Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Simulator Sickness Impair Learning Decision Making While Driving a Police Vehicle? | Le mal du simulateur: un frein à l’apprentissage de la prise de décision en conduite d’un véhicule de police?

The use of driving simulators is an innovation for police training in Quebec. There are some issues related to their impact on training objectives. This article presents the results of a study involving 71 police cadets who participated in six training sessions with a driving simulator. The training sessions were designed to competencies development to make decisions during emergency driving and pursuit. The nature and consequences of the discomfort experienced by the participants is described. The results highlight the importance of the initial training session. Issues related to providing trainees with adequate support are discussed. Le simulateur de conduite est un outil pedagogique novateur pour la formation policiere au Quebec. Il comporte des enjeux a l’egard de l’atteinte des objectifs pedagogiques vises. L’article presente les resultats d’une recherche menee aupres de 71 aspirants policiers ayant participe a une formation de six seances au simulateur de conduite visant le developpement des competences en matiere de prise de decision en conduite d’urgence et en poursuite. Les resultats dressent un portrait des malaises ressentis par les participants et de leurs impacts. Les resultats montrent egalement l’importance de la premiere seance. La discussion s’attarde aux enjeux lies a l’accompagnement des apprenants.
Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors are chemical enhancers of dimerization of the HIV type 1 reverse transcriptase

Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are allosteric inhibitors of the HIV type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT). Yeast grown in the presence of many of these drugs exhibited dramatically increased association of the p66 and p51 subunits of the HIV-1 RT as reported by a yeast two-hybrid assay. The enhancement required drug binding by RT; introduction of a drug-resistance mutation into the p66 construct negated the enhancement effect. The drugs could also induce heterodimerization of dimerization defective mutants. Coimmunoprecipitation of RT subunits from yeast lysates confirmed the induction of heterodimer formation by the drugs. In vitro-binding studies indicate that NNRTIs can bind tightly to p66 but not p51 and then mediate subsequent heterodimerization. This study demonstrates an unexpected effect of NNRTIs on the assembly of RT subunits.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Americans' Instant Messaging and E-Mail Use: A National Survey

An online survey of 884 deaf and hard of hearing adults asked about their current and past use of communication technologies, notably TTY, telecommunications relay services, email, and instant messaging (IM). Results showed that respondents were using e-mail and IM far more than TTY and relay services. The study participants virtually all had e-mail and IM at home. In fact, about one quarter had a high-speed ("broadband") connection at home. While the vast majority also had and used e-mail at work, just 1 in 3 had IM at his or her place of employment. The findings have several implications. Most important for educators is that strong reading and writing skills are essential if adults who are deaf or hard of hearing are to take advantage of today's communications technologies. Another conclusion is that some workers who are deaf or hard of hearing appear to face discrimination in employment because office policies forbid the use of a highly effective reasonable accommodation, instant messaging.
Putting Personality in Social Context: Extraversion, Emergent Leadership, and the Availability of Rewards

The present research tested relations between extraversion and emergent leadership among men in situations that differed in potential reward availability. Four-person groups of men engaged in a Leaderless Group Discussion (LGD) task and were randomly assigned to be evaluated by an attractive female observer, an attractive male observer, or not be evaluated. Evolutionary theories suggest that impressing a female evaluator in an intrasexually competitive situation should hold greater reward potential for men than impressing either a male evaluator or no evaluator. Accordingly, more extraverted men (who are more sensitive to reward cues) should display more group leadership when being evaluated by a woman than either a man or no one. Self-and peer ratings confirmed that more extraverted men were significantly more likely to emerge as leaders, but only in the female-evaluator condition. The results are discussed in terms of the interplay between personality, situational factors, and evolutionary principles.
CIRCADIAN VARIATIONS IN PERFORMANCE, PSYCHOLOGICAL RATINGS, CATECHOLAMINE EXCRETION AND URINE FLOW DURING PROLONGED SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Abstract : The paper presents two experiments, in which a total of 63 subjects were deprived of sleep for 75 hours with simultaneous 3-hourly measurements of physiological variables (e.g. catecholamine excretion), self-ratings, and performance. The purpose of the experiments was to study: (a) circadian rhythms in a number of biochemical and psychological variables under controlled conditions. (b) changes in these variables with the duration of sleep deprivation. (c) temporal interrelationships between the biochemical and psychological variables. In all the above respects, the first experiment was an exploratory study, the results being further tested in the second.
Mantle-cell lymphoma: a population-based clinical study.

