Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short-term effects of rapid pacing on mRNA level of voltage-dependent K(+) channels in rat atrium: electrical remodeling in paroxysmal atrial tachycardia.

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation causes electrophysiological changes of the atrium, thereby facilitating its maintenance. Although the expression of ion channels is modulated in chronic atrial fibrillation, it is yet unknown whether paroxysmal atrial fibrillation can also lead to electrical remodeling by affecting gene expression. METHODS AND RESULTS To examine the short-term effects of rapid pacing on the mRNA level of voltage-dependent K(+) channels, high-rate atrial pacing was performed in Sprague-Dawley rat hearts. Total RNA was prepared from the atrial appendages from 0 to 8 hours after the onset of pacing, and mRNA levels of Kv1.2, Kv1. 4, Kv1.5, Kv2.1, Kv4.2, Kv4.3, erg, KvLQT1, and minK were determined by RNase protection assay. Among these 9 genes, the mRNA level of the Kv1.5 channel immediately and transiently increased, with bimodal peaks at 0.5 and 2 hours after the onset of pacing. Conversely, the pacing gradually and progressively decreased the mRNA levels of the Kv4.2 and Kv4.3 channels. The increase of Kv1.5 and the decrease of Kv4.2 and Kv4.3 mRNA levels were both rate dependent. In correspondence with the changes in the mRNA level, Kv1. 5 channel protein transiently increased in the membrane fraction of the atrium during a 2- to 8-hour pacing period. Electrophysiological findings that the shortening of the action potential produced by 4-hour pacing was almost abolished by a low concentration of 4-aminopyridine implied that the increased Kv1.5 protein was functioning. CONCLUSIONS Even short-term high-rate atrial excitation could differentially alter the mRNA levels of Kv1.5, Kv4.2, and Kv4.3 in a rate-dependent manner. In particular, increased Kv1.5 gene expression, having a transient nature, implied the possible biochemical electrical remodeling unique to paroxysmal tachycardia.
Persuasion and Culture: Individualism-Collectivism and Susceptibility to Influence Strategies

Personalizing persuasive technology increases their efficacy at influencing the desired behavior change. This paper explores how the responsiveness to Cialdini’s six persuasive strategies (authority, reciprocity, scarcity, liking, commitment, and consensus) vary by cultural background. The results of a large-scale study of 335 participants suggest that individualists and collectivists differ significantly with respect to their susceptibility to the strategies – with collectivists being more susceptible to most of the strategies. Some strategies are more suitable for persuading one cultural group than the other. Finally, the results show that irrespective of culture, some strategies are more persuasive overall and therefore more likely to influence participants from both cultures.
Influence of Racial/Ethnic Membership and “Therapist Culture” on Therapists' Worldview

The authors investigated 2 competing hypotheses related to therapists' worldview and therapists' race/ethnicity: (a) whether therapists of different racial/ethnic groups differed on worldview reflecting group membership, and (b) whether therapists were similar to each other on worldview reflecting membership in a “therapist culture. ” Results indicated that therapists shared similar worldviews regardless of group membership, and differences found between therapists based on racial/ethnic membership were minimal.
Preparation and Characterization of CuO Nanoparticles by Novel Sol-Gel Technique

Recent developments of nanosize materials of metal and metal oxide particles are intensively pursued because of their prominence in different fields of applications. Among all the transition metal oxides, CuO is a potential candidate for the application of magnetic storage devices, solar energy transfer, sensors, and super capacitors etc. Moreover CuO nanoparticles act as a good catalyst in some of the chemical reactions. CuO nanoparticles were prepared by novel sol-gel method. In this technique CuCl2.6H2O is added with acetic acid and heated to 100 C with continuous stirring. To control the ph of the above solution, NaOH is added to the solution till ph reached desired value. The color of the solution changed from blue to black with precipitation. The black precipitation was washed 3-4 times with distilled water. Finally the solution was centrifuged and dried in air for one day. The CuO nanoparticles were characterized by studying their structure with X-ray diffraction and composition by energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The size of the nanoparticles is estimated by particle size analyzer and transmission electron microscopy. The optical studies were carried out with Uv-Vis spectrophotometer.
The socialization of young cyclists and the culture of doping

The objective of this article is to understand how the specific interactions between actors involved in the production of performance influence the socialization process by which cyclists learn their job. In particular, we try to understand how these interactions determine the reported attitudes towards doping products and methods. We focused on the interactions within the work group to understand how young cyclists learn their job. While analysing this organization of work, our goal is to understand how it influences the perception of the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). We compared socialization of young elite and U23 cyclists in Belgium, France and Switzerland. We analysed the economic, legal and organizational conditions in each country, and we conducted 70 semi-structured interviews with cyclists and their staff.
Translation rules of SysML state machine diagrams into CSP# toward formal model checking

