Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transformation Discourse: Nuclear Risk as a Strategic Tool in Late Soviet Politics of Expertise

In this article, the author examines an exemplary part of the Soviet media discussion following the Chernobyl disaster. She traces transformations in this discourse affecting the concepts of risk and uncertainty and indicates their relevance for the reconfiguration of the relationships between the state, scientific experts, and the public. Chernobyl occurred during a period of unprecedented potential for change: in the wake of Gorbachev’s perestroika, newly emerging environmental groups gradually managed to gain access to a previously closed forum, the national print media. During the ensuing public debates between environmentalists and energy officials, nuclear risks or uncertainties were used as powerful, yet flexible, rhetorical tools for articulating political positions, for assigning or denying authority and legitimacy, and for reconceptualizing “the public. ” The shorthand “Chernobyl” came to be deployed strategically to solicit change, to challenge old practices, and to legitimize the continuation and extension of these practices.
Quantifying Dustiness, Specific Allergens, and Endotoxin in Bulk Soya Imports

Soya is an important bulk agricultural product often transported by sea as chipped beans and/or the bean husks after pelletisation. There are proven allergens in both forms. Bulk handling of soya imports can generate air pollution containing dust, allergens, and pyrogens, posing health risks to dockside workers and surrounding populations. Using an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standardised rotating drum dustiness test in seven imported soya bulks, we compared the generated levels of dust and two major soya allergens in three particle sizes related to respiratory health. Extractable levels of allergen and endotoxin from the bulks showed 30–60 fold differences, with levels of one allergen (hydrophobic seed protein) and endotoxin higher in husk. The generated levels of dust and allergens in the three particle sizes also showed very wide variations between bulks, with aerolysed levels of allergen influenced by both the inherent dustiness and the extractable allergen in each bulk. Percentage allergen aerolysed from pelletized husk—often assumed to be of low dustiness—after transportation was not lower than that from chipped beans. Thus, not all soya bulks pose the same inhalation health risk and reinforces the importance of controlling dust generation from handling all soya bulk to as low as reasonably practicable.
Emotional and psychophysiological responses to tempo, mode, and percussiveness

People often listen to music to influence their emotional state. However, the specific musical characteristics which cause this process are not yet fully understood. We have investigated the influence of the musical characteristics of tempo, mode, and percussiveness on our emotions. In a quest towards ecologically valid results, 32 participants listened to 16 pop and 16 rock songs while conducting an office task. They rated experienced arousal, valence, and tension, while skin conductance and cardiovascular responses were recorded. An increase in tempo was found to lead to an increase in reported arousal and tension and a decrease in heart rate variability. More arousal was reported during minor than major mode songs. Level and frequency of skin conductance responses increased with an increase in percussiveness. Physiological responses revealed patterns that might not have been revealed by self-report. Interaction effects further suggest that musical characteristics interplay in modulating emotions. So, tempo, mode, and percussiveness indeed modulate our emotions and, consequently, can be used to direct emotions. Music presentation revealed subtly different results in a laboratory setting, where music was altered with breaks, from those in a more ecologically valid setting where continuous music was presented. All in all, this enhances our understanding of the influence of music on emotions and creates opportunities seamlessly to tap into listeners’ emotional state through their physiological responses.
Effect of pulsed electric field on the rheological and colour properties of soy milk

The effects of pulsed electric field (PEF) treatments on rheological and colour properties of soy milk were evaluated. Flow behaviour, viscosity and rheological parameters of PEF-treated soy milk were monitored using a controlled stress rheometer. For PEF treatments, electric field intensity of 18, 20 and 22 kV cm− 1 and number of pulses of 25, 50, 75 and 100 were used. For the measurements of rheological properties of soy milk shear rates between 0 and 200 s− 1 was used. The rheological behaviour of control and the PEF-treated soy milk were described using a power law model. The PEF treatments affected the rheological properties of soy milk. Apparent viscosity of soy milk increased from 6.62 to 7.46 (10− 3 Pa s) with increase in electric field intensity from 18 to 22 kV cm− 1 and increase in the number of pulses from 0 to 100. The consistency index (K) of soy milk also changed with PEF treatments. Lightness (L*), red/greenness (a*) and yellowness/blueness (b*) of soy milk were affected by PEF treatments.
Toxicity Properties of Silver Nanoparticles on Lactate Dehydrogenase Activity and Histological Changes of Heart and Embryo Tissues in Pregnant Mice (NMRI)

