Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphometry of Brain Parenchymal Vessels Following Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

This study was performed to test the hypothesis that vascular spasm can occur in brain parenchymal vessels following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Five cc of autologous blood was injected into the clsterna magna of test cats and 5 cc of saline into control cats. After 2 hours, a cranial window was created and cortical tissue frozen in situ with liquid nitrogen. Statistical analysis of 124 test and 93 control arteries and arterioles showed a significantly greater mean wall to lumen ratio In the test vessels but with almost Identical mean cross sectional areas for both groups of vessels. This finding provides evidence for at least vasoconstric-tion, if not frank spasm, in parenchymal vessels in conjunction with SAH.
'With a little help from my academic friend': Mentoring change agents

The article examines a relationship between an academic mentor and a change agent charged with managing a complex project of change. Using a narrative framework based on a social constructionist perspective, a reflective infrastructure was created allowing a flow of data from change agent to mentor and feedback to the change agent as he attempted to carry out his activities. The article examines a number of activities from various change projects showing how data was captured by telling stories and reflection was facilitated by use of narrative and argumentation analysis. The article argues for greater focus on the process of mentoring and making meaning, rather than normative models of roles and competencies. In addition, participants in mentoring relationships need to reflect on their 'responsive ways of going on'.
A challenge to liberalism? The communitarianism of the Big Society and Blue Labour

This article explores how in recent years both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party have begun to argue that the institutions of civil society and community should be reinvigorated and strengthened. Such arguments take inspiration from the theories of communitarianism, which stress the importance of community and civic life over the more liberal claims of individual rights. For the Conservatives, these ideas have been synthesized under the banner of the ‘Big Society’, while ‘Blue Labour’ – a relatively new political tendency – argues that Labour must stand for a more cooperative and reciprocal civil society based upon community action. It is subsequently argued that although both concepts unquestionably represent an engagement with communitarian ideas, they face significant challenges. Ultimately, the article concludes that the Big Society faces more profound impediments than Blue Labour which, if it is able to overcome its own difficulties, may well support the foundation for a powerful, communitarian social democracy.
Red Giant Branch Stars as Probes of Stellar Populations I: 2MASS Calibration and Application to 2MASS GC01

The near-infrared behavior of the red giant branch (RGB hereafter) as a function of abundance is examined with an unprecedented large sample of 27 Galactic globular clusters with Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry. We propose a new simplified analyses, involving the zero point of the RGB slope fit, and derive calibrations for the RGB slope, zero point, and tip. The weak metallicity sensitivity of the zero point leads to a ``fan''-like diagram for obtaining the abundance distributions in resolved stellar systems, and reddening estimates. Finally, we apply the new calibrations to the recently discovered Galactic globular cluster 2MASS GC01, to derive [Fe/H]_H96=-1.19+/-0.38 mag. The uncertainty is dominated by the severe foreground contamination. We estimate an extinction of A_V=21.07+/-2.20 mag toward the cluster.
Carbon Claims and Energy Landscapes: Exploring the Political Ecology of Biomass

Abstract The greatest proportion (83%) of renewable energy in the UK is derived from biomass. Despite this there has been little debate over the potential landscape impacts of biomass, and the sector is characterized by considerable levels of uncertainty. This paper explores the ways in which biomass is framed within the carbon debate, interrogating the trade-offs and conflicts surrounding the production of dedicated and subsidized energy crops. Drawing upon a political ecology framework, we seek to explore the difference that a specific energy crop, Miscanthus, makes in current debates over bioenergy. We outline how the ecology of the plant plays a critical role in structuring the political, ecological and economic adoption of biomass energy, focusing on its status as a new species in the UK. Taking a case study of a Yorkshire landscape long dominated by coal, we explore the context of recent developments in biomass energy. Through this case study we examine how the uncertain ecology of Miscanthus undermines claims concerning the economic viability of biomass, and trace how the potential production of an ‘alien’ landscape creates a series of social and ecological tensions. The paper concludes by reflecting upon the political ecology of carbon, suggesting that the example of this energy crop highlights the way in which carbon tends to be fetishized, or removed from its social, ecological and (thus) place specific context, within current energy debates.
Contribution of Intrarenal Generation of Prostaglandin to Autoregulation of Renal Blood Flow in the Dog

The mechanism of autoregulation of renal blood flow was investigated in anesthetized dogs, using either constant-flow or constant-pressure perfusion of the kidney. Prostaglandinlike material in the renal venous blood was assayed by the blood-bathed organ technique. Compensatory renal vasodilation, induced either by lowering the blood flow or the perfusion pressure, was accompanied by increased output of prostaglandinlike material into the renal venous blood. The prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, indomethacin, abolished this output, and, at the same time, autoregulation of renal blood flow was abolished. A converting enzyme inhibitor, however, had no effect on renal autoregulation. The results support the hypothesis that autoregulation in the kidney is mediated by release of a vasodilator, prostaglandin, rather than by formation of a vasoconstrictor substance such as angiotensin II.
Complexities of learning together: students’ experience of face‐to‐face interprofessional groups