Purpose – This study aims to describe the behavior of blocks in the system under consideration using systems modeling language (SysML) state machine diagrams. In this paper, formalization and model checking for SysML state machine diagrams have been investigated. Design/methodology/approach – The work by Zhang and Liu (2010) proposed a formalization of SysML state machine diagrams in which the diagrams were translated into CSP# processes that could be verified by the state-of-the-art model checker PAT. In this paper, several modifications have been made and new rules have been added to the translation described in that work. Findings – First, three translation rules were modified, which apparently are inappropriately defined according to the SysML definition of state machine diagrams. Next, we add new translation rules for two components of the diagrams – junction and choice pseudostates – which have not been dealt with previously. Further, we are implementing the automatic translation system on a web-bas.
Participating in community research: exploring the experiences of lay researchers in Bradford

Considerable attention has been given in recent years to the merits of involving community members in the research process and the resulting benefits in terms of research outcomes. Far less is known about the experiences of individuals taking on the role of lay researchers within their own community. This research investigates the experiences of six young Asian women who, following training, undertook a community health needs assessment in a neighbourhood in Bradford. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Findings indicated that participating was overall a positive experience, having an impact on the women in two main ways. Firstly, a positive change in perception relating to their own capabilities and influence, resulting in increased confidence, self-esteem, and a greater understanding of the research process. Secondly, the women developed greater awareness of and interest in issues affecting their community coupled with greater empathy towards fellow residents, inspiring a determination to work towards achieving positive changes. However, the women expressed concerns that the needs assessment had raised expectations within the community and they would be held responsible for delivering change. Further research is recommended into the experiences of lay researchers, particularly the longer term impact of being involved both to themselves individually and the wider community.
Title Pre-operative pulmonary assessment for patients with hipfracture

Hip fracture is a common injury among the elderly. Although patients who receive hip fracture surgery carry the best functional recovery compared to other treatment modalities, the presence of postoperative pulmonary complications, such as atelectasis, pneumonia, and pulmonary thromboembolism, may contribute to increased length of hospital stay, perioperative morbidity, and mortality. This review aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for preoperative assessment and perioperative strategies to reduce the risk of pulmonary complications after hip fracture surgery. Clinical assessment and basic laboratory results are sufficient to stratify the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Welldocumented risk factors for pulmonary complications include advanced age, poor general health status, current infections, pre-existing cardiopulmonary diseases, hypoalbuminemia, and impaired renal function. Apart from optimizing the patient's medical conditions, interventions such as lung expansion maneuvers and thromboprophylaxis have been proven to be effective in reducing the risk of pulmonary complications after hip fracture surgery. Keyword Osteoporosis
Job satisfaction of Italian nurses: an exploratory study.

AIM The purpose of this research was to determine the factors that lead to feelings of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction experienced by nurses operating in three Italian hospitals. BACKGROUND A high level of job satisfaction is related to a feeling of well-being, productivity and patient satisfaction. Furthermore, job satisfaction is considered capable of reducing turnover and absenteeism. METHOD Data were collected using the narrative interview technique. Sixty-four interviews were undertaken, resulting in the collection of 381 stories: 207 referring to job satisfaction experiences and 174 referring to job dissatisfaction experiences. RESULTS The five job satisfaction factors are: job content; professional relationships; responsibility, independence and professional growth; relationships with patients and their families; and relationships with coordinators. The four job dissatisfaction factors are: coordinator management style; activity programming and organization; relationships with doctors; and relationships with patients. CONCLUSIONS Results indicate that the present nursing management techniques should be improved to become more effective in increasing job satisfaction. To be more precise there emerge three separate areas of improvement: investment in professional training and managerial training; renovation of organizational models; and permanent monitoring of job satisfaction.
Trait anxiety and mood state responses to overtraining in men and women college swimmers

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of trait anxiety and gender on mood state responses of college swimmers during overtraining and taper. College swimmers completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory at the beginning of the competitive season (baseline) and were categorized as low trait anxious (35 men; 23 women) and high trait anxious (35 men; 23 women). Each swimmer completed the Profile of Mood States at baseline, peak training, and after tapering near the end of the competitive season. Overtraining was associated with mood disturbance, and the taper was associated with improved mood in low and high trait anxious swimmers. However, low trait anxious swimmers reported greater increased mood disturbance during overtraining. Women reported higher trait anxiety than men, but men and women typically responded to overtraining and the taper in a similar manner. Contrary to expectations, low trait anxious swimmers experienced larger changes in mood states during overtraining.
PSAT Component Scores as a Predictor of Success on AP Exam Performance for Diverse Students

While studies have shown the positive effect of the Advanced Placement (AP) program on college readiness, there are still barriers preventing minority and low socioeconomic status (SES) students who possess high academic potential from participating in the opportunity that AP courses offer. One tool that could help identify students for participation in AP courses is their Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) results. Results from multiple regression analyses suggest that portions of the PSAT are significant predictors of AP test performance above and beyond student ethnicity and/or SES.
Constructor theory of life

Neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory explains how the appearance of purposive design in the adaptations of living organisms can have come about without their intentionally being designed. The explanation relies crucially on the possibility of certain physical processes: mainly, gene replication and natural selection. In this paper, I show that for those processes to be possible without the design of biological adaptations being encoded in the laws of physics, those laws must have certain other properties. The theory of what these properties are is not part of evolution theory proper, yet without it the neo-Darwinian theory does not fully achieve its purpose of explaining the appearance of design. To this end, I apply constructor theory's new mode of explanation to express exactly within physics the appearance of design, no-design laws, and the logic of self-reproduction and natural selection. I conclude that self-reproduction, replication and natural selection are possible under no-design laws, the only non-trivial condition being that they allow digital information to be physically instantiated. This has an exact characterization in the constructor theory of information. I also show that under no-design laws an accurate replicator requires the existence of a ‘vehicle’ constituting, together with the replicator, a self-reproducer.
Inhibition of LFA‐1/ICAM‐1 and VLA‐4/VCAM‐1 as a therapeutic approach to inflammation and autoimmune diseases

This review focuses on providing insights into the structural basis and clinical relevance of LFA‐1 and VLA‐4 inhibition by peptides and small molecules as adhesion‐based therapeutic strategies for inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Interactions of cell adhesion molecules (CAM) play central roles in mediating immune and inflammatory responses. Leukocyte function‐associated antigen (LFA‐1, αLβ2, and CD11a/CD18) and very late antigen (VLA‐4, α4β1, and CD49d/CD29) are members of integrin‐type CAM that are predominantly involved in leukocyte trafficking and extravasation. LFA‐1 is exclusively expressed on leukocytes and interacts with its ligands ICAM‐1, ‐2, and ‐3 to promote a variety of homotypic and heterotypic cell adhesion events required for normal and pathologic functions of the immune systems. VLA‐4 is expressed mainly on lymphocyte, monocytes, and eosinophils, but is not found on neutrophils. VLA‐4 interacts with its ligands VCAM‐1 and fibronectin (FN) CS1 during chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, psoriasis, transplant‐rejection, and allergy. Block‐ade of LFA‐1 and VLA‐4 interactions with their ligands is a potential target for immunosuppression. LFA‐1 and VLA‐4 antagonists (antibodies, peptides, and small molecules) are being developed for controlling inflammation and autoimmune diseases. The therapeutic intervention of mostly mAb‐based has been extensively studied. However, due to the challenging relative efficacy/safety ratio of mAb‐based therapy application, especially in terms of systemic administration and immunogenic potential, strategic alternatives in the forms of peptide, peptide mimetic inhibitors, and small molecule non‐peptide antagonists are being sought. Linear and cyclic peptides derived from the sequences of LFA‐1, ICAM‐1, ICAM‐2, VCAM‐1, and FN C1 have been shown to have inhibitory effects in vitro and in vivo. Finally, understanding the mechanism of LFA‐1 and VLA‐4 binding to their ligands has become a fundamental basis in developing therapeutic agents for inflammation and autoimmune diseases. © 2002 John Wiley& Sons, Inc. Med Res Rev, 22, No. 2, 146–167, 2002; DOI 10.1002/med.10001
Atypical Audiovisual Speech Integration in Infants at Risk for Autism

The language difficulties often seen in individuals with autism might stem from an inability to integrate audiovisual information, a skill important for language development. We investigated whether 9-month-old siblings of older children with autism, who are at an increased risk of developing autism, are able to integrate audiovisual speech cues. We used an eye-tracker to record where infants looked when shown a screen displaying two faces of the same model, where one face is articulating/ba/and the other/ga/, with one face congruent with the syllable sound being presented simultaneously, the other face incongruent. This method was successful in showing that infants at low risk can integrate audiovisual speech: they looked for the same amount of time at the mouths in both the fusible visual/ga/− audio/ba/and the congruent visual/ba/− audio/ba/displays, indicating that the auditory and visual streams fuse into a McGurk-type of syllabic percept in the incongruent condition. It also showed that low-risk infants could perceive a mismatch between auditory and visual cues: they looked longer at the mouth in the mismatched, non-fusible visual/ba/− audio/ga/display compared with the congruent visual/ga/− audio/ga/display, demonstrating that they perceive an uncommon, and therefore interesting, speech-like percept when looking at the incongruent mouth (repeated ANOVA: displays x fusion/mismatch conditions interaction: F(1,16) = 17.153, p = 0.001). The looking behaviour of high-risk infants did not differ according to the type of display, suggesting difficulties in matching auditory and visual information (repeated ANOVA, displays x conditions interaction: F(1,25) = 0.09, p = 0.767), in contrast to low-risk infants (repeated ANOVA: displays x conditions x low/high-risk groups interaction: F(1,41) = 4.466, p = 0.041). In some cases this reduced ability might lead to the poor communication skills characteristic of autism.
Destination Image, Novelty, Hedonics, Perceived Value, and Revisiting Behavioral Intention for Island Tourism

