Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Probabilistic reasoning in obsessive–compulsive and delusional disorders

Background. Delusional disorder (DD) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) have been investigated in previous studies using probabilistic reasoning paradigms and abnormalities in each group have been reported. No study to date has compared results between these groups. This study compares patients with these disorders with those who have both phenomena. Methods. Thirty subjects with DD, 29 with OCD and 16 with obsessive and delusional features were compared with 30 normal controls in a study of probabilistic reasoning using two different computer-based tasks involving a Bayesian paradigm. Results. Deluded subjects showed a ‘jump to conclusions’ reasoning style, but on a test that added a consequence to their choices did not differ from normals. OCD subjects deviated from Bayesian and control norms to a greater degree than did DD subjects. In subjects with mixed psychopathology, the presence of both phenomena appeared to ‘normalize’ these probability estimates. Conclusions. Our findings extend those of others but require cautious interpretation as to the role of probabilistic reasoning in the genesis of delusions or obsessions. Obsessionals in both the OCD and Mixed groups, showed substantial deviation from Bayesian norms, suggesting that obsessionality leads to a reasoning style that is less ‘normal’ than that of delusionals. Further work is required to investigate clinical correlates of these findings which provide modest support for the proposal that the combination of obsessions and delusions confers greater functional advantages than simply having delusions or obsessions.
Attempted Suicide Among Commonwealth Immigrants in Birmingham

The distribution of attempted suicide among Commonwealth immigrants has been investigated in Birmingham. Four-year data concerning 119 (43 male, 76 female) admissions to hospitals there have been used. The crude rate of attempted suicide (94 per 100,000 per annum) is lower than that for the native population. All the patients were younger than 44, and repeated suicide attempts were rarely seen and drug or alcohol abuse were found to be less prevalent than among admissions of British origin. The data indicate that attempted suicide among immigrants in Birmingham is benign in comparison with that among the natives there.
Insulin‐like growth factor‐1 abrogates microglial oxidative stress and TNF‐α responses to spreading depression

Spreading depression (SD), the most likely cause of migraine aura and perhaps migraine, occurs with increased oxidative stress (OS). SD increases reactive oxygen species (ROS), and ROS, in turn, can signal to increase neuronal excitability, which includes increased SD susceptibility. SD also elevates tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), which increases neuronal excitability. Accordingly, we probed for the cellular origin of OS from SD and its relationship to TNF‐α, which might promote SD, using rat hippocampal slice cultures. We observed significantly increased OS from SD in astrocytes and microglia but not in neurons or oligodendrocytes. Since insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1) mitigates OS from SD, we determined the cell types responsible for this effect. We found that IGF‐1 significantly decreased microglial but not astrocytic OS from SD. We also show that IGF‐1 abrogated the SD‐induced TNF‐α increase. Furthermore, TNF‐α application increased microglial but not astrocytic OS, an effect abrogated by IGF‐1. Next, we showed that SD increased SD susceptibility, and does so via TNF‐α. This work suggests that microglia promote SD via increased and interrelated ROS and TNF‐α signaling. Thus, IGF‐1 mitigation of microglial ROS and TNF‐α responses may be targets for novel therapeutics development to prevent SD, and perhaps migraine.
Identification of the Thiol Isomerase-binding Peptide, Mastoparan, as a Novel Inhibitor of Shear-induced Transforming Growth Factor β1 (TGF-β1) Activation*