PURPOSE From a population-based non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) registry, 41 patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) -- a recently defined distinct B-cell NHL -- were selected and compared with patients with low- or intermediate-grade NHL from the same registry. PATIENTS AND METHODS The incidence and behavior of MCL in the area of the Comprehensive Cancer Center West (CCCW) from 1981 to 1989 were analyzed. Age, performance, tumor bulk, extranodal localization, stage, response to therapy, and survival were registered. Expression of cyclin D1 protein and Ki-67 were measured in 29 patients. RESULTS MCL made up 3.7% of NHLs. The median age was 68 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1.6:1. Seventy-eight percent presented with stage IV, with the majority having bone marrow involvement. The complete response (CR) rate was 32% (13 of 41), with a median duration of 25 months. The median overall survival time was 31.5 months. The International Prognostic Index identified five patients with a low-risk score and a median survival time of 93+ months. In 23 of 29 patients, cyclin D1 overexpression was present, without any relation to overall or disease-free survival. In contrast, a proliferative index less than 10% was significantly related to a better overall survival time (50 v 24 months). CONCLUSION MCL is a disease of the elderly, who present with widespread disease and with a poor response to therapy. Although it harbors features of an indolent NHL, it behaves clinically as an aggressive NHL with a short overall survival time.
Global risk stratification in primary hypertension: the role of the kidney

Objective Microalbuminuria and a reduction in creatinine clearance are well known, independent predictors of unfavourable cardiovascular prognosis. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of renal damage on global risk stratification in 459 non-diabetic, untreated hypertensive patients (64% men, mean age 47.3 years). Methods Renal damage was defined as creatinine clearance < 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 (Cockcroft–Gault formula) or the presence of microalbuminuria (albumin to creatinine ratio). Cardiac and vascular organ damage was assessed by ultrasound scan. We evaluated the impact of renal damage, left ventricular hypertrophy and carotid atherosclerosis on risk stratification as recommended by the 2007 European Society of Hypertension–European Society of Cardiology Guidelines. Results The prevalence of renal damage, microalbuminuria and creatinine clearance < 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 was 24, 12 and 13%, respectively. There was no correlation between albuminuria and estimated creatinine clearance, and only 0.9% of patients showed microalbuminuria and reduced creatinine clearance simultaneously. The presence of renal damage entailed a 3.3 times higher risk of having cardiovascular abnormalities. Based on routine work-up, 58% of our study patients were classified as high–very high risk. The simultaneous evaluation of albuminuria and creatinine clearance resulted in a significant change in risk stratification, since 68% of patients were classified in the high–very high risk class. The search for left ventricular hypertrophy or carotid atherosclerosis by ultrasonography did not improve risk stratification significantly as compared to the assessment of renal damage. Conclusions Our findings support the assessment of renal abnormalities as the first step when evaluating target organ damage for cardiovascular risk assessment in hypertensive patients.
Activation of the Kss1 Invasive-Filamentous Growth Pathway Induces Ty1 Transcription and Retrotransposition inSaccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT Using a set of genomic TY1A-lacZ fusions, we show that Ste12 and Tec1, two transcription factors of the Kss1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade activate Ty1 transcription inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. This result strongly suggests that the invasive-filamentous pathway regulates Ty1 transcription. Since this pathway is active in diploid cells, we suspected that Ty1 transposition might occur in this cell type, despite the fact that this event has been never reported before (unless activated by heterologous promoters such as that of GAL1). We demonstrate here that constitutive activation of the invasive-filamentous pathway by theSTE11-4 allele or by growth in low-nitrogen medium induces Ty1 transcription and retrotransposition in diploid cells. We show that Ty1 retrotransposition can be activated by STE11-4 in haploid cells as well. Our findings provide the first evidence that Ty1 retrotransposition can be activated by environmental signals that affect differentiation. Activation of the Kss1 MAPK cascade by stress is known to cause filament formation that permits the search for nutrients away from the colonization site. We propose that activation of Ty1 retrotransposition by this cascade could play a role in adaptive mutagenesis in response to stress.
The Interplay between Zinc, Vitamin D and, IL-17 in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Liver Disease