This paper examines tourists’ experience of island tourism and investigates the causal relationships between the destination image, novelty, hedonics, perceived value, and revisiting behavioral intention. A total of 355 respondents completed a survey conducted on Green Island (Lyudao in Chinese), Taiwan. Using structural equation modeling, the results of the analysis supported the proposed revisiting behavioral intention model as follows: (1) the destination image had a significant and positive influence on novelty, hedonics, and perceived value; (2) tourists’ perceptions of the novelty of island tourism had a significant and positive influence on hedonics, but the effect on perceived value was insignificant; (3) hedonics had a significant and positive effect on perceived value; and (4) perceived value had a significant and positive influence on revisiting behavioral intentions. The empirical results indicate that the destination image leads to a greater perception of novelty, promotes hedonics and perceived value, and fosters the revisiting behavioral intention in tourists. Managerial implications with regard to island tourism are drawn based on the research findings, and suggestions for future researchers are presented.
Alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in pulmonary and systemic vascular smooth muscle. Alterations with development and pregnancy.

alpha 1-Adrenergic receptors mediate vasoconstriction in the pulmonary and systemic vasculature. In sheep the in vivo vasoconstrictor response to alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation is less in the pulmonary circulation compared with the systemic circulation of the fetus, the response increases in both vascular beds with fetal and postnatal development, and it decreases in the systemic vasculature with pregnancy. In an effort to determine the mechanisms underlying these differences, alpha 1-adrenergic receptor binding characteristics were determined by using [3H]prazosin in intrapulmonary and systemic (thoracic aorta) vascular smooth muscle (VSM) from late-gestation fetal lambs and from pregnant and nonpregnant ewes. alpha 1-Adrenergic receptor density was less in fetal intrapulmonary VSM that in fetal aortic VSM (12.4 +/- 1.5 versus 29.4 +/- 3.2 fmol/mg protein, p less than 0.05), and it was less (p less than 0.05) in the fetus compared with the pregnant ewe in both intrapulmonary and aortic VSM (51.0 +/- 5.2 and 76.5 +/- 5.9 fmol/mg protein, respectively). alpha 1-Adrenergic receptor density in intrapulmonary VSM was similar in the pregnant and nonpregnant ewe (61.9 +/- 7.2 fmol/mg protein), whereas in aortic VSM it was less (p less than 0.05) in pregnant ewes compared with nonpregnant ewes (101.0 +/- 5.5 fmol/mg protein). alpha 1-Adrenergic receptor affinity was similar in all the VSM sources tested. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Estimating probability of non‐response to treatment using mixture distributions

Repeat measurements of patient characteristics are often used to assess response to treatment. In this paper we discuss a normal mixture model for the observed change in the characteristic of interest in treated patients. The methods described can be used to estimate the overall proportion of non‐response to treatment and also the probability that a patient has not responded to treatment given his or her observed change. The model parameters are estimated using maximum likelihood, and the delta method is used to construct a pointwise confidence band for the conditional probability that a patient is a non‐responder to treatment. The work was initially motivated by analysis issues in the Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT), a randomized trial of the osteoporosis drug alendronate, and the method is illustrated with data from that study. We also evaluate key aspects of the estimation procedure with two simulation studies. In the first, the data generation model is the assumed normal mixture model, and in the second, the data are generated according to a shifted and scaled central t‐distribution model suggested by the FIT data. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Perceiving the Risk of Substance Use: The Roles of Nativity, Acculturation, and Family Support among Hispanic Children

The prevalence of substance use behavior and the personal characteristics and social and cultural factors that influence substance use among children have been studied extensively. However, much less attention has been directed at the attitudes towards, and particularly the perceived risks of, using substances, and even less research has focused on Hispanic youth, whose rates of substance use have been increasing. Understanding what factors are associated with perceived risk is important because there is evidence that perceived risk is associated with subsequent substance use. The current study uses longitudinal data collected from 553 children in the Cicero Youth Development (CYD) Project to identify individual and environmental factors associated with the perceived risk of substance use. We pay particular attention to dimensions of nativity and acculturation in an effort to determine whether there are differences in risk perception between U.S.-born Hispanic children and their foreign-born counterparts. Results indicate that a number of factors are associated with perceived risk, including family support, parent-child communication, peer substance use, and child temperament. Additionally, U.S.-born Hispanics perceive substances as less risky than immigrants, and among immigrants, length of time in the U. S. is negatively associated with perceiving great risk in substance use. Implications for policy and prevention strategies are discussed.