement with esteem-maintenance, versus self-improvement/evaluation, as a motive for social comparison. Although there are limitations to respondents' self-reports, social comparison seems to result in fewer negative psychological consequences for individuals with more self-concordant health-related goals. Implications for health-related behavior are discussed.
Isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae Biofilm Mutants and Their Characterization during Nasopharyngeal Colonization

ABSTRACT Asymptomatic colonization of the nasopharynx by Streptococcus pneumoniae precedes pneumococcal disease, yet pneumococcal colonization factors remain poorly understood. Many bacterial infections involve biofilms which protect bacteria from host defenses and antibiotics. To gain insight into the genetics of biofilm formation by S. pneumoniae, we conducted an in vitro screen for biofilm-altered mutants with the serotype 4 clinical isolate TIGR4. In a first screen of 6,000 mariner transposon mutants, we repeatedly isolated biofilm-overproducing acapsular mutants, suggesting that the capsule was antagonistic to biofilm formation. Therefore, we screened 6,500 additional transposon mutants in an S. pneumoniae acapsular background. Following this approach, we isolated 69 insertions in 49 different genes. The collection of mutants includes genes encoding bona fide and putative choline binding proteins, adhesins, synthases of membrane and cell wall components, extracellular and cell wall proteases, efflux pumps, ABC and PTS transporters, and transcriptional regulators, as well as several conserved and novel hypothetical proteins. Interestingly, while four insertions mapped to rrgA, encoding a subunit of a recently described surface pilus, rrgB and rrgC (encoding the other two pilus subunits) mutants had no biofilm defects, implicating the RrgA adhesin but not the pilus structure per se in biofilm formation. To correlate our findings to the process of colonization, we transferred a set of 29 mutations into the wild-type encapsulated strain and then tested the fitness of the mutants in vivo. Strikingly, we found that 23 of these mutants were impaired for nasopharyngeal colonization, thus establishing a link between biofilm formation and colonization.
Subsidized Housing, Public Housing, and Adolescent Violence and Substance Use

This study examines the separate relationships of public housing residence and subsidized housing residence to adolescent health risk behavior. Data include 2,530 adolescents aged 14 to 19 who were children of the National the Longitudinal Study of Youth. The author use stratified propensity methods to compare the behaviors of each group—subsidized housing residents and public housing residents—to a matched control group of teens receiving no housing assistance. The results reveal no significant relationship between public housing residence and violence, heavy alcohol/marijuana use, or other drug use. However, subsidized housing residents have significantly lower rates of violence and hard drug use, and marginally lower rates of heavy marijuana/alcohol use. The results indicate that the consistent, positive effect of vouchers in the current literature is not due to a lower standard among the typical comparison group: public housing. Future studies should focus on conceptualizing and analyzing the protective effect of vouchers beyond comparisons to public housing environments.
Laypersons' Responses to the Communication of Uncertainty Regarding Cancer Risk Estimates

Objective . To explore laypersons' responses to the communication of uncertainty associated with individualized cancer risk estimates and to identify reasons for individual differences in these responses. Design . A qualitative study was conducted using focus groups. Participants were informed about a new colorectal cancer risk prediction model, and presented with hypothetical individualized risk estimates using presentation formats varying in expressed uncertainty (range v. point estimate). Semistructured interviews explored participants' responses to this information. Participants and Setting . Eight focus groups were conducted with 48 adults aged 50 to 74 residing in 2 major US metropolitan areas, Chicago, IL and Washington, DC. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants with a high school or greater education, some familiarity with information technology, and no personal or immediate family history of cancer. Results . Participants identified several sources of uncertainty regarding cancer risk estimates, including missing data, limitations in accuracy and source credibility, and conflicting information. In comparing presentation formats, most participants reported greater worry and perceived risk with the range than with the point estimate, consistent with the phenomenon of ``ambiguity aversion. '' However, others reported the opposite effect or else indifference between formats. Reasons suggested by participants' responses included individual differences in optimism and motivations to reduce feelings of vulnerability and personal lack of control. Perceptions of source credibility and risk mutability emerged as potential mediating factors. Conclusions . Laypersons' responses to the communication of uncertainty regarding cancer risk estimates differ, and include both heightened and diminished risk perceptions. These differences may be attributable to personality, cognitive, and motivational factors.
GARP regulates the bioavailability and activation of TGFβ

