Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Refractory black carbon mass concentrations in snow and ice: method evaluation and inter-comparison with elemental carbon measurement

Abstract. Accurate measurement of black carbon (BC) mass concentrations in snow and ice is crucial for the assessment of climatic impacts. However, it is difficult to compare methods used to assess BC levels in the literature as they are not the same. The single particle soot photometer (SP2) method appears to be one of the most suitable to measure low concentrations of BC in snow and ice. In this paper, we evaluated a method for the quantification of refractory BC (rBC) in snow and ice samples coupling the SP2 with the APEX-Q nebulizer. The paper reviews all the steps of rBC determination, including SP2 calibration, correction for rBC particle aerosolization efficiency (75 ± 7% using the APEX-Q nebulizer), and treatment of the samples. In addition, we compare the SP2 method and the thermal–optical method – Sunset organic carbon (OC) / elemental carbon (EC) aerosol analyzer with EUSAAR2 protocol – using snow and firn samples with different characteristics from the Greenland Summit, the French Alps, the Caucasus, and the Himalayas. Careful investigation was undertaken of analytical artifacts that potentially affect both methods. The SP2-based rBC quantification may be underestimated when the SP2 detection range does not cover correctly the existing size distribution of the sample. Thermal–optical EC measurements can be underestimated by low filtration efficiency of quartz fiber filter before analysis or dust properties (concentration and type), and overestimated by pyrolyzed OC artifacts during EC analysis. These results underline the need for careful assessment of the analytical technique and procedure for correct data interpretation.
Ligand determinants of fatty acid activation of the pronociceptive ion channel TRPA1

Background and purpose. Arachidonic acid (AA) and its derivatives are important modulators of cellular signalling. The transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily A, member 1 (TRPA1) is a cation channel with important functions in mediating cellular responses to noxious stimuli and inflammation. There is limited information about the interactions between AA itself and TRPA1, so we investigated the effects of AA and key ethanolamide and amino acid/neurotransmitter derivatives of AA on hTRPA1. Experimental approach. HEK 293 cells expressing hTRPA1 were studied by measuring changes in intracellular calcium ([Ca]i) with a fluorescent dye and by standard whole cell patch clamp recordings. Key results. AA (30 μM) increased fluorescence in hTRPA1 expressing cells by 370% (notional EC50 13 μM). The covalent TRPA1 agonist cinnamaldehyde (300 μM) increased fluorescence by 430% (EC50, 11 μM). Anandamide (230%) and N-arachidonoyl tyrosine (170%) substantially activated hTRPA1 at 30 μM, however, N-arachidonoyl conjugates of glycine and taurine were less effective while N-acyl conjugates of 5-HT did not affect hTRPA1. Changing the acyl chain length or the number and position of double bonds reduced fatty acid efficacy at hTRPA1. Mutant hTRPA1 (Cys621, Cys641 and Cys665 changed to Ser) could be activated by AA (100 μM, 40% of wild type) but not by cinnamaldehyde (300 μM). Conclusions and implications. AA is a more potent activator of TRPA1 than its ethanolamide or amino acid/neurotransmitter derivatives and acts via a mechanism distinct from that of cinnamaldehyde, further underscoring the likelyhood of multiple pharmacologically exploitable sites on hTRPA1.
Types of Intimate Partner Homicides Committed by Women

Margo Wilson and Martin Daly began scientific work to explain intimate partner homicides (IPHs). Key to their work was women’s increased risk of IPH victimization relative to men. In the 1990s, many U.S. jurisdictions implemented Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committees (DVFRCs) to improve responses to potentially lethal abuse. We report findings from 117 closed heterosexual IPH cases collected by the Denver Metro DVFRC 1991-2009. As expected, IPHs perpetrated by women against men are frequently motivated by self-defense. Although Wilson and Daly’s “sexual proprietariness” is primarily characteristic of men killing women, we find it applicable to some women killing male mates.
Environmental security as a criterion for decision‐making