Objectives. To assess zinc (Zn) and vitamin D (Vit. D) status in chronic Hepatitis C virus- (HCV) infected patients and their relationship to interleukin- (IL-) 17 and disease severity and then investigate whether Zn and Vit. D3 modulate IL-17 expression in chronic HCV patients. Methods. Seventy patients and fifty healthy subjects were investigated. Serum levels of Zn, Vit. D, and IL-17 were assessed in the patients group and subgroups. Patients lymphocytes were activated in vitro in the presence or absence of Zn or Vit. D3 and then intracellular IL-17 production was assessed using flow cytometry. Results. Zn and Vit. D were significantly decreased in HCV patients. Increasing disease severity leads to more reduction in Zn level opposed by increasing IL-17 level. Zn potently reduced IL-17 production in a dose-related fashion; however it did not exert any toxic effects. Although Vit. D apparently increases IL17 expression, it is unclear whether it is due to its toxic effect on cell count or lack of definite association between Vit. D and both IL-17 and disease severity. Conclusions. This study demonstrates that Zn modulates IL-17 expression and provides a rationale for evaluating this compound as a supplementary agent in the treatment of chronic HCV.
Antigen microarrays identify CNS-produced autoantibodies in RRMS

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by the local production of antibodies in the CNS and the presence of oligoclonal bands in the CSF. Antigen arrays allow the study of antibody reactivity against a large number of antigens using small volumes of fluid with greater sensitivity than ELISA. We investigated whether there were unique autoantibodies in the CSF of patients with MS as measured by antigen arrays and whether these antibodies differed from those in serum. Methods: We used antigen arrays to analyze the reactivity of antibodies in matched serum and CSF samples of 20 patients with untreated relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 26 methylprednisolone-treated patients with RRMS, and 20 control patients with other noninflammatory neurologic conditions (ONDs) against 334 different antigens including heat shock proteins, lipids, and myelin antigens. Results: We found different antibody signatures in matched CSF and serum samples The targets of these antibodies included epitopes of the myelin antigens CNP, MBP, MOBP, MOG, and PLP (59%), HSP60 and HSP70 (38%), and the 68-kD neurofilament (3%). The antibody response in patients with MS was heterogeneous; CSF antibodies in individual patients reacted with different autoantigens. These autoantibodies were locally synthesized in the CNS and were of the immunoglobulin G class. Finally, we found that treatment with steroids decreased autoantibody reactivity, epitope spreading, and intrathecal autoantibody synthesis. Conclusions: These studies provide a new avenue to investigate the local antibody response in the CNS, which may serve as a biomarker to monitor both disease progression and response to therapy in MS.
Viral Kinetics Suggests a Reconciliation of the Disparate Observations of the Modulation of Claudin-1 Expression on Cells Exposed to Hepatitis C Virus