Background: We previously demonstrated that shear-induced TGF-β1 activation involves thiol-disulfide exchange. Results: The thiol isomerase binding peptide mastoparan and protein disulfide isomerase inhibit shear-induced TGF-β1 activation. Conclusion: Thiol isomerase(s) play a role in shear-induced TGF-β1 activation mediated by thiol-disulfide exchange. Significance: Shear-induced activation of TGF-β1 is a novel mechanism that involves thiol isomerase-mediated thiol-disulfide exchange. TGF-β1 is a disulfide-bonded homodimeric protein produced by platelets and other cells that plays a role in many physiologic and pathologic processes. TGF-β1 is secreted as an inactive large latent complex (LLC) comprised of TGF-β1, latency-associated peptide, and latent TGF-β binding protein 1. We previously demonstrated that shear force can activate LLC and that thiol-disulfide exchange contributes to the process. We have now investigated the role of thiol isomerases in the activation of LLC in platelet releasates (PR) and recombinant LLC. The wasp venom peptide mastoparan, which inhibits the chaperone activity of PDI, inhibited stirring- and shear-induced activation of latent TGF-β1 by 90 and 75% respectively. To identify the proteins that bind to mastoparan either directly or indirectly, PR were chromatographed on a mastoparan affinity column. Latent TGF-β binding protein 1, latency-associated peptide, TGF-β1, clusterin, von Willebrand factor, multimerin-1, protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), ERp5, ERp57, and ERp72 eluted specifically from the column. Anti-PDI RL90 attenuated the inhibitory effect of mastoparan on LLC activation. Furthermore, reduced PDI inhibited activation of PR LLC, whereas oxidized PDI had no effect. We conclude that thiol isomerases and thiol-disulfide exchange contribute to TGF-β1 activation and identify a number of molecules that may participate in the process.
Objective Assessment of Activity in Inpatients with Traumatic Brain Injury: Initial Findings

Purpose: Use accelerometers to examine the physical activity behaviours of individuals following TBI undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. Method: Twenty-one individuals with Traumatic brain injury (TBI) undergoing inpatient rehabilitation (9 females, 12 males; M age = 43.8 ± 14.7 years; M GCS = 9.1 ± 4.3; M time since injury = 40.8 ± 22.1 days; M length of stay (LOS) = 30 ± 14 days) wore accelerometers for an average of 8.4 ± 2.0 consecutive days (1440 minutes/day). Activity counts (AC) were collected at 1 minute epochs and descriptive statistics were calculated to assess intensity of activity and time spent being active and sedentary. Results: During scheduled therapy, time individuals completed an average of 161.4 ± 65.5 AC/minute, which decreased to 114.5 ± 51.3 during non-therapy time and 22.2 ± 10 when sleeping. Using population level cut points, individuals were on average considered inactive during therapy, inactive or sedentary during non-therapy time, and only one participant spent >1 minute in moderate intensity activity. The mean length of active and sedentary bouts was 9 minutes. Discussion: Findings indicate that the amount and intensity of activity completed is low amongst individuals completing inpatient rehabilitation after TBI, with the majority considered sedentary or inactive. While the sample is small, it is important to develop and implement safe and effective strategies to increase activity levels during rehabilitation.
Passive Wireless Sensor Applications for NASA’s Extreme Aeronautical Environments

NASA aeronautical programs require rigorous ground and flight testing. Many of the testing environments can be extremely harsh. These environments include cryogenic temperatures and high temperatures (>1500 °C). Temperature, pressure, vibration, ionizing radiation, and chemical exposure may all be a part of the harsh environment found in testing. This paper presents a survey of research opportunities for universities and industry to develop new wireless sensors that address anticipated structural health monitoring and testing needs for aeronautical vehicles. Potential applications of passive wireless sensors for ground testing and high-altitude aircraft operations are presented. Some of the challenges and issues of the technology are also presented.
Team Incentives and Performance: Evidence from a Retail Chain

We test the effectiveness of team incentives by running a natural field experiment in a retail chain of 193 shops and 1,300 employees. As a response to intensified product market competition, the firm offered a bonus to shop teams for surpassing sales targets. A bonus to teams rather than individuals was a natural choice because the firm does not measure individual performance and relies on flexible task allocation among employees. On average, the team bonus increases sales and customer visits in the treated shops by around 3%, and wages by 2.3%. The bonus is highly profitable for the firm, generating for each bonus dollar an extra $3.80 of sales, and $2.10 of operational profit. The results show the importance of complementarities within teams and suggest that improved operational efficiency is the main mechanism behind the treatment effect. Our analysis of heterogeneous treatment effects offers a number of insights about the anatomy of teamwork. The firm decided to roll out the bonus to all of its shops, and the performance of treatment and control shops converged after the roll-out.
Experimental results on MMSE turbo equalization in underwater acoustic communication using high order modulation

