Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response

What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response. Bernard Lewis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 180 pp. $23 hbk. What went wrong in the Islamic world? How could an advanced culture that once viewed the West as a remote, barbaric hinterland have been overtaken by the West? This slim book, written by a preeminent scholar of Middle Eastern studies, provides no conclusive answer, although tentative answers are offered. Some of the answers are grounded in cultural concerns addressed by communication scholars. But finding answers is not the point. The point, Lewis argues, is how the Islamic world has responded to difficult questions. Lewis believes it has not responded well. Indeed, Lewis believes there is no serious debate in the Islamic world concerning how it has fallen behind-only rabid rage directed at enemies. "When things go wrong in a society," Lewis writes, "in a way and to a degree that can no longer be denied or concealed, there are various questions that one can ask. A common one, particularly in continental Europe yesterday and the Middle East today, is 'Who did this to us? ' The answer to a question thus formulated is usually to place the blame on external or domestic scapegoats-foreigners abroad or minorities at home. " Lewis, the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University, is the author of more than two dozen books on the Middle East, many of them classics. He does not believe that Western culture is responsible for the Islamic world's problems. He often blames the Islamic world for failing to adopt salutary Western values. This is an erudite book. Readers will have difficulty following the cast of characters and obscure battles. The chapters seem like disjointed lectures, and in fact they are largely based on lectures. Lewis' expertise is on the Ottoman Empire, and he relies too much on non-Arab Turkish culture for generalizations about the Islamic world. Nonetheless, the writing is clear. The reasoning is sound. Anyone who gives the book a chance will acquire an understanding of the Islamic world's frustrations. The book was in page proof form when the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks occurred. Lewis acknowledges the attacks in the preface, stating that the book explores "the longer sequence and larger patterns of events, ideas, and attitudes that preceded and in some ways produced [the attacks]. " For centuries, the proud Islamic world ignored the West. This supercilious attitude blinded Islamic leaders to advances taking place in the West. Excessive pride, then, must rank as one of the things that went wrong. With European victories over Ottoman armies in the early seventeenth century, the Islamic world was shaken from its stupor. …
Contrasting Role of Presenilin-1 and Presenilin-2 in Neuronal Differentiation In Vitro

Presenilin-1 (PS1) and presenilin-2 (PS2), the major genes of familial Alzheimer’s disease, are homologous tosel-12, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene involved in cell fate decision during development. Recently, wild-type and mutant presenilins have been associated also with apoptotic cell death. By using stable transfection of antisense cDNAs, we studied the functions of PS1 and PS2 during neuronal differentiation in the NTera2 human teratocarcinoma (NT2) cell line. Expression of antisense PS1 resulted in a failure of the clones to differentiate into neurons after retinoic acid induction, whereas cells transfected with antisense PS2 differentiated normally. Concomitantly, antisense PS1 clones were associated with increased apoptosis both under basal conditions and during the early period of neuronal differentiation after retinoic acid treatment. Overexpression of bcl-2 in antisense PS1 clones reduced cell death and resulted in a recovery of neuronal differentiation. These studies suggest that PS1 plays a role in differentiation and cell death and that PS1 and PS2 have differing physiological roles in this experimental paradigm.
Hot exozodiacal dust resolved around Vega with IOTA/IONIC