The rapid advancement of nanotechnology enables us to use nanoscale particles. This material in terms of physical, chemical and biological characteristics are unique compared to larger parti- cles. Increased cell division, apoptosis, oxidative stress has been associated with toxic effects of nano- silver. The aim of this study was to evaluate histipotological changes and enzyme activity in nanoparticle silver trated pregnant NMRI mice. These experimental were performed on 35 NMRI mice used for treat- ment with Ag Nps. The average weight of the animals was 30 ± 3 g that divided into five groups of seven were injected intraperitoneally. After mentioned treatment, the blood sampling was done of NMRI. The collected tissues were washed with saline and fixed in Boin΄s fluid and stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histopathology evaluation. After data collection, statistical analysis was done using SAS soft- ware. Histological observations showed that the silver nanoparticles had a major effect on fetal develop- ment in each experimental groups compared to the control group. No change of histological characteris- tics of heart tissues was observed in Ag-nps groups as compared to the control group. Different concen- trations of silver nanoparticles increased levels of enzyme lactate dehydrogenase , but no significant dif- ferences were observed between control and treated groups (P<0.05). Toxicity of silver nanoparticles injected intraperitoneally into the experimental groups were evaluated which had unfavorable effects on embryonic development. So, further investigates are suggested to predict AgNPs toxicity.
The Evolution and Development of Inequity Aversion

Humans show such strong sensitivity to whether resources are distributed fairly that they sacrifice personal gain to avoid distributional inequity. This inequity aversion plays an important role in guiding human social decision-making and appears to be ubiquitous across human populations. However, we currently do not understand whether or how inequity aversion evolved over the course of human evolution or how it develops in children. In this dissertation I examine the evolutionary and developmental origins of inequity aversion using two complementary approaches. First, I ask to what extent inequity aversion is a cognitive trait shared with other cooperative species. Second, I investigate the developmental trajectory of inequity aversion in children by examining (1) the social influences on inequity aversion and (2) the role of reputational concerns in the expression of inequity aversion. Findings from my dissertation indicate that some nonhuman animal species may react aversively to unequal resource distributions. However, animal reactions to inequity depend on features of experimental paradigms such as whether subjects are required to work for rewards. Furthermore, animals’ reactions to inequity do not appear to be an exclusively social phenomenon.
Age-Related Changes in Upper Extremity Kinesthesis

While age-related decreases in lower extremity kinesthesis have been reported, age-related changes in upper extremity kinesthesis are minimally documented. This study compares kinesthetic acuity and kinesthetic memory in younger and older adults and establishes test-retest reliability of the testing devices. Subjects included thirty-six normal 20–29-year-olds and thirty-six normal 60–69-year-olds. Kinesthetic acuity and kinesthetic memory were assessed using a ramp and stencil device, respectively. Younger subjects exhibited significantly lower thresholds for kinesthetic acuity than older subjects (p = 0.049), and less error on the kinesthetic memory test than older subjects (p < 0.000).
Organizational career planning and management techniques and activities in use in high‐tech organizations

Summarizes a study that consisted of an empirical analysis of organizational career planning and management techniques ‐ activities, programmes and processes that are part of the human resource management role. Focuses on the actual use of these techniques and their evaluation by management and employees in 60 high‐technology organizations in Israel and the UK. The findings illustrate the applications of these techniques, their perceived quality and their estimated necessity. Presents an analysis ofthe management perceptions and employees’ attitudes towards the various techniques. Reports findings which indicate the actual use of the career development techniques and reveal problems of organizational communication.
Predicting Organization Development Consulting Competence from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Stage of Ego Development