This paper presents some results on MMSE turbo equalization applied to real sea water trials in the Atlantic ocean. High order modulations (8-PSK, 16-QAM and 32-QAM) have been tested. The channel data rate on the underwater acoustic channel is up to 20 kbps. The receiver includes timing recovery, equalization, interleaving and channel coding. The results which are evaluated in term of bit error rate (BER) and mean square error (MSE) show that turbo equalization improves the performance of the receiver and allows reliable high order transmissions when the signal to noise ratio is sufficient.
Internet Advertisement in Malaysia: A Study of Attitudinal Differences

This study aims to identify attitudinal difference due to gender and race, (namely Malays, Chinese, and Indians) concerning Internet advertising in Malaysia. The advertisers can gain benefit from Internet advertising only when they can identify these differences. Results showed that Malaysian consumers have positive perceptions toward Internet advertising. To test the hypothesis independent sample‘t’ test and ANOVA were carried out. Results of ‘t’ test showing significant attitudinal differences between males and females is consistent with the previous results that males showed a more positive attitude toward Internet advertising compared to females. In addition, the results of ANOVA showed significant attitudinal differences only between two races, namely Malay and Chinese, while the overall attitudes of all three races were positive toward Internet advertisement. The results of this study can help advertisers to introduce new, innovative advertising over the Internet. In conclusion, these findings increase what is currently known about web and gender theory.
The Relationship Between Electrocerebral Activity and Cerebral Fractional Tissue Oxygen Extraction in Preterm Infants

Impaired cerebral oxygen delivery may cause cerebral damage in preterm infants. At lower levels of cerebral perfusion and oxygen concentration, electrocerebral activity is disturbed. The balance between cerebral oxygen delivery and oxygen use can be measured by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and electrocerebral activity can be measured by amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG). Our aim was to determine the relationship between regional cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (rcSO2), fractional tissue oxygen extraction (FTOE), and aEEG. We recorded longitudinal digital aEEG and rcSO2 prospectively in 46 preterm infants (mean GA 29.5 wk, SD 1.7) for 2 hr on the 1st to 5th, 8th, and 15th d after birth. We excluded infants with germinal matrix hemorrhage exceeding grade I and recordings of infants receiving inotropes. FTOE was calculated using transcutaneous arterial oxygen saturation (tcSaO2) and rcSO2 values: (tcSaO2 − rcSO2)/tcSaO2. aEEG was assessed by calculating the mean values of the 5th, 50th, and 95th centiles of the aEEG amplitudes. The aEEG amplitude centiles changed with increasing GA. FTOE and aEEG amplitude centiles increased significantly with postnatal age. More mature electrocerebral activity was accompanied by increased FTOE. FTOE also increased with increasing postnatal age and decreasing Hb levels.
RadCloud: Visualizing Multiple Texts with Merged Word Clouds

Word clouds are a popular means for summarizing text documents. They usually visualize the word frequencies from single text sources, sometimes along with other attributes. However, the visualization of several text documents in one word cloud has rarely been addressed so far. This paper presents Rad Cloud, a technique for text visualization based on multiple word clouds merged into a single view. Inspired by the Rad Viz approach, the words are radially arranged in an overlap-free layout. The text sources are indicated by the spatial word arrangement and stacked bar charts. The approach has been implemented in an interactive text visualization tool and its usefulness is illustrated by an example.
The Impact of a Teacher Preparation Literacy Course on Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching Young Children How to Read.

Summer 2013, Vol. 22, Number 2 Page 65 P teachers’ perceptions of teaching and learning have developed as a result of multiple experiences that one has encountered throughout their academic life span (Grisham, Lenski, & Wold, 2006). Their perceptions of how young children learn to read are a reflection of their literacy history, which is a reflection of their emergence into literacy (McLaughlin, 1994). Literacy histories reflect materials, important individuals, and events that enhanced one’s literacy development (Roe & Vukelich, 1998).
Why Did the Democrats Lose the South? Bringing New Data to an Old Debate