Context. Although debris discs have been detected around a significant number of main-sequence stars, only a few of them are known to harbour hot dust in their inner part where terrestrial planets may have formed. Thanks to infrared interferometric observations, it is possible to obtain a direct measurement of these regions, which are of prime importance for preparing future exo-Earth characterisation missions. Aims. We resolve the exozodiacal dust disc around Vega with the help of infrared stellar interferometry and estimate the integrated H-band flux originating from the first few AUs of the debris disc. Methods. Precise H-band interferometric measurements were obtained on Vega with the 3-telescope IOTA/IONIC interferometer (Mount Hopkins, Arizona). Thorough modelling of both interferometric data (squared visibility and closure phase) and spectral energy distribution was performed to constrain the nature of the near-infrared excess emission. Results. Resolved circumstellar emission within ~6 AU from Vega is identified at the 3-σ level. The most straightforward scenario consists in a compact dust disc producing a thermal emission that is largely dominated by small grains located between 0.1 and 0.3 AU from Vega and accounting for 1.23 ± 0.45% of the near-infrared stellar flux for our best-fit model. This flux ratio is shown to vary slightly with the geometry of the model used to fit our interferometric data (variations within ± 0.19%). Conclusions. The presence of hot exozodiacal dust in the vicinity of Vega, initially revealed by K-band CHARA/FLUOR observations, is confirmed by our H-band IOTA/IONIC measurements. Whereas the origin of the dust is still uncertain, its presence and the possible connection with the outer disc suggest that the Vega system is currently undergoing major dynamical perturbations.
Evaluation of a brief aerobic exercise intervention for high anxiety sensitivity

Abstract Anxiety sensitivity, or the belief that anxiety-related sensations can have negative consequences, has been shown to play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of panic disorder and other anxiety-related pathology. Aerobic exercise involves exposure to physiological cues similar to those experienced during anxiety reactions. The present study sought to investigate the efficacy of a brief aerobic exercise intervention for high anxiety sensitivity. Accordingly, 24 participants with high anxiety sensitivity scores (Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised scores >28) were randomly assigned to complete either six 20-minute sessions of aerobic exercise or a no-exercise control condition. The results indicated that individuals assigned to the aerobic exercise condition reported significantly less anxiety sensitivity subsequent to exercise, whereas anxiety sensitivity scores among non-exercisers did not significantly change. The clinical research and public health implications of these findings are discussed, and several potential directions for additional research are recommended.
The proteasomal subunit Rpn6 is a molecular clamp holding the core and regulatory subcomplexes together

Proteasomes execute the degradation of most cellular proteins. Although the 20S core particle (CP) has been studied in great detail, the structure of the 19S regulatory particle (RP), which prepares ubiquitylated substrates for degradation, has remained elusive. Here, we report the crystal structure of one of the RP subunits, Rpn6, and we describe its integration into the cryo-EM density map of the 26S holocomplex at 9.1 Å resolution. Rpn6 consists of an α-solenoid-like fold and a proteasome COP9/signalosome eIF3 (PCI) module in a right-handed suprahelical configuration. Highly conserved surface areas of Rpn6 interact with the conserved surfaces of the Pre8 (alpha2) and Rpt6 subunits from the alpha and ATPase rings, respectively. The structure suggests that Rpn6 has a pivotal role in stabilizing the otherwise weak interaction between the CP and the RP.
Phosphorylation of SMC 1 is a critical downstream event in the ATM – NBS 1 – BRCA 1 pathway

The ATM protein kinase is activated by intermolecular autophosphorylation in response to DNA damage and initiates cellular signaling pathways that facilitate cell survival and reduce chromosomal breakage. Here, we show that NBS1 and BRCA1 are required for the recruitment of previously activated ATM to the sites of DNA breaks after ionizing irradiation, and that this recruitment is required for the phosphorylation of SMC1 by ATM. To explore the functional importance of SMC1 phosphorylation, murine cells were generated, in which the two damage-induced phosphorylation sites in SMC1 are mutated. Although these cells demonstrate normal phosphorylation and focus formation of ATM, NBS1, and BRCA1 proteins after IR, they exhibit a defective S-phase checkpoint, decreased survival, and increased chromosomal aberrations after DNA damage. These observations suggest that many of the abnormal stress responses seen in cells lacking ATM, NBS1, or BRCA1 result from a failure of ATM migration to sites of DNA breaks and a resultant lack of SMC1 phosphorylation.
A Rapid Effect of Caffeinated Beverages on Two Choice Reaction Time Tasks