Michael Renner’s paper on environmental security provides a useful starting point for discussing the relationships among the traditionally defined environment, security, and development policy arenas. The paper’s strengths suggest why it is important to explore these relationships, while its weaknesses exemplify the definitional and conceptual challenges of establishing robust and policy-relevant links. We begin this comment with a brief set of reactions to Renner’s paper, suggesting areas requiring further attention or definition. In subsequent sections, we discuss the problems of defining ‘environmental security’ and an appropriate conceptual framework. Using a framework that has been proposed in the literature, we identify elements of a policy agenda that emerge from a more precise delineation of the realm of environmental security, and suggest high priority avenues of policy research to support that agenda.
“My Son Is Reliable”

The high crash rates among teenage drivers are of great concern across nations. Parents’ involvement is known to help increase their young drivers’ driving safety. In particular, parents can place restrictions on their son’s/daughter’s driving (e.g., restrict night time driving), which can enable the young driver to gain driving experience in safer conditions. Yet little is known about what do parents think about parental responsibility regarding young drivers’ driving. This study aimed to address this question. It draws on both quantitative and qualitative data obtained through a phone survey of 906 Israeli parents of young drivers that included both open- and closed-ended items and 20 semistructured interviews with parents. The main findings were that parents tended to be optimistic about their own child’s driving compared with other young drivers and were relatively unconcerned about speeding. Whereas most parents thought restrictions regarding driving at night or talking on the phone should be placed on young drivers, most believed many parents do not enforce them. Most also believed many parents feel they are unable to influence young drivers’ driving. The exception, however, was they believed most parents restrict young drivers driving when they are tired. Two contrasting conceptions of parental responsibility were identified and presented as a model. Potential implications for road safety campaigns from a social norms perspective are discussed.
Present Status And Antibiotic Sensitivity Pattern Of Salmonella Typhi And S. Paratyphi In Different Age Group Hospitalized Patients In Dhaka City, Bangladesh

In recent years, there has been a significant rise in the prevalence of multidrug resistance Salmonella typhi and salmonella paratyphi in Dhaka city. Patients are most susceptible to infections like typhoid fever. It is therefore a subject of interest to observe the number of incidence and antimicrobial resistant pattern of typhoidal Salmonella in patients in Dhaka city. During February to May 2012, a total of 4,115 blood samples of typhoid suspected patients were tested where 8.72% came out positive, among which 73.81% were found to be Salmonella typhi and 26.19% Salmonella paratyphi. Both these organisms were found to be susceptible to cefixime, gentamycin, ceftriaxone but were found resistant to ampicillin (100%), ciprofloxacin (0.27%), chloramphenicol (15.04%), cotrimoxazole (17.27%), azithromycin (5.57%), nalidixic acid (100%) and erythromycin (17.82%). Based on the hypothesis of reduced susceptibility to fluroquinolones, this study has been concluded with the observation that antibiotic resistance pattern of Salmonella typhi and paratyphi in Dhaka city was reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin.
Effects of Ethical Climate and Supervisory Trust on Salesperson’S Job Attitudes and Intentions to Quit

This study builds on previous research to investigate the integrated effects of ethical climate and supervisory trust on salesperson’s job attitudes and intentions to quit. Responses from 344 salespeople who work for a global pharmaceutical company were used to examine the relationships among ethical climate, trust in supervisor, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. Results indicate that ethical climate is a significant predictor of trust in supervisor, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Also, results show that trust in supervisor is an antecedent of job satisfaction and turnover intention. Implications for academicians and practitioners are discussed.
Intracellular crowding defines the mode and sequence of substrate uptake by Escherichia coli and constrains its metabolic activity