GARP disulfide links to latent TGFβ on the cell surface, which serves as a reservoir for TGFβ activation by αVβ6 and to a lesser extent αVβ8. Activation requires the RGD motif of latent TGFβ, disulfide linkage between GARP and latent TGFβ, and membrane association of GARP.
Avaliação do processamento auditivo de indivíduos idosos com e sem presbiacusia por meio do teste de reconhecimento de dissílabos em tarefa dicótica - ssw

Introduction: For a human being, the communication is an essential act in his life and thus, the preservation of auditory capability is vital. With the growth of life expectancy arises the need to understand better elderly people and their constant complaint of not understanding the speech in noisy environment, or in the environment with reverberation. Many writers relate this difficulty to the neurossensorial auditory loss frequently found in these people. However, in many cases this difficulty seems worse than the expected in view of the amount of hearing lost. This fact is not usually detected by conventional tests of tonal and vocal audiometry which provides the data relative to the auditory loss of the individual without describing how this loss affects his life, his day-by-day communication. Aim: To assess and compare the auditory performance of elderly people, both with normal hearing and with neurossensorial auditory loss characteristical of presbycusis, by SSW Test. Study design: clinical prospective randomized. Cases and method: 100 elderly people have been assessed, aged from 60 through 79. Of this number, 50 individuals showed neurossensorial auditory loss characteristical of presbycusis (a study group) and 50 elderly individuals with tonal hearing within normal standards (a control group). Before applying SSW test, these people had undergone anamnesis and audiologic and otorhinolaryngologic evaluation. Conclusion: No statistically relevant difference has been found between both groups. However, there was a tendency of worse performance of the study group under studied conditions. Thus, we found that the neurossensorial auditory loss cannot be considered as determining factor, but rather as an aggravating one in the elderly difficulty to understand the persons speech.
Frequent presence of anti‐GQ1b antibody in Fisher's syndrome

We used the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to investigate autoantibodies against the gangliosides GM1, GD1a, GD1b, GT1b, GD2, and GQ1b, in sera from 16 patients with Fisher's syndrome. We found high anti-GQlb antibody titers, mainly those of the IgG class, in the sera of 13 of these patients. The titers decreased with the clinical course of the illness. Moreover, anti-GQlb antibody-positive patients had more severe ataxia of cerebellar type than the antibody-negative patients.
Born-Oppenheimer wave function near level crossing

The standard Born-Oppenheimer theory does not give an accurate description of the wave function near points of level crossing. We give such a description near an isotropic conic crossing, for energies close to the crossing energy. This leads to the study of two coupled second-order ordinary differential equations whose solution is described in terms of the generalized hypergeometric functions of the kind ${}_{0}{F}_{3}(;a,b,c;z). $ We find that, at low angular momenta, the mixing due to crossing is surprisingly large, scaling like ${\ensuremath{\mu}}^{1/6},$ where \ensuremath{\mu} is the electron to nuclear mass ratio.
Constructional sources of implicit agents in sentence comprehension

Abstract Much research about on-line sentence comprehension focuses on the contributions of individual lexical items, with specific interest in verbs. One aspect of sentence meaning that has been claimed to be rooted in verb representation is event structure. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the claim that the verb is not the sole contributor of event structure, but that the syntactic construction of a sentence is also a contributor. In this paper, we repeat a study designed to support a verb-based view using novel verbs derived from nouns. The pattern of sentence comprehension is the same for both known verbs and novel verbs, suggesting that the syntactic construction of the sentence also contributes to event structure.
Who Participates and Why?

Scholars continue to find that political participation, especially beyond voting, is in limited supply in the United States. However, the rise of the Internet provides possibilities to mitigate such circumstances. Some scholars suggest that the Internet disconnects citizens from public life, while other studies note that it provides a venue for further participation in public life. The question remains as to whether the Internet mobilizes or demobilizes citizens. The article explores this question using Survey2000, a comprehensive, Internet-based, social scientific survey conducted in 1998 by scholars at Northwestern University in conjunction with the National Geographic Society. A positive relationship is found between engagement on the Internet and civic and political participation. However, the article also finds that the Internet appears to exacerbate the socioeconomic bias already exhibited by civic and political participation prior to the rise of the Internet.
A cytoplasmic pathway for gapmer antisense oligonucleotide-mediated gene silencing in mammalian cells

