Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumers Environmentally Friendly Recreational Behaviours in Recreational Activities: Camping Sample

The aim of this study is to explain the environmentally friendly recreational camping behaviours of individuals. The data was collected through a survey method from campers in Turkey. According to the multiple regression analysis results, environmental attitude, recreational motivation and perceived consumer effectiveness influence environmentally friendly recreational behaviour positively. Recreational motivation mediates environmental attitude and environmentally friendly recreational behaviour. However, environmental concern, ascribed responsibility and subjective norm do not have any influence on environmentally friendly recreational behaviour. According to collected data, environmental attitude, perceived customer effectiveness and individual motivation are important to investigate environmentally friendly recreational behaviours.
Lysine 48-Linked Polyubiquitination of Organic Anion Transporter-1 Is Essential for Its Protein Kinase C–Regulated Endocytosis

Organic anion transporter-1 (OAT1) mediates the body’s disposition of a diverse array of environmental toxins and clinically important drugs. Therefore, understanding the regulation of this transporter has profound clinical significance. We had previously established that OAT1 undergoes constitutive internalization from and recycling back to the cell surface and that acute activation of protein kinase C (PKC) inhibits OAT1 activity by reducing OAT1 cell-surface expression through accelerating its internalization from cell surface to intracellular compartments. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In the current study, we provide novel evidence that acute activation of PKC significantly enhances OAT1 ubiquitination both in vitro and ex vivo. We further show that ubiquitination of cell-surface OAT1 increases in cells transfected with dominant negative mutant of dynamin-2, a maneuver blocking OAT1 internalization, which suggests that OAT1 ubiquitination proceeds before OAT1 internalization. Mass spectroscopy has revealed that ubiquitination of OAT1 consists of polyubiquitin chains, primarily through lysine 48 linkage. Transfection of cells with the dominant negative mutant of ubiquitin Ub-K48R, which prevents the formation of Lys48-linked polyubiquitin chains, abolishes PKC-stimulated OAT1 ubiquitination and internalization. Together, our findings demonstrate for the first time that Lys48-linked polyubiquitination is essential for PKC-regulated OAT1 trafficking.
Indomethacin, a Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug, Develops Gastropathy by Inducing Reactive Oxygen Species-mediated Mitochondrial Pathology and Associated Apoptosis in Gastric Mucosa

We have investigated the role of mitochondria on the development of indomethacin (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug)-induced gastric mucosal apoptosis and associated gastropathy in rat. Transmission electron microscopic studies indicate that indomethacin damages mitochondrial ultrastructure and causes mitochondrial dysfunction as evident from decreased stage-3 respiration, dehydrogenase activity, and transmembrane potential (ΔΨm). Mitochondrial pathology is associated with increased generation of intra-mitochondrial-reactive oxygen species, such as \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(\mathrm{O}_{2}^{{\bar{{\cdot}}}}\) \end{document}, H2O2 and ·OH, leading to oxidative stress. \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(\mathrm{O}_{2}^{{\bar{{\cdot}}}}\) \end{document} is the most effective to damage mitochondrial aconitase, leading to the release of iron from its iron-sulfur cluster. The released iron, by interacting with intra-mitochondrial H2O2, forms ·OH. Immunoprecipitation of mitochondrial aconitase and subsequent Western immunoblotting indicate carbonylation of aconitase along with the loss of activity in vivo after indomethacin treatment. The release of iron has been documented by fluorescence imaging of mucosal cells by using Phen Green SK, a specific probe for chelatable iron. Interestingly, intra-mitochondrial ·OH generation is crucial for the development of mitochondrial pathology and activation of mitochondrial death pathway by indomethacin. Scavenging of ·OH by dimethyl sulfoxide or α-phenyl-n-tert-butylnitrone, a spin-trap, prevents indomethacin-induced mitochondrial ultrastructural changes, oxidative stress, collapse of ΔΨm, and mitochondrial dysfunction. The scavengers also restore indomethacin-induced activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 to block mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis and gastric mucosal damage. This study, thus, reveals the critical role of \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(\mathrm{O}_{2}^{{\bar{{\cdot}}}}\) \end{document}-mediated mitochondrial aconitase inactivation to release intra-mitochondrial iron, which by generating ·OH promotes gastric mucosal cell apoptosis and gastropathy during indomethacin treatment.
Patterns and mechanisms of tree species diversity effects on fine root processes associated with stand development in boreal forests