The tight junction protein claudin-1 (CLDN1) is necessary for hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry into target cells. Recent studies have made disparate observations of the modulation of the expression of CLDN1 on cells following infection by HCV. In one study, the mean CLDN1 expression on cells exposed to HCV declined, whereas in another study HCV infected cells showed increased CLDN1 expression compared to uninfected cells. Consequently, the role of HCV in modulating CLDN1 expression, and hence the frequency of cellular superinfection, remains unclear. Here, we present a possible reconciliation of these disparate observations. We hypothesized that viral kinetics and not necessarily HCV-induced receptor modulation underlies these disparate observations. To test this hypothesis, we constructed a mathematical model of viral kinetics in vitro that mimicked the above experiments. Model predictions provided good fits to the observed evolution of the distribution of CLDN1 expression on cells following exposure to HCV. Cells with higher CLDN1 expression were preferentially infected and outgrown by cells with lower CLDN1 expression, resulting in a decline of the mean CLDN1 expression with time. At the same time, because the susceptibility of cells to infection increased with CLDN1 expression, infected cells tended to have higher CLDN1 expression on average than uninfected cells. Our study thus presents an explanation of the disparate observations of CLDN1 expression following HCV infection and points to the importance of considering viral kinetics in future studies of receptor expression on cells exposed to HCV.
Effects of Intraosseous Erythropoietin during Hemorrhagic Shock in Swine

Objective To determine whether erythropoietin given during hemorrhagic shock (HS) ameliorates organ injury while improving resuscitation and survival. Methods Three series of 24 pigs each were studied. In an initial series, 50% of the blood volume (BV) was removed in 30 minutes and normal saline (threefold the blood removed) started at minute 90 infusing each third in 30, 60, and 150 minutes with shed blood reinfused at minute 330 (HS-50BV). In a second series, the same HS-50BV protocol was used but removing an additional 15% of BV from minute 30 to 60 (HS-65BV). In a final series, blood was removed as in HS-65BV and intraosseous vasopressin given from minute 30 (0.04 U/kg min−1) until start of shed blood reinfusion at minute 150 (HS-65BV+VP). Normal saline was reduced to half the blood removed and given from minute 90 to 120 in half of the animals. In each series, animals were randomized 1∶1 to receive erythropoietin (1,200 U/kg) or control solution intraosseously after removing 10% of the BV. Results In HS-50BV, O2 consumption remained near baseline yielding minimal lactate increases, 88% resuscitability, and 60% survival at 72 hours. In HS-65BV, O2 consumption was reduced and lactate increased yielding 25% resuscitability. In HS-65BV+VP, vasopressin promoted hemodynamic stability yielding 92% resuscitability and 83% survival at 72 hours. Erythropoietin did not affect resuscitability or subsequent survival in any of the series but increased interleukin-10, attenuated lactate increases, and ameliorated organ injury based on lesser troponin I, AST, and ALT increases and lesser neurological deficits in the HS-65BV+VP series. Conclusions Erythropoietin given during HS in swine failed to alter resuscitability and 72 hour survival regardless of HS severity and concomitant treatment with fluids and vasopressin but attenuated acute organ injury. The studies also showed the efficacy of vasopressin and restrictive fluid resuscitation for hemodynamic stabilization and survival.
Pathophysiology of Osteoarthritis: Evidence against the Viscoelastic Theory

Objectives: Whether changes in the hyaluronan moiety of synovial fluid are associated with osteoarthritis (OA) is unresolved experimentally, notwithstanding frequent statements in the literature that the disease leads to degraded hyaluronan. We evaluated this hypothesis by comparing the molecular weight and concentration of hyaluronan in synovial fluid from patients with and without OA. Methods: Synovial fluid was obtained by needle aspiration from patients with advanced OA (Kellgren-Lawrence Grade IV) and from patients with no radiological or arthroscopic evidence of OA. The distribution of the molecular weight of hyaluronan was measured using both gel electrophoresis and size-exclusion chromatography, and hyaluronan concentration was determined by immunosorbent assay and differential refractometry. Results: The distributions of molecular weight were highly variable within each group of patients; the average distributions, however, were identical in the 2 groups. The average concentration of hyaluronan also did not differ statistically between the 2 groups. Conclusions: We found no evidence of hyaluronan degradation in synovial fluid of patients with OA. Commonly expressed opinion in the literature to the contrary may have resulted from a failure to adequately consider the limitations of previous experimental studies.
Photon up‐conversion increases biomass yield in Chlorella vulgaris