A 77-item Consulting Competence Survey was developed and tested for reliability and validity. During a six-month course designed to help members of a corporate quality staff develop organization development (OD) skills, 64 trainees were each assessed by two of their peers using this instrument. The trainees were also assessed by two trainers using a five-item trainer rating instrument. Two dependent measures-peer rating and trainer rating-were used to test hypotheses about the predictive validity of the eight Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) scales and the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (SCT) of ego development. Only the intuition scale of the MBT1 and the stage of ego development were found to predict consulting competence as rated by the subjects `peers and trainers. When these two measures were entered into the same structural equation, only stage of ego development was found to remain a significant, positive predictor. The study's implications for research and for selecting and training OD consultants are discussed.
Methodological issues in studying the anxiety-reducing effects of animals: Reflections from a pediatric dental study

Abstract This article reports observations made during a study investigating the role of a therapy dog in reducing anxiety in urban children visiting the dentist. The design and execution of the study were affected by methodological issues such as the reaction of urban children to the dog in the clinic, the tools used to measure anxiety in the children, the age and pet-ownership status of the children, and the personality of the therapy dog. Suggestions made for researchers designing similar studies include allowing children to become comfortable with the therapy dog before beginning formal data collection, working with younger children who have made fewer visits to the dentist, and using or developing more accurate tools for measuring behavioral and physiological anxiety.
Inhibition of β-Cell Sodium-Calcium Exchange Enhances Glucose-Dependent Elevations in Cytoplasmic Calcium and Insulin Secretion

OBJECTIVE The sodium-calcium exchanger isoform 1 (NCX1) regulates cytoplasmic calcium (Ca2+c) required for insulin secretion in β-cells. NCX1 is alternatively spliced, resulting in the expression of splice variants in different tissues such as NCX1.3 and -1.7 in β-cells. As pharmacological inhibitors of NCX1 splice variants are in development, the pharmacological profile of β-cell NCX1.3 and -1.7 and the cellular effects of NCX1 inhibition were investigated. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The patch-clamp technique was used to examine the pharmacological profile of the NCX1 inhibitor KB-R7943 on recombinant NCX1.3 and -1.7 activity. Ca2+ imaging and membrane capacitance were used to assess the effects of KB-R7943 on Ca2+c and insulin secretion in mouse and human β-cells and islets. RESULTS NCX1.3 and -1.7 calcium extrusion (forward-mode) activity was ∼16-fold more sensitive to KB-R7943 inhibition compared with cardiac NCX1.1 (IC50s = 2.9 and 2.4 vs. 43.0 μmol/l, respectively). In single mouse/human β-cells, 1 μmol/l KB-R7943 increased insulin granule exocytosis but was without effect on α-cell glucagon granule exocytosis. KB-R7943 also augmented sulfonylurea and glucose-stimulated Ca2+c levels and insulin secretion in mouse and human islets, although KB-R7943 was without effect under nonstimulated conditions. CONCLUSIONS Islet NCX1 splice variants display a markedly greater sensitivity to pharmacological inhibition than the cardiac NCX1.1 splice variant. NCX1 inhibition resulted in glucose-dependent increases in Ca2+c and insulin secretion in mouse and human islets. Thus, we identify β-cell NCX1 splice variants as targets for the development of novel glucose-sensitive insulinotropic drugs for type 2 diabetes.
Elevated Levels of the Anti-Inflammatory Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Precede the Onset of Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE—Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), a natural inhibitor of interleukin-1β, has been shown to improve β-cell function and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether baseline systemic levels of IL-1Ra are associated with incident type 2 diabetes during more than 10 years of follow-up. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We measured serum IL-1Ra concentrations in a nested case-control study (181 case and 376 age-, sex-, and BMI-matched normoglycemic control subjects) within the Whitehall II cohort (U.K.). RESULTS—IL-1Ra concentrations were higher in case subjects (P = 0.0006) and associated with incident type 2 diabetes (odds ratio for a 1-SD increase of IL-1Ra 1.48 [95% CI 1.21–1.80]). This association remained significant after adjustment for multiple potential confounders but was attenuated by adjusting for 2-h glucose. CONCLUSIONS—Our findings indicate that individuals who will develop type 2 diabetes are characterized by a complex immune activation that also includes upregulation of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-1Ra.
PD-L1 and PD-L2 Genetic Alterations Define Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma and Predict Outcome.