Interdisciplinary group work, as a method of learning, has become an essential component of most interprofessional undergraduate curricula in health and social care. Research into the effectiveness of these groups has concentrated on the dynamics of interaction between students from the different professions and focused largely on stereotyping and power. However, within small groups, social and psychological pressures are likely to influence participants’ behaviours and have a dramatic impact on overall effectiveness. Using qualitative data from an evaluative research study of a pre-qualifying interprofessional undergraduate curriculum, the experience of students engaged in face-to-face group learning was examined. Data were collected from 15 groups of health and social care students across two sites of a university in the UK. Age, gender, experience and the demographic composition of the group affected individuals’ levels of participation. Analysis of group observations, student interviews and focus groups revealed a range of influences on group interaction. These include participation, group roles, tasks and cohesion and a tendency to avoid conflict.
Sparse Stochastic Finite-State Controllers for POMDPs

Bounded policy iteration is an approach to solving infinite-horizon POMDPs that represents policies as stochastic finite-state controllers and iteratively improves a controller by adjusting the parameters of each node using linear programming. In the original algorithm, the size of the linear programs, and thus the complexity of policy improvement, depends on the number of parameters of each node, which grows with the size of the controller. But in practice, the number of parameters of a node with non-zero values is often very small, and does not grow with the size of the controller. Based on this observation, we develop a version of bounded policy iteration that leverages the sparse structure of a stochastic finite-state controller. In each iteration, it improves a policy by the same amount as the original algorithm, but with much better scalability.
Boltzmann machines and energy-based models

We review Boltzmann machines and energy-based models. A Boltzmann machine defines a probability distribution over binary-valued patterns. One can learn parameters of a Boltzmann machine via gradient based approaches in a way that log likelihood of data is increased. The gradient and Hessian of a Boltzmann machine admit beautiful mathematical representations, although computing them is in general intractable. This intractability motivates approximate methods, including Gibbs sampler and contrastive divergence, and tractable alternatives, namely energy-based models.
Frequency of elevated serum aluminum levels in adult dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Aluminum toxicity, a complication described in dialysis patients exposed to aluminum-containing phosphate binders or water used in dialysate preparations containing elevated levels of aluminum, can cause significant morbidity. Although physicians monitor patient aluminum levels, the frequency of abnormal aluminum levels has not been reported. METHODS We retrospectively examined 1,410 measurements of serum aluminum in 207 dialysis patients at the Franklin Dialysis Center (FDC; Philadelphia, PA) from January 1, 2000, through April 3, 2003. We also surveyed serum aluminum levels from a nationwide dialysis provider (DaVita) to more than 43,000 patients. Local dialysis facilities were surveyed to determine the annual frequency of aluminum testing in their patients. RESULTS Of 1,410 serum aluminum measurements performed at FDC, only 30 abnormal levels (2.1%) were found. DaVita measured approximately 117,000 aluminum levels annually during the last 3 years, of which 2.5% were abnormal. Frequencies of abnormal aluminum levels declined significantly each year at FDC and DaVita. CONCLUSION The current frequency of abnormal aluminum levels in our dialysis facility and a national dialysis provider is extremely low and has significantly declined.
Mesalazine and/or Lactobacillus casei in maintaining long-term remission of symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease of the colon.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Four different therapeutic schedules with mesalazine and/or probiotics were assessed in preventing recurrence of symptomatic diverticular disease (DD) of the colon. METHODOLOGY A prospective, dose-finding study was conducted on 75 patients, enrolled in an open fashion: mesalazine 800mg/daily (group M1) or mesalazine 1.6gr 10 days/month (group M2); mesalazine 800mg/daily + Lactobacillus casei DG 16 billion/day for 10 day/month (group LM1) or mesalazine 1.6gr + Lactobacillus casei DG 16 billion/day for 10 day/month (group LM2); Lactobacillus casei DG 16 billion/day for 10 day/month (group L). RESULTS Seventy one patients completed the study (94.66%). Sixty six patients (88%) were symptom-free after the 24th month of treatment: 11 of group M1 (on i-t-t: 84% [CI 95%: 55.5-98.8]), 8 of group M2 (on i-t-t: 80% [CI 95%: 44.39-97.48]), 15 of group LM1 (on i-t-t: 93.75% [CI 95%: 69.77-99.84]), 12 of group LM2 (on i-t-t: 92.30% [CI 95%: 63.97-99.81]), 20 in group L (on i-t-t: 86.95% [CI 95%: 66.41-97.22]) (p-ns). Four patients (5.33%) suspended the treatment during the follow-up: all experienced recurrence of symptoms (100%), and 2 of them developed diverticulitis (50%). CONCLUSIONS Mesalazine and/or Lactobacillus casei seem to be effective in maintaining remission of DD for long-time. Moreover, we found recurrence of the disease and complications in all patients suspending treatments.
False memories for script actions in a mugging account