Abstract Though consumers of tea and coffee can report feeling beneficial subjective effects of consumption virtually immediately, tests for objective effects of caffeine immediately post-consumption have been rare. Two experiments examined caffeine's ability to influence reaction time in choice reaction time tasks, using a dose of caffeine typical of a cup of tea or instant coffee, and testing at short post-consumption delays. Two groups of participants were given 60 mg of caffeine, after overnight abstinence, either in a hot tea drink, or a hot water drink. Two control groups also received hot tea or water, but without caffeine. In Experiment 1, participants were given a keypress task before the drink (baseline), immediately after the drink, and 40 min after the drink. In Experiment 2, a touch-screen test was given either 1, 14, or 27 min post consumption. Caffeine was found to reduce the effect of a distracter on reaction time in the keypress test and to reduce reaction time in a component of the touch-screen task; however, in neither experiment were these effects significantly modulated by post-consumption delay length. Thus, the speed of caffeine's action on psychomotor performance was shown to be on the order of minutes.
Effects of temperature, NaCl, and methicillin on penicillin-binding proteins, growth, peptidoglycan synthesis, and autolysis in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains produce a fifth penicillin-binding protein (PBP), PBP 2', with low affinity for beta-lactam antibiotics that is believed to represent a beta-lactam-insensitive peptidoglycan transpeptidase. In an effort to evaluate the adequacy of PBP 2' as an explanation of methicillin resistance, PBP 2' production and the responses of growth and peptidoglycan synthesis to methicillin under different environmental conditions have been compared. In the heterogeneous methicillin-resistant strain DU4916-K7, less PBP 2' was produced at 40 degrees C than at 30 degrees C, but inclusion of 5% (wt/vol) NaCl in the medium at 40 degrees C boosted PBP 2' production and allowed growth of the organism in the presence of 10 micrograms of methicillin per ml. When exponential-phase cultures were challenged with methicillin, growth and peptidoglycan synthesis were much more resistant at 30 degrees C than at 40 degrees C. Inclusion of NaCl in medium rendered growth and peptidoglycan synthesis more methicillin resistant at 40 degrees C. Hence, there was a good correlation between PBP 2' production and methicillin-resistant peptidoglycan synthesis under these conditions. However, PBP 2' production was increased by NaCl at 30 degrees C without markedly affecting the susceptibilities of growth and peptidoglycan synthesis to methicillin. Pregrowth of cells with methicillin, which was expected to boost PBP 2' production, seemed to increase the susceptibilities of growth and peptidoglycan synthesis to methicillin. Patterns of growth and peptidoglycan synthesis susceptibilities to methicillin which were similar to those described above were found in chloramphenicol-inhibited cultures, in which presumably no induction of PBP 2' could occur during the methicillin challenge period. Complex effects were noted in the combination of subinhibitory methicillin and NaCl. Growth of cells in the presence of NaCl stimulated their autolytic activity, which was further increased by growth with subinhibitory methicillin in addition to NaCl. It appears that NaCl enhances methicillin resistance by stimulating PBP 2' production and providing osmotic support but opposes it by stimulating autolytic activity which is exacerbated by the very low cross-linking of peptidoglycan in methicillin-resistant strains grown in the presence of methicillin.
10 Temporal Stretching of Laser Pulses