A long-standing debate in political economy is whether voters are driven primarily by economic self-interest or by less pecuniary motives like ethnocentrism. Using newly available data, we reexamine one of the largest partisan shifts in a modern democracy: Southern whites' exodus from the Democratic Party. We show that defection among racially conservative whites explains the entire decline from 1958 to 1980. Racial attitudes also predict whites' earlier partisan shifts. Relative to recent work, we find a much larger role for racial views and essentially no role for income growth or (non-race-related) policy preferences in explaining why Democrats “lost” the South. (JEL D72, J15, N42)
A review of drug-induced hypernatraemia

Drug-induced electrolyte abnormalities have been increasingly reported and may be associated with considerable morbidity and/or mortality. In clinical practice, hypernatraemia (serum sodium higher than 145 mmol/L) is usually of multifactorial aetiology and drug therapy not infrequently is disregarded as a contributing factor for increased serum sodium concentration. Strategies to prevent this adverse drug effect involve careful consideration of risk factors and clinical and laboratory evaluation in the course of treatment. Herein, we review evidence-based information via PubMed and EMBASE and the relevant literature implicating pharmacologic treatment as an established cause of hypernatraemia and discuss its incidence and the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms.
Subcutaneous palisading granulomatous pseudocysts of Echinococcus granulosus origin

Background: Palisading granulomatous reactions are documented in many diseases. Although subcutaneous cystic echinococcosis (CE) is documented rarely, a subcutaneous palisading, granulomatous, pseudocystic (PGP) reaction to elusive Echinococcus granulosus membranous components, in the absence of cutaneous fistulisation, is undocumented.
A MODULATED SOIL MOISTURE BUDGET

Abstract Most meteorological soil moisture budgets do not account for soil moisture stress changes in the drying cycle or for changes in ground cover or expanding root system. A simple modulated technique is described which considers these factors. Soil moisture stress determined by this technique has a significantly higher correlation with wheat yield than does moisture stress determined by a common method.
Treatment of multiple gingival recessions using a coronally advanced flap procedure combined with button application.

AIM The purpose of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of a new treatment approach, which consists of coronally advanced flap (CAF) procedure combined with orthodontic button application (CAF+B) for the treatment of multiple recession-type defects in patients with aesthetic demands. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty-one healthy subjects presenting at least three adjacent Miller Class I or II multiple gingival recessions were treated with a CAF technique. Twenty-one patients were randomly assigned to the test group, and the other 20 patients were assigned to the control group. On the test group, orthodontic buttons were used for the stabilization of advanced flaps. Clinical and patient centered parameters were measured at baseline, 7 days and 6 months after the surgery. RESULTS A total of 155 recessions were treated. Complete root coverage from baseline to 6 months post-surgery was 61% for the control group and 84% for the test group. There was no difference on visual analog scale-pain measurements among the treatment groups. Patient satisfaction with aesthetics was very high in CAF+B group when compared with CAF group. CONCLUSION Six months results showed that the CAF+B approach was effective for the treatment of multiple gingival recessions in patients with aesthetic demands.
Co-articulatory Cues for Communication: An Investigation of Five Environments

We hypothesized that speakers adjust co-articulation in vowel–consonant (VC) sequences in order to provide listeners with enhanced perceptual cues to C, and that they do so specifically in those situations where primary cues to C place of articulation tend to be diminished. We tested this hypothesis in a speech production study of American English, measuring the duration and extent of VC formant transitions in five conditioning environments – consonant voicing, phrasal position, sentence accent, vowel quality, and consonant place – that modulate primary cues to C place in different ways. Results partially support our hypothesis. Although speakers did not exhibit greater temporal co-articulation in contexts that tend to diminish place cues, they did exhibit greater spatial co-articulation. This finding suggests that co-articulation serves specific communicative goals.
Metal and molecule cooling in simulations of structure formation

Cooling is the main process leading to the condensation of gas in the dark matter potential wells and consequently to star and structure formation. In a metal-free environment, the main available coolants are H, He, H2 and HD; once the gas is enriched with metals, these also become important in defining the cooling properties of the ga s. We discuss the implementation in Gadget-2 of molecular and metal cooling at temperatures lower that 10 4 K, following the time dependent properties of the gas and pollution from stellar evolution. We have checked the validity of our scheme comparing the results of some test runs with previous calculations of cosmic abundance evolution and structure formation, find ing excellent agreement. We have also investigated the relevance of molecule and metal cooling in some specific cases, finding that inclusion of HD cooling results in a higher clumping factor of the gas at high redshifts, while metal cooling at low temperatures can have a significan t impact on the formation and evolution of cold objects.
Involvement of protein kinases in the upregulation of acetylcholine release at endplates of alpha‐bungarotoxin‐treated rats.