Why do subjects accept information that is typical but false? The present study analyses the effects of scripts on the creation of these false memories. Based on script information established in a normative data study, a brief narrative account of a mock mugging was elaborated with high- and low-typicality contents. Free recall turned out to be a synthesis of the event, centred more on typical actions than on low-typicality ones, and although there were few errors, they were actually script-consistent contents. In recognition the typicality of the sentences was systematically manipulated. There were more hits in high-typicality actions, but the accuracy rate was greater in low than in high-probability information due to the fact that the subjects accepted nearly half of the unstated typical actions. These false alarms received high confidence scores, showing that for the subjects these false memories represented real recollections. Furthermore, false memories, generated by activating our prior knowledge, were persistent after a week's delay and resistant even to explicit instructions warning against such errors.
GENETIC SIMILARITY BETWEEN PARENTS PREDICTS HATCHING FAILURE: NONINCESTUOUS INBREEDING IN THE GREAT REED WARBLER?

The DNA‐fingerprinting technique was used to find the true pedigrees and to detect the overall genetic similarity between mates of great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) at an isolated breeding site in Sweden. The study covered 4 yr preceded by 3 yr when almost all adults and nestlings in the study area had been banded. DNA fingerprinting revealed that the putative father had sired 97% of the young (N = 455). The mate's genetic similarity, revealed as the proportion of bands shared in restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns, was high compared with other species of wild birds. Also, band sharing was higher between mates native to the area than between pairs in which the female was experimentally introduced from a distant breeding site. Hatching success of eggs was negatively correlated with the degree of genetic similarity between the mates, whereas pedigree data, up to the level of great‐grandparents, clearly demonstrated an absence of close inbreeding. These are the first data showing a significant fitness cost associated with the choice of a mate that has high genetic similarity, even if it is not a close kin. This cost might be caused by generalized negative consequences of genomewide inbreeding in the present study, possibly accentuated by recent population bottlenecks.
Elevated auxin and reduced cytokinin contents in rootstocks improve their performance and grafting success

Summary Plant grafting is an important technique for horticultural and silvicultural production. However, many rootstock plants suffer from undesirable lateral bud outgrowth, low grafting success rates or poor rooting. Here, we used a root‐predominant gene promoter (SbUGT) to drive the expression of a tryptophan‐2‐monooxygenase gene (iaaM) from Agrobacterium tumefaciens to increase auxin levels in tobacco. The transgenic plants, when used as a rootstock, displayed inhibited lateral bud outgrowth, enhanced grafting success rate and improved root initiation. However, root elongation and biomass of SbUGT::iaaM transgenic plants were reduced compared to those of wild‐type plants. In contrast, when we used this same promoter to drive CKX (a cytokinin degradation gene) expression, the transgenic tobacco plants displayed enhanced root elongation and biomass. We then made crosses between the SbUGT::CKX and SbUGT::iaaM transgenic plants. We observed that overexpression of the CKX gene neutralized the negative effects of auxin overproduction on root elongation. Also, the simultaneous expression of both the iaaM and CKX genes in rootstock did not disrupt normal growth and developmental patterns in wild‐type scions. Our results demonstrate that expression of both the iaaM and CKX genes predominantly in roots of rootstock inhibits lateral bud release from rootstock, improves grafting success rates and enhances root initiation and biomass.
ON A CLASS OF HYPERBOLIC BALANCE LAWS

Consider an n×n system of hyperbolic balance laws with coinciding shock and rarefaction curves. This note proves the well-posedness in the large of this system, provided there exists a domain that is invariant both with respect to the homogeneous conservation law and to the ordinary differential system generated by the right-hand side. No "non-resonance" hypothesis is assumed.
Women employed in male-dominated industries: lessons learned from female aircraft pilots, pilots-in-training and mixed-gender flight instructors

To date, women who work in traditionally male-typed fields and occupations continue to face gender barriers. This paper reviews the literature on the topic then identifies and examines barriers presented during aviation training based on data from 296 female pilots-in-training, pilots, and flight instructors. Results show that the lack of acceptance, self-efficacy, lack of social support from organizations, flight instructors and family, and stereotyping are among the top obstacles women encounter during their flight training, often leading them to quit. Implications for human resource development (HRD) and for the recruitment, retention, and success of women in male-dominated occupations are discussed.
Increase in positive selection of CD8+ T cells in TAP1-mutant mice by human beta 2-microglobulin transgene