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are known to trigger mRNA degradation in the nucleus via an RNase H-dependent mechanism. We have now identified a putative cytoplasmic mechanism through which ASO gapmers silence their targets when transfected or delivered gymnotically (i.e. in the absence of any transfection reagent). We have shown that the ASO gapmers can interact with the Ago-2 PAZ domain and can localize into GW-182 mRNA-degradation bodies (GW-bodies). The degradation products of the targeted mRNA, however, are not generated by Ago-2-directed cleavage. The apparent identification of a cytoplasmic pathway complements the previously known nuclear activity of ASOs and concurrently suggests that nuclear localization is not an absolute requirement for gene silencing.
Multijurisdictional Approach to Biosurveillance, Kansas City

An electronic reporting system for a network of 22 laboratories was implemented in Kansas City, Missouri, with an independent organization acting as a data clearinghouse between the reporting laboratories and public health departments. The system ran in tandem with conventional reporting methods. Laboratory test orders and results were aggregated and mapped to a common nomenclature. Reports were delivered through a secure Internet connection to the Kansas City Health Department (KCHD); during the first 200 days of operation, 359 qualified results were delivered electronically to KCHD. Data were received more quickly than they were with conventional reporting methods: notification of chlamydia cases arrived 2 days earlier, invasive group A streptococcal disease cases arrived 2.3 days sooner, and salmonellosis cases arrived 2.7 days sooner. Data were more complete for all demographic fields, including address, age, sex, race, and date of birth. Two hundred fourteen cases reported electronically were not received by conventional means.
Teachers' perceptions of educational technology integration in an Indonesian polytechnic

Educational technology is becoming more pervasive in Indonesian vocational higher institutions, yet there is limited research available about Indonesian teachers' perceptions of this innovation. This paper sets out to contribute to this gap in the research literature and reports on a study that investigated the factors which supported and constrained the use of educational technology at an Indonesian polytechnic. Data were gathered from 10 teachers working full-time at the polytechnic using semi-structured interviews and were analysed using thematic analysis strategy. The findings confirm previous research in Western countries which suggest that factors including teachers' beliefs and attitudes, organizational culture and external influences can have a significant influence on the integration of educational technology to support learning and teaching. The study also identified that factors such as skills, workload, strategic planning, ownership, resources, professional development and leadership require attention as they can have a negative influence on successful integration.
Predicting Mid-Childhood Internalising Symptoms: A Longitudinal Community Study

Internalising problems affect up to one in five people, and symptoms can be identified in early childhood. Relatively little is known about whether early childhood risks lead to mid-childhood internalising difficulties. In this study a community sample of two-year-old children (N = 112) was followed longitudinally to age seven years (N = 93, 83% retention). Mothers completed questionnaires measuring family life-stressors, maternal anxiety-depression, specific parenting practices and child internalising symptoms. The results demonstrated that seven-year internalising difficulties were strongly predicted by early childhood risks (R=.70, p<.001). Internalising symptoms showed substantial continuity from early to mid-childhood. Aspects of the early environment predicting seven-year internalising difficulties were over-involved/protective and less warm-engaged parenting and maternal anxietydepression. Environmental effects were mediated by early child internalising symptoms. These findings could guide development of early prevention and mental health promotion programmes.
Effects of Self-Presentation Strategies on Personality Profiles and their Structure

To examine the claim that self presentation distorts the structure of personality dimensions, 370 subjects were asked to respond as job applicants to a measure of the Big Five personality traits and two measures of socially desirable responding (SDR): Self-Deceptive Enhancement and Impression Management. They were randomly assigned to respond using one of seven strategies: fake the best possible candidate, fake good without arousing suspicion, play up your good points, respond honestly, be modest, fake bad without arousing suspicion, fake worst. The SDR scales and the Big Five were highly intercorrelated under all strategies except honest responding. Further analyses suggested that the high intercorrelations were due to outliers, not to a true convergence of dimensions. It was concluded that self presentation can either inflate or deflate intercorrelations among evaluative scales. Self presentation in individuals was best diagnosed by the Impression Management and Conscientiousness scales.
Risk factors for mold in housing: a national survey.