1. ACh release from motor nerve endings in diaphragms of rats treated chronically with alpha‐bungarotoxin (alpha‐BuTX) is upregulated at the level of the individual endplate. Involvement of protein kinases in this mechanism of synaptic adaptation was investigated. 2. Miniature endplate potentials (MEPPs) and endplate potentials (EPPs) were recorded after mu‐conotoxin treatment, which prevents muscle action potentials. The quantal content at endplates was calculated ‘directly', i.e. by dividing the EPP amplitude by the MEPP amplitude. 3. Incubation of muscles from control and alpha‐BuTX‐treated rats with H‐7, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, reduced MEPP amplitudes but had no clear effect on quantal contents. Polymyxin B, another PKC inhibitor, had a similar effect on muscles from alpha‐BuTX‐treated rats. 4. Incubation of muscles from alpha‐BuTX‐treated rats with K252a, a broad‐spectrum protein kinase inhibitor of, amongst others, PKC, Ca(2+)‐calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and neurotrophin receptor tyrosine kinases, resulted in a 30% decrease of the quantal content. However, K252a did not change the quantal content of controls. Incubations with the closely related compound K252b, which has an exclusively extracellular action, had a similar effect. 5. KN62, a specific inhibitor of CaMKII, decreased the mean quantal content of muscles from alpha‐BuTX‐treated rats by 18%. 6. Tyrphostin 51, a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor, had no effect on quantal contents of muscles from alpha‐BuTX‐treated and control rats. However, it increased the frequency and amplitude of MEPPs in muscles from alpha‐BuTX‐treated rats, leaving those of controls unchanged. 7. The extent of reduction of quantal content, caused by K252a, K252b and KN62, varied between endplates of individual muscles from alpha‐BuTX‐treated rats; quantal contents at endplates with small MEPPs were more sensitive than those at endplates with large MEPPs. 8. It is concluded that PKC does not play a role in the mechanism of upregulation of ACh release at endplates of alpha‐BuTX‐treated rats. Instead, CaMKII and some tyrosine kinases in the presynaptic membrane, as well as in the cytoplasm, might be involved.
RIAM and Vinculin Binding to Talin Are Mutually Exclusive and Regulate Adhesion Assembly and Turnover*

Background: Talin mediates RIAM-dependent integrin activation and binds vinculin, which stabilizes adhesions. Results: Structural and biochemical data show that vinculin inhibits RIAM binding to the compact N-terminal region of the talin rod, a region essential for focal adhesion assembly. Conclusion: Talin·RIAM complexes activate integrins at the leading edge, whereas talin·vinculin promotes adhesion maturation. Significance: Talin changes partners in response to force-induced conformational change. Talin activates integrins, couples them to F-actin, and recruits vinculin to focal adhesions (FAs). Here, we report the structural characterization of the talin rod: 13 helical bundles (R1–R13) organized into a compact cluster of four-helix bundles (R2–R4) within a linear chain of five-helix bundles. Nine of the bundles contain vinculin-binding sites (VBS); R2R3 are atypical, with each containing two VBS. Talin R2R3 also binds synergistically to RIAM, a Rap1 effector involved in integrin activation. Biochemical and structural data show that vinculin and RIAM binding to R2R3 is mutually exclusive. Moreover, vinculin binding requires domain unfolding, whereas RIAM binds the folded R2R3 double domain. In cells, RIAM is enriched in nascent adhesions at the leading edge whereas vinculin is enriched in FAs. We propose a model in which RIAM binding to R2R3 initially recruits talin to membranes where it activates integrins. As talin engages F-actin, force exerted on R2R3 disrupts RIAM binding and exposes the VBS, which recruit vinculin to stabilize the complex.