PURPOSE Classical Hodgkin lymphomas (cHLs) include small numbers of malignant Reed-Sternberg cells within an extensive but ineffective inflammatory/immune cell infiltrate. In cHL, chromosome 9p24.1/PD-L1/PD-L2 alterations increase the abundance of the PD-1 ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, and their further induction through Janus kinase 2-signal transducers and activators of transcription signaling. The unique composition of cHL limits its analysis with high-throughput genomic assays. Therefore, the precise incidence, nature, and prognostic significance of PD-L1/PD-L2 alterations in cHL remain undefined. METHODS We used a fluorescent in situ hybridization assay to evaluate CD274/PD-L1 and PDCD1LG2/PD-L2 alterations in 108 biopsy specimens from patients with newly diagnosed cHL who were treated with the Stanford V regimen and had long-term follow-up. In each case, the frequency and magnitude of 9p24.1 alterations-polysomy, copy gain, and amplification-were determined, and the expression of PD-L1 and PD-L2 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. We also assessed the association of 9p24.1 alterations with clinical parameters, which included stage (early stage I/II favorable risk, early stage unfavorable risk, advanced stage [AS] III/IV) and progression-free survival (PFS). RESULTS Ninety-seven percent of all evaluated cHLs had concordant alterations of the PD-L1 and PD-L2 loci (polysomy, 5% [five of 108]; copy gain, 56% [61 of 108]; amplification, 36% [39 of 108]). There was an association between PD-L1 protein expression and relative genetic alterations in this series. PFS was significantly shorter for patients with 9p24.1 amplification, and the incidence of 9p24.1 amplification was increased in patients with AS cHL. CONCLUSION PD-L1/PD-L2 alterations are a defining feature of cHL. Amplification of 9p24.1 is more common in patients with AS disease and associated with shorter PFS in this series. Further analyses of 9p24.1 alterations in patients treated with standard cHL induction regimens or checkpoint blockade are warranted.
OP-ELM: Optimally Pruned Extreme Learning Machine

In this brief, the optimally pruned extreme learning machine (OP-ELM) methodology is presented. It is based on the original extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm with additional steps to make it more robust and generic. The whole methodology is presented in detail and then applied to several regression and classification problems. Results for both computational time and accuracy (mean square error) are compared to the original ELM and to three other widely used methodologies: multilayer perceptron (MLP), support vector machine (SVM), and Gaussian process (GP). As the experiments for both regression and classification illustrate, the proposed OP-ELM methodology performs several orders of magnitude faster than the other algorithms used in this brief, except the original ELM. Despite the simplicity and fast performance, the OP-ELM is still able to maintain an accuracy that is comparable to the performance of the SVM. A toolbox for the OP-ELM is publicly available online.
Institutional Work in the Transformation of an Organizational Field: The Interplay of Boundary Work and Practice Work