The influence of the high intracellular concentration of macromolecules on cell physiology is increasingly appreciated, but its impact on system-level cellular functions remains poorly quantified. To assess its potential effect, here we develop a flux balance model of Escherichia coli cell metabolism that takes into account a systems-level constraint for the concentration of enzymes catalyzing the various metabolic reactions in the crowded cytoplasm. We demonstrate that the model's predictions for the relative maximum growth rate of wild-type and mutant E. coli cells in single substrate-limited media, and the sequence and mode of substrate uptake and utilization from a complex medium are in good agreement with subsequent experimental observations. These results suggest that molecular crowding represents a bound on the achievable functional states of a metabolic network, and they indicate that models incorporating this constraint can systematically identify alterations in cellular metabolism activated in response to environmental change.
Variables affecting the effects of recasts on L2 pronunciation development

The current study investigated how recasts can promote the L2 pronunciation development of word-initial /ɹ/ by Japanese learners of English in relation to two developmental stages of English /ɹ/ acquisition (i.e. change in second formant [F2] → change in third formant [F3]) as well as four affecting variables (i.e. the amount of recasts and repairs, initial pronunciation levels, explicit articulatory knowledge). In total, 54 Japanese learners of English participated in the study and received 4 hours of form-focused activity. While teachers gave pronunciation-focused recasts to students in the experimental group (n = 29), no recasts were directed to those in the control group (n = 25). According to the results of the rating session, which involved 20 native speaker listeners, their positive perception of /ɹ/ was associated with lower F3 values as the primary cue; lower F2 values were demonstrated to be secondary, and less relevant, for listeners’ positive perception of /ɹ/. The results of the ANOVAs showed that whereas the F2 values of both the experimental and control groups equally decreased (i.e. due to the use of the interlanguage strategy), only the experimental group significantly lowered their F3 values (the extent of acquisition). Furthermore, a range of post-hoc analyses found that recast effectiveness was related to the amount of recasts and repairs and initial pronunciation levels.
Superiority of combination of thiazide with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or AT1-receptor blocker over thiazide alone on renoprotection in L-NAME/SHR.

The renal and glomerular dynamic effects of combining thiazide and angiotensin antagonists have not been reported. The present study was designed to examine the effects of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) alone or in combination with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or ANG II type 1-receptor blocker on renal hemodynamics, glomerular dynamics, renal function, and renal histopathology in the N(omega)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester-treated spontaneously hypertensive rat (l-NAME/SHR) model. HCTZ (80 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) alone or in combination with enalapril (30 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) or losartan (30 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) or enalapril (15 mg.kg(-1). day(-1)) plus losartan (15 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) was administered to l-NAME/SHR (5.0 +/- 0.10 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) for 3 wk. Mean arterial pressure, total peripheral resistance, renal plasma flow, glomerular filtration rate, glomerular hydrostatic pressure, afferent and efferent glomerular arteriolar resistances, single nephron plasma flow, single nephron glomerular filtration rate, serum creatinine concentration, 24-h urinary protein excretion, and glomerular and arteriolar injury scores were determined. HCTZ reduced mean arterial pressure, total peripheral resistance, glomerular hydrostatic pressure, and afferent and efferent glomerular arteriolar resistances (P < 0.05, at least) but slightly increased renal plasma flow and single nephron plasma flow associated with reduced serum creatinine concentration, urinary protein excretion, and arteriolar injury score compared with l-NAME/SHR control. However, the combination of enalapril and/or losartan with HCTZ markedly improved each of these functions. These results demonstrated minor benefits of HCTZ monotherapy and a marked superiority of its combination with enalapril and/or losartan over HCTZ monotherapy on renoprotection in l-NAME/SHR, thereby providing strong evidence of their clinical benefits for hypertensive patients with renal functional impairment.
Negated concepts interfere with anaphor resolution

Abstract Across three experiments, we studied whether the mental representations of negated concepts are suppressed. In two reading-time experiments, we tested whether the presence of a negated nonreferent distractor (e.g., Justin bought a mango but not an apple. He ate the fruit.) interfered with the process of anaphor resolution. We found evidence that highly-typical category exemplars (e.g., apple) in the negated nonreferent role interfere with anaphor comprehension; evidence regarding less-typical category exemplars was mixed. In a third experiment, participants read brief passages like those from the prior experiments and their memory for the category exemplars was tested in a surprise cued-recall task. Once again, we found evidence that negated nonreferents are considered during anaphor resolution. These results are inconsistent with a theoretical perspective that posits that negation of a concept obligatorily leads to suppression of that concept. Instead, we argue that the comprehension of negation will be dictated by its pragmatic role.
Sid2p, a Spindle Pole Body Kinase That Regulates the Onset of Cytokinesis