Photon up‐conversion, a process whereby lower energy radiations are converted to higher energy levels via the use of appropriate phosphor systems, was employed as a novel strategy for improving microalgal growth and lipid productivity. Photon up‐conversion enables the utilization of regions of the solar spectrum, beyond the typical photosynthetically active radiation, that are usually wasted or are damaging to the algae. The effects of up‐conversion of red light by two distinct sets of up‐conversion phosphors were studied in the model microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. Up‐conversion by set 1 phosphors led to a 2.85 fold increase in biomass concentration and a 3.2 fold increase in specific growth rate of the microalgae. While up‐conversion by set 2 phosphors resulted in a 30% increase in biomass and 12% increase in specific intracellular neutral lipid, while the specific growth rates were comparable to that of the control. Furthermore, up‐conversion resulted in higher levels of specific intracellular reactive oxygen species in C. vulgaris. Up‐conversion of red light (654 nm) was shown to improve biomass yields in C. vulgaris. In principle, up‐conversion can be used to increase the utilization range of the electromagnetic spectrum for improved cultivation of photosynthetic systems such as plants, algae, and microalgae.
Magnetar-energized supernova explosions and GRB-jets

In this paper we report on the early evolution of core-collapse supernova explosion following the birth of a magnetar with the dipolar magnetic field of B=10^{15}G and the rotational period of 2ms, which was studied by means of axisymmetric general relativistic MHD simulations. The numerical models exhibit highly collimated magnetically-driven jets very early on. The jets are super-Alfvenic but remain sub-fast until the end of the simulations (t=0.2s). The power released in the jets is about 3x10^{50}erg/s which implies the spin-down time of ~37s. The total rotational energy of the magnetar, E~10^{52}erg, is sufficient to drive hypernova but it is not clear as to how large a fraction of this energy can be transfered to the stellar envelope. Given the observed propagation speed of the jets, v_p~0.17c, they are expected to traverse the progenitor in few seconds and after this most of the released rotational energy would be simply carried away by these jets into the surrounding space. Our results provide the first more or less self-consistent numerical model of a central engine capable of producing, in the supernova setting and on a long-term basis, collimated jets with sufficient power to explain long duration GRBs and their afterglows. Although the flow speed of our jets is relatively low, v_j~0.5c$, the cooling of proto-neutron star will eventually result in much higher magnetization of its magnetospheres and ultra-relativistic asymptotic speeds of the jets. Given the relatively long cooling time-scale we still expect the jets to be only weakly relativistic by the time of break out. This leads to a model of GRB jets with systematic longitudinal variation of Lorentz factor which may have specific observational signatures both in the prompt and the afterglow emission.
The Impact of New Social Media on Intercultural Adaptation

Social media has become increasingly popular components of our everyday life in today's globalizing society. It provides a context where people across the world can communicate, exchange messages, share knowledge, and interact with each other regardless of the distance that separates them. Intercultural adaptation involves the process of promoting understanding through interaction to increase the level of fitness so that the demands of a new cultural environment can be met. Research shows that people tend to use social media to become more integrated into the host culture during their adaptation and to maintain connections to their home countries. This paper attempts to investigate the impact of using social media on the intercultural adaptation process. In-depth interviews of international students of a U.S. university are conducted. Based on the results of the analysis, directions for future studies in this line of research are also discussed.
The Sign Language of Music: Musical Shaping Gestures (MSGs) in Rehearsal Talk by Performers with Hearing Impairments

The first part of this paper reviews literature on the use of gesture in musical contexts and reports an investigation of the gestures (spontaneous gesticulation) made by musicians with different levels of hearing impairment in rehearsal talk. Profoundly deaf musicians, who were also users of British Sign Language, were found to produce significantly more gestures than moderately deaf and hearing musicians. Analysis also revealed the presence of underlying spatial and cross-modal associations in the gestural representations produced by all the musicians. The second part of the paper discusses the results of the study and addresses some wider theoretical questions. First, a classification of ‘musical shaping gestures’ (MSGs) according to existing taxonomies is attempted. Second, the question of how a standardised ‘sign language of music’ could be formed is addressed and, finally, the potential uses of such a system are considered.