We draw on an in-depth longitudinal analysis of conflict over harvesting practices and decision authority in the British Columbia coastal forest industry to understand the role of institutional work in the transformation of organizational fields. We examine the work of actors to create, maintain, and disrupt the practices that are considered legitimate within a field (practice work) and the boundaries between sets of individuals and groups (boundary work), and the interplay of these two forms of institutional work in effecting change. We find that actors' boundary work and practice work operate in recursive configurations that underpin cycles of institutional innovation, conflict, stability, and restabilization. We also find that transitions between these cycles are triggered by combinations of three conditions: (1) the state of the boundaries, (2) the state of practices, and (3) the existence of actors with the capacity to undertake the boundary and practice work of a different institutional process. These findings contribute to untangling the paradox of embedded agency—how those subject to the institutions in a field can effect changes in them. We also contribute to an understanding of the processes and mechanisms that drive changes in the institutional lifecycle.
MicroRNA-320a Strengthens Intestinal Barrier Function and Follows the Course of Experimental Colitis

Background:Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic-remittent disorder with the risk of disabling complications due to uncontrolled inflammation. Accurate biomarkers are needed to noninvasively monitor the disease course to tailor therapy. We evaluated the potential of the specific microRNA (miR)-320a to monitor disease activity in experimental colitis or patients with Crohn's disease and investigated its functional role in intestinal epithelial barrier formation. Methods:The impact of miR-320a on intestinal barrier function was tested in vitro in T84 epithelial cells by transepithelial resistance measurement and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis on inflammatory and microbial stimulation. Experimental colitis was studied in dextran sodium sulfate colitis, T-cell transfer colitis, and IL-10-/- mice. Disease course was monitored by body weight measurement, colonoscopy, and histological examination. MiR-320a expression during inflammation was assessed in T84 cells, murine blood, and colonic tissue and in peripheral blood from patients with Crohn's disease with active or quiescent disease. Results:MiR-320a transfection of T84 cells reinforced barrier integrity reflected by increased transepithelial resistance (P < 0.01) and inhibited barrier-destructive enteropathogenic Escherichia coli effects resulting in increased tight junction protein JAM-A expression (P = 0.02) and decrease of barrier integrity–destabilizing miR-320a target PPP2R5B (P < 0.001). Tumor necrosis factor-&agr; and interleukin-1&bgr; stimulation increased a miR-320a epxression in T84 cells. MiR-320a level was increased in blood samples from colitic mice and patients with Crohn's disease showing a strong correlation with disease activity (r2 = 0.67). Conclusions:MiR-320a strengthens intestinal barrier function in vitro and has the potential to monitor disease activity of colitic mice. Future studies are needed to further evaluate the potential of miR-320a in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
CULTURAL CONDITIONS INFLUENCING NITRATE FORMATION BY ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS

Formation of nitrate generally is considered a property of the autotrophic bacteria concerned in the process of nitrification. That certain heterotrophic forms may also produce nitrate was shown by Schmidt (1954) with the isolation from soil of Aspergillus flavus that yielded substantial amounts of nitrate nitrogen in pure culture. Examination of over 1300 heterotrophic microorganisms isolated from 22 soils by Eylar and Schmidt (1959) showed that each of the 17 cultures of A. flavus obtained proved capable of nitrate formation, whereas only 2 among 751 isolates of other fungal species formed even a trace of nitrate. The present paper reports some effects of medium composition on the production of nitrate by A. flavus.
Integrating research with NHS clinical practice: Unwelcome intrusion or constructive triangulation?

When embarking on research into the effectiveness of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the NHS or the application of psychoanalytic principles, researchers come up against a number of hurdles: many clinicians still see empirical research as antithetical or disruptive to the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy; psychoanalytic psychotherapy has previously fared poorly in evidence-based policy guidelines and this can discourage ambition, and there are technical problems of research design, measurement and standardization. Nevertheless, in a political climate which stresses service evaluation, measurable outcomes and empirical evidence, psychoanalytic psychotherapy must participate to survive. There may be gains from conducting research beyond simply meeting the requirement to provide evidence of effectiveness. Research may be viewed by some clinicians as an unwelcome intruder but it may have the potential to offer triangulation, the perspective of the ‘third’, and so strengthen the foundations of clinical practice and the development of psychoanalytic thought.