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe divides by medial fission through the use of an actomyosin contractile ring. Precisely at the end of anaphase, the ring begins to constrict and the septum forms. Proper coordination of cell division with mitosis is crucial to ensure proper segregation of chromosomes to daughter cells. The Sid2p kinase is one of several proteins that function as part of a novel signaling pathway required for initiation of medial ring constriction and septation. Here, we show that Sid2p is a component of the spindle pole body at all stages of the cell cycle and localizes transiently to the cell division site during medial ring constriction and septation. A medial ring and an intact microtubule cytoskeleton are required for the localization of Sid2p to the division site. We have established an in vitro assay for measuring Sid2p kinase activity, and found that Sid2p kinase activity peaks during medial ring constriction and septation. Both Sid2p localization to the division site and activity depend on the function of all of the other septation initiation genes: cdc7, cdc11, cdc14, sid1, spg1, and sid4. Thus, Sid2p, a component of the spindle pole body, by virtue of its transient localization to the division site, appears to determine the timing of ring constriction and septum delivery in response to activating signals from other Sid gene products.
A randomized controlled trial of mometasone furoate nasal spray for the treatment of nasal polyposis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of mometasone furoate nasal spray (NS) for the treatment of nasal polyposis. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter study. SETTING A total of 24 centers in 17 countries. PATIENTS A total of 310 subjects 18 years or older with bilateral nasal polyps. INTERVENTIONS (1) A 200-microg dose of mometasone furoate NS in the morning and matching placebo in the evening; (2) 200-microg doses of mometasone furoate NS in the morning and evening; or (3) matching placebo in the morning and evening. All 3 regimens were administered as a nasal spray for 4 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Primary end points were change from baseline to last assessment in physician-assessed bilateral polyp grade and change from baseline in subject-assessed congestion and/or obstruction score averaged over the first month of treatment. Analysis of variance was used for all efficacy end points except for change in bilateral polyp grade, for which baseline polyp grade was added as a covariate to the analysis of variance model to account for any between-group baseline differences in this variable. RESULTS Mometasone furoate NS doses of 200 microg administered once or twice daily produced greater reductions in bilateral polyp grade at the end point than placebo, with differences reaching statistical significance with twice-daily dosing (P = .04). Over 1 month, both mometasone furoate NS regimens produced statistically superior improvements from baseline in congestion and/or obstruction score vs placebo (P = .01 for once-daily dosing; P<.001 for twice-daily dosing). The drug was well tolerated. CONCLUSION Mometasone furoate NS is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for bilateral nasal polyposis in adults, reducing nasal polyp size and symptoms of nasal congestion and/or obstruction.
Postoperative symbiotic in patients with head and neck cancer: a double-blind randomised trial

Abstract Studies on the ‘gut origin of sepsis’ have suggested that stressful insults, such as surgery, can affect intestinal permeability, leading to bacterial translocation. Symbiotics have been reported to be able to improve gut permeability and modulate the immunologic system, thereby decreasing postoperative complications. Therefore we aimed to evaluate the postoperative use of symbiotics in head and neck cancer surgical patients for intestinal function and permeability, as well as the postoperative outcomes. Patients were double-blind randomised into the symbiotic (n 18) or the control group (n 18). Samples were administered twice a day by nasoenteric tube, starting on the 1st postoperative day until the 5th to 7th day, and comprised 109 colony-forming units/ml each of Lactobacillus paracasei, L. rhamnosus, L. acidophilus, and Bifidobacterium lactis plus 6 g of fructo-oligosaccharides, or a placebo (6 g of maltodextrin). Intestinal function (day of first evacuation, total stool episodes, stool consistency, gastrointestinal tract symptoms and gut permeability by diamine oxidase (DAO) enzyme) and postoperative complications (infectious and non-infectious) were assessed. Results of comparison of the pre- and postoperative periods showed that the groups were similar for all outcome variables. In all, twelve patients had complications in the symbiotic group v. nine in the control group (P>0·05), and the preoperative-postoperative DAO activity ranged from 28·5 (sd 15·4) to 32·7 (sd 11·0) ng/ml in the symbiotic group and 35·2 (sd 17·7) to 34·1 (sd 12·0) ng/ml in the control group (P>0·05). In conclusion, postoperative symbiotics did not impact on intestinal function and postoperative outcomes of head and neck surgical patients.
Broken Promises: An Experiment