Many lasers operate predominantly or only as pulsed sources and the pulse duration is determined by the duration of effective pumping, intra-resonator energy extraction rates, etc. However, in certain applications of the pulsed lasers, it is necessary to extend the duration of the laser pulses without reducing its pulse energy. The duration of laser pulses is increased by using laser pulse stretchers, which stretch the pulses temporally. An ideal laser pulse stretcher increases the duration of the laser pulse without introducing losses so the peak power of the laser is reduced without reducing its average power. The temporal stretching of laser pulses is vital for many applications of pulsed lasers. The temporal stretching of oscillator pulses of high beam quality is required in oscillator–amplifier systems for achieving high output power. The temporal stretching of pump laser pulses leads to an increase in energy conversion efficiency and tuning range along with a decrease in linewidth of the tunable dye lasers. While launching the laser pulses of high energy into optical fibers, the temporal stretching of laser pulses is done to reduce the peak power, without reducing the pulse energy, to save the input faces of optical fibers from damage. Thus the temporal stretching of laser pulses also increases the upper limit of transmission of pulse energy in the optical fibers. The optical pulse stretchers are used for removing laserinduced plasma spark generation in spontaneous Raman-scattering spectroscopy by reducing the peak power. In the guide star experiments, the pulse stretching of laser pulses is required to avoid saturation effects. The temporal pulse stretching is required in material processing because a stretched pulse is more efficient for heating the material. The temporal stretching of laser pulses is needed in optical microlithography to avoid degradation of semiconductor materials as well as optics. In the medical application of lasers, the pulse stretching of laser pulses is done to reduce the high peak intensities, which generally damage the tissues. The temporal stretching of laser pulses is done in holographic interferometry for removing the boiling effect, which is detrimental to the quality of the photographs. The ultrashort pulses are temporally stretched in the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) to avoid the nonlinear effects that lead to catastrophic damage. There are many more important applications, where temporal stretching of laser pulses is done. According to the type of the laser and the requirements of the application, various types of laser pulse stretchers, both passive and active, are developed for temporal stretching of laser pulses.
EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION ON THE VESTIBULO-OCULAR REFLEX.

Abstract : Sixteen young adult men were deprived of sleep for a period of 24 hours in an attempt to assess possible interactions between sleep mechanisms and the vestibular system. Ss were given a pre- and post-test consisting of trials at angular accelerations of 8 degrees/sec sq and 24 degrees/sec sq. Following sleep deprivation, Ss showed a significant increase in fast-phase frequency at 24 degrees/sec sq, and a nonsignificant increment at 8 degrees/sec sq. Slow-phase output reflected a significant decrement at 8 degrees/sec sq, but no significant decrement at 24 degrees/sec sq. Subjective latency estimates of stimulus onset showed no significant changes for either 8 degrees or 24 degrees/sec sq. Discussion centers around possible physiological mechanisms related to sleep and vestibular responses. (Author)
Urban Fiction and Multicultural Literature as Transformative Tools for Preparing English Teachers for Diverse Classrooms

Discussions of urban fiction and multicultural literature hold great potential for transforming the practice of beginning English teachers in diverse school settings. In this article, the authors,both teacher educators of color, present two case studies of preparing middle- and secondary-level English educators from a diversities perspective. Given continued conversations in the field of English education on how to best prepare new teachers for working effectively with diverse student populations, the authors present situated representations of how teachers’ critical encounters with literature can shape their learning to teach processes from the university classroom to their field experiences. Both case studies presented have a particular interest in the critical theoretical and pedagogical insights developed by preservice teachers through their discussions of children’s and adolescent literature that deals with diverse, urban, and multicultural perspectives. In doing so, these case studies reposition urban fiction and multicultural literature as transformative tools for teacher education curriculum.
Factors contributing to the reduced invasiveness of chlorine-injured Yersinia enterocolitica

The invasion of epithelial cells in vitro and in vivo by chlorine-injured Yersinia enterocolitica was assessed by direct microscopic observations. These experiments showed that injury by chlorine inhibited invasiveness of virulent Y. enterocolitica. Two requirements appeared to be necessary for invasiveness: the organism must be viable and metabolically active, and the organism must have certain surface components to initiate engulfment. Inhibition of RNA synthesis by rifampin and protein synthesis by chloramphenicol, tetracycline, and spectinomycin inhibited the invasiveness but not the attachment of Y. enterocolitica to epithelial cells. Membrane preparations from untreated and antimicrobial-agent-treated Y. enterocolitica blocked the invasiveness of virulent Y. enterocolitica, whereas membranes from chlorinated cells were unable to block invasiveness. Chlorine did not change the hydrophobicity or surface charge of injured Y. enterocolitica. The results indicate that invasion was more than simple association of the bacterium with the epithelial cell and involved a specific trigger to stimulate engulfment.
Audit of reflux oesophagitis at 4 years.