UNLABELLED A national random telephone survey was undertaken to determine the prevalence of reported mold in New Zealand houses and the risk factors for it. A total of 613 households provided responses. Mold in one or more rooms was reported by 35.1% of respondents in the sample. House design and construction factors that were independently associated with reported mold in the multivariate analysis included: poorer house condition, older house age (>22 years), relative lack of sun exposure, and having no insulation (e.g. for poorer house condition: odds ratio=1.97, 95% CI=1.25, 3.11). Univariate analyses also showed increased risk associated with high locality rainfall, and living in the most northern part of the country. The number of residents was significantly associated with reported mold in the multivariate analysis as were various behaviors in the univariate analysis (i.e. frequency of baths, showering and clothes washing). The high prevalence of unflued gas heating (32.9%) found in this sample is of potential concern given the potential respiratory hazards. Although this survey has a number of limitations, it does suggest that there are a number of potentially modifiable risk factors for mold that could be reduced by a range of policy responses. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS While further research is desirable, the available evidence associated with the health and other adverse impacts of both mold and dampness would favor additional policy responses by government. These could include changes to regulations around housing design including house position, access to sunlight, and level of insulation. The extension of low interest loans for insulation or subsidized installation can help to increase its level of use. Restrictions on the sales of unflued gas heaters could also be considered. A mass media campaign could also be used to inform the population of the readily modifiable risk factors for mold growth and dampness.
Analysis of cellular responses to free radicals: focus on exercise and skeletal muscle

Muscular exercise results in an increased production of radicals and other forms of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Recent evidence suggests that radicals and other ROS are an underlying aetiology in exercise-induced disturbances in muscle redox status. These exercise-induced redox disturbances in skeletal muscle are postulated to contribute to both muscle fatigue and/or exercise-induced muscle injury. To defend against ROS, muscle cells contain complex cellular defence mechanisms to reduce the risk of oxidative injury. Two major classes (enzymic and non-enzymic) of endogenous protective mechanisms work together to reduce the harmful effects of oxidants in the cell. Primary antioxidant enzymes include superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1; SOD), GSH peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.9; GPX), and catalase (EC 1.11.1.6); these enzymes are responsible for removing superoxide radicals, H2O2 and organic hydroperoxides, and H2O2 respectively. Important non-enzymic antioxidants include vitamins E and C, β-carotene, GSH and ubiquinones. Vitamin E, β-carotene and ubiquinone are located in lipid regions of the cell, whereas GSH and vitamin C are in aqueous compartments of the cell. Regular endurance training promotes an increase in both total SOD and GPX activity in actively-recruited skeletal muscles. High-intensity exercise training has been shown to be generally superior to low-intensity exercise in the upregulation of muscle SOD and GPX activities. Also, training-induced upregulation of antioxidant enzymes is limited to highly-oxidative skeletal muscles. The effects of endurance training on non-enzymic antioxidants remain a relatively uninvestigated area.
Utility Maximization in Peer-to-Peer Systems With Applications to Video Conferencing

In this paper, we study the problem of utility maximization in peer-to-peer (P2P) systems, in which aggregate application-specific utilities are maximized by running distributed algorithms on P2P nodes, which are constrained by their uplink capacities. For certain P2P topologies, we show that routing along a linear number of trees per source can achieve the largest rate region that can be possibly obtained by intrasession and intersession network coding. This observation allows us to develop a simple multitree formulation for the problem. For the resulting nonstrictly concave optimization problem, we develop a Primal-dual distributed algorithm and prove its global convergence using our proposed sufficient conditions. These conditions are general and add understanding to the convergence of primal-dual algorithms under nonstrictly concave settings. We implement the proposed distributed algorithm in a peer-assisted multiparty conferencing system by utilizing only end-to-end delay measurements between P2P nodes. We demonstrate its superior performance through actual experiments on a LAN testbed and the Internet.
The Primary Bilingual Education Experiment in Mozambique, 1993 to 1997

The recent experiment in bilingual education in Mozambique known as PEBIMO, which utilised two different Bantu languages in transitional programmes for lower primary schooling, offered an alternative to exclusive instruction in Portuguese, which is a foreign language for approximately 98 percent of Mozambicans. Evaluations done during the final two years of the experiment using both quantitative and qualitative means demonstrate that students benefited greatly from use of the mother tongue in terms of classroom participation, self-confidence, bilingualism, and biliteracy. Inadequacies in the model, problems with experimental design and control, and logistical concerns complicate the interpretation of research results; however, the descriptive data in particular provide strong evidence that bilingual schooling may significantly improve educational quality in Mozambique. The study also has implications for conducting educational research in sub-optimal conditions.
Participatory Processes/Paradoxical Practices

This article brings together previous research efforts by the authors and reviews a wide range of relevant literatures to explain and analyze paradoxes of employee participation and workplace democracy. Although the authors do not take the position that all or even most of these paradoxes are necessarily harmful, they do maintain that there are a variety of practical avenues for dealing with them. The heart of the essay analyzes several main categories of participatory paradoxes: those of structure, agency, identity, and power. Following that, the authors offer practical suggestions for the management of paradoxes (and related tensions and contradictions), linking those recommendations to relevant theoretical and empirical propositions.