We test whether promises per se are effective in enhancing cooperative behavior in a form of trust game. In a new treatment, rather than permitting free-form messages, we instead allow only a bare promise-only message to be sent (or not). We find that bare promises are much less effective in achieving good social outcomes than free-form messages; in fact, bare promise-only messages lead to behavior that is much the same as when no messages are feasible. Our design also permits us to test the predictions of guilt aversion against the predictions of lying aversion. Our experimental results provide evidence that mainly supports the guilt-aversion predictions, but we also find some support for the presence of lying aversion.
Point-of-Time Effects Across the Semester: Is There a Sampling Bias?

Abstract Prior research has yielded inconsistent findings regarding differences between university participant-pool students who volunteer early or late in the semester. This issue is important because external validity may be threatened when researchers take samples from university participant pools. In the present study, point-of-time effects were investigated via measures of procrastination, motivation, locus of control, and cued recall. The findings suggest that slight differences exist between early and late volunteers on some measures of personality and motivation; however, there were no point-of-time effects for cued recall. The data indicate that if performance-based measures (e.g., cued recall) are under investigation, potential differences in personality and motivation may be attenuated because of the demand characteristics of laboratory settings.
Web PKI: Closing the Gap between Guidelines and Practices

A string of recent attacks against the global public key infrastructure (PKI) has brought to light weaknesses in the certification authority (CA) system. In response, the CA/Browser Forum, a consortium of certification authorities and browser vendors, published in 2011 a set of requirements applicable to all certificates intended for use on the Web and issued after July 1st, 2012, following the successful adoption of the extended validation guidelines in 2007. We evaluate the actual level of adherence to the CA/Browser Forum guidelines over time, as well as the impact of each violation, by inspecting a large collection of certificates gathered from Web crawls. We further refine our analysis by automatically deriving profile templates that characterize the makeup of certificates per issuer. By integrating these templates with violation statistics, we are able to depict the practices of certification authorities worldwide, and thus to monitor the PKI and proactively detect major violations. Our method also provides new means of assessing the trustworthiness of SSL certificates used on the Web.
Respiratory and cardiac self‐gated free‐breathing cardiac CINE imaging with multiecho 3D hybrid radial SSFP acquisition

A respiratory and cardiac self‐gated free‐breathing three‐dimensional cine steady‐state free precession imaging method using multiecho hybrid radial sampling is presented. Cartesian mapping of the k‐space center along the slice encoding direction provides intensity‐weighted position information, from which both respiratory and cardiac motions are derived. With in plan radial sampling acquired at every pulse repetition time, no extra scan time is required for sampling the k‐space center. Temporal filtering based on density compensation is used for radial reconstruction to achieve high signal‐to‐noise ratio and contrast‐to‐noise ratio. High correlation between the self‐gating signals and external gating signals is demonstrated. This respiratory and cardiac self‐gated, free‐breathing, three‐dimensional, radial cardiac cine imaging technique provides image quality comparable to that acquired with the multiple breath‐hold two‐dimensional Cartesian steady‐state free precession technique in short‐axis, four‐chamber, and two‐chamber orientations. Functional measurements from the three‐dimensional cardiac short axis cine images are found to be comparable to those obtained using the standard two‐dimensional technique. Magn Reson Med 63:1230–1237, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.