BACKGROUND Data on the natural history of reflux oesophagitis are few and conflicting: it is not clear whether in the long-term, patients still require therapy for controlling symptoms and preventing endoscopic relapse. AIMS To assess, in reflux oesophagitis patients followed up for a median period of 4 years: a) clinical conditions throughout follow-up period (i.e., frequency of relapses, need and type of treatment, satisfaction with therapy; b) present state, including quality of life, mode of treatment, presence of residual symptoms or invalidity. PATIENTS A series of 288 consecutive outpatients, diagnosed as having reflux oesophagitis during the period 1986-1990, and followed up for at least 48 months. METHODS The study was carried out in two parts. The first, retrospective, assessing the outcome throughout follow-up during which it was suggested that patients assume a maintenance therapy with H2-receptor antagonists, proton pump inhibitors or other drugs for the first year, and to continue only if desired. Patients returned for follow-up every six months, and endoscopy was repeated after the first year or in the case of symptom recurrence. In the second part, after a median follow-up of 4 years, patients were submitted to a telephone interview by means of a structured questionnaire, assessing type and severity of current symptoms (if any), type of current therapy, degree of satisfaction with treatment, and overall evaluation of quality of life. RESULTS Data are available from 132 patients (M/F = 85/47) of whom 119 (90%) were still on treatment and 31% still presented symptoms. During follow-up, 21% had more than 3 endoscopic relapses, 23% between 2 and 3, 28% one, and 28% zero, respectively and 79% were still adopting non-pharmacological measures (diet, posture, etc.). Only two (1.5%) had been submitted to surgery to control untractable symptoms/mucosal lesions. Finally, 64% and 11%, respectively, considered the present quality of life as good or excellent. CONCLUSIONS Contrary to many reports, the prognosis of reflux oesophagitis is not favourable showing a marked trend to chronicity; the disease leads to almost continuous drug assumption for symptom control, and is associated with a high relapse risk after treatment withdrawal. Despite (or due to) these unfavourable features, patient compliance to both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapy is excellent and, correspondingly, also the quality of life is acceptable or improved.
Application of the 5′-Nuclease PCR Assay in Evaluation and Development of Methods for Quantitative Detection ofCampylobacter jejuni

ABSTRACT Campylobacter jejuni is recognized as a leading human food-borne pathogen. Traditional diagnostic testing for C. jejuni is not reliable due to special growth requirements and the possibility that this bacterium can enter a viable but nonculturable state. Nucleic acid-based tests have emerged as a useful alternative to traditional enrichment testing. In this article, we present a 5′-nuclease PCR assay for quantitative detection of C. jejuni and describe its evaluation. A probe including positions 381121 to 381206 of the published C. jejuni strain NCTC 11168 genome sequence was identified. When this probe was applied, the assay was positive for all of the isolates of C. jejunitested (32 isolates, including the type strain) and negative for all other Campylobacter spp. (11 species tested) and several other bacteria (41 species tested). The total assay could be completed in 3 h with a detection limit of approximately 1 CFU. Quantification was linear over at least 6 log units. Quantitative detection methods are important for both research purposes and further development of C. jejuni detection methods. In this study, we used the assay to investigate to what extent the PCR signals generated by heat-killed bacteria interfere with the detection of viable C. jejuni after exposure at elevated temperatures for up to 5 days. An approach to the reduction of the PCR signal generated by dead bacteria was also investigated by employing externally added DNases to selectively inactivate free DNA and exposed DNA in heat-killed bacteria. The results indicated relatively good discrimination between exposed DNA from dead C. jejuni and protected DNA in living bacteria.
Unravelling Names of Fictional Characters

In this paper we explore the correlation be-tween the sound of words and their meaning, by testing if the polarity (‘good guy’ or ‘bad guy’) of a character’s role in a work of ﬁction can be predicted by the name of the character in the absence of any other context. Our approach is based on phonological and other features proposed in prior theoretical studies of ﬁc-tional names. These features are used to construct a predictive model over a manually annotated corpus of characters from motion pictures. By experimenting with different mixtures of features, we identify phonological features as being the most discriminative by comparison to social and other types of features, and we delve into a discussion of speciﬁc phonological and phonotactic indicators of a character’s role’s polarity.