Mice harboring a deletion of the gene encoding the transporter associated with antigen presentation-1 (TAP1) are impaired in providing major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules with peptides of cytosolic origin and lack stable MHC class I cell surface expression. They consequently have a strongly reduced number of CD8+ T cells. To examine whether selection of CD8+ T cells is dependent on TAP- dependent peptides, we partially restored MHC class I cell surface expression in TAP1-deficient mice by introduction of human beta 2- microglobulin. We show that selection of functional CD8+ T cells can be augmented in vivo in the absence of TAP1-dependent peptides.
Contribution of vitamin D receptor genotypes to bone mineral density in young male athletes with different impact loading

Bone adaptation to exercise relies on exposures to impact loading in sports, but the ability of skeletal change seems to be highly variable among individuals. The present study was designed to investigate the association between a poly-morphism in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene at the translation initiation site and impact loading on bone mineral density (BMD). Analysis of the VDR genotypes detected by endonuclease FokI (FF, Ff, and ff) and measurement of total body BMD (TBMD) were performed in 212 young males; 84 athletes were involved in weight-bearing sports, 48 in competitive swimming, and 80 non-athletic controls. The differences in TBMD between athletes and controls de-pended on the VDR genotypes; enhanced BMD in weight-bearing athletes was found in FF (7.7%, p
The Relationship of Employee Perceptions of the Immediate Supervisor and Top Management With Collective Efficacy

Middle-level managers ( N = 1,149) in an Italian service organization were administered a questionnaire that assessed self- and collective efficacy in dealing with job responsibilities and tasks, perceptions of their immediate supervisor regarding support and encouragement, perceptions of top management regarding the coordination of different units and communication, and affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Structural equation modeling supported (a) the differential relationship of perceptions of two levels of leadership with group collective efficacy and (b) their mediating role between self- and collective efficacy. Moreover, both perceptions of the immediate supervisor and group collective efficacy displayed a strong relationship with job satisfaction. Perceptions of top management and group collective efficacy were related to organizational commitment. These results suggest ways to enhance group collective efficacy beliefs.
Availability and the Level of Implementation of Strategic Plans in Secondary Schools in Nandi County, Kenya

The need for performance-based management in Kenya has brought in itself changes in the approach of management of institutions. Strategic planning is very crucial in realization of this important management outlook. The purpose of this study was to establish availability and the level of implementation of strategic plans in schools in Nandi County. The study adopted a mixed-method design. The target population included district education officials, senior teachers, and principals of secondary schools. A sample of 322 respondents which form 16% of the population arrived at using Krejcie and Morgan Formula was used. The study sample comprised of 85 secondary school principals out of a population of 152 and 234 senior teachers out of 1,900, and all the 5 district education officers. The respondents were selected using purposive, proportionate, and simple random sampling technique, and the instruments for data collection were questionnaires and interview schedule. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as measures of central tendencies. The findings of this study revealed that majority of the secondary schools in Nandi County had no functional strategic plans to guide their respective schools to achieve their desired mission and vision; most of the plans in place are used in academic purposes, planning, and infrastructure development. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education should train well all school managers in public secondary schools on strategic planning process. The study therefore amplifies the need for the government to streamline the strategic plan policy in view of expectations of Ministry of Education circular in strategic planning of 2003.
Identification of Extracellular N-Acylhomoserine Lactone Acylase from a Streptomyces sp. and Its Application to Quorum Quenching

ABSTRACT N-Acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) play an important role in regulating virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria. Recently, the enzymatic inactivation of AHLs, which can be used as antibacterial targets, has been identified in several soil bacteria. In this study, strain M664, identified as a Streptomyces sp. , was found to secrete an AHL-degrading enzyme into a culture medium. The ahlM gene for AHL degradation from Streptomyces sp. strain M664 was cloned, expressed heterologously in Streptomyces lividans, and purified. The enzyme was found to be a heterodimeric protein with subunits of approximately 60 kDa and 23 kDa. A comparison of AhlM with known AHL-acylases, Ralstonia strain XJ12B AiiD and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 PvdQ, revealed 35% and 32% identities in the deduced amino acid sequences, respectively. However, AhlM was most similar to the cyclic lipopeptide acylase from Streptomyces sp. strain FERM BP-5809, exhibiting 93% identity. A mass spectrometry analysis demonstrated that AhlM hydrolyzed the amide bond of AHL, releasing homoserine lactone. AhlM exhibited a higher deacylation activity toward AHLs with long acyl chains rather than short acyl chains. Interestingly, AhlM was also found to be capable of degrading penicillin G by deacylation, showing that AhlM has a broad substrate specificity. The addition of AhlM to the growth medium reduced the accumulation of AHLs and decreased the production of virulence factors, including elastase, total protease, and LasA, in P. aeruginosa. Accordingly, these results suggest that AHL-acylase, AhlM could be effectively applied to the control of AHL-mediated pathogenicity.