ii CONTENTS . iv CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION . 1 CHAPTER 2: SPECIES DIVERSITY EFFECTS ON FINE ROOT PRODUCTIVITY IN DIVERSITY ECOSYSTEMS: A GLOBAL META-ANALYSIS . 3 2.1 Abstract . 3 2.2 Introduction . 4 2.3 Material and methods . 7 2.3.1 Data collection . 7 2.3.2 Data analysis . 8 2.4 Results . 12 2.5 Discussion . 18 CHAPTER 3: EFFECTS OF SPECIES DIVERSITY ON FINE ROOT PRODUCTIVITY INCREASE WITH STAND DEVELOPMENT AND ASSOCIATED MECHANISMS IN A BOREAL FOREST . 21 3.1 Abstract . 21 3.2 Introduction . 22 3.3 Materials and methods . 25 3.3.1 Study area. 25 3.3.2 Sampling design . 26 3.3.3 Data collection . 27 3.3. 4 Statistical analysis . 30
Influence of Individual Surgeon Volume on Oncological Outcome of Colorectal Cancer Surgery

Background. Surgery performed by a high-volume surgeon improves short-term outcomes. However, not much is known about long-term effects. Therefore we performed the current study to evaluate the impact of high-volume colorectal surgeons on survival. Methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of our prospectively collected colorectal cancer database between 2004 and 2011. Patients were divided into two groups: operated on by a high-volume surgeon (>25 cases/year) or by a low-volume surgeon (<25 cases/year). Perioperative data were collected as well as follow-up, recurrence rates, and survival data. Results. 774 patients underwent resection for colorectal malignancies. Thirteen low-volume surgeons operated on 453 patients and 4 high-volume surgeons operated on 321 patients. Groups showed an equal distribution for preoperative characteristics, except a higher ASA-classification in the low-volume group. A high-volume surgeon proved to be an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival in the multivariate analysis (P = 0.04). Although overall survival did show a significant difference in the univariate analysis (P < 0.001) it failed to reach statistical significance in the multivariate analysis (P = 0.09). Conclusions. In our study, a higher number of colorectal cases performed per surgeon were associated with longer disease-free survival. Implementing high-volume surgery results in improved long-term outcome following colorectal cancer.
Effects of Aminophylline on the Pulmonary Circulation and Left Ventricular Performance in Patients with Valvular Heart Disease

The effects of aminophylline given intravenously on the pulmonary circulation and left ventricular performance were studied during combined right and transseptal left heart catheterization in 32 patients with mitral and aortic valvular disease. We recorded complete data on the changes of the pulmonary vascular distending pressure (PD) and the pulmonary blood volume (PBV) before and during aminophylline infusion in 28 patients. In 19 patients a fall in the PD was associated with a rise in the PBV. In eight patients a decline in the PD was accompanied by a fall (five patients) or no change (three patients) in the PBV. In a single case, both PD and the PBV rose. In the majority of cases, observation of decrease in PD and a discordant rise in PBV is new evidence suggestive of a direct active vasodilating effect of aminophylline on the pulmonary vasculature.Although the cardiac index was unaffected, a positive inotropic effect on the myocardium was documented by a decrease in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure accompanied by an increase in the maximum rate of ventricular pressure rise (LV dp/dt). These findings contrast with those in certain patients with heart failure of nonvalvular origin in whom increases in cardiac index are usually prominent. The salutory effect of aminophylline in acute pulmonary edema is thought to be due to synergistic effects on the systemic circulation, pulmonary circulation, and left ventricular function, all of which tend to produce a fall in PD.
Genetic accommodation in the wild: evolution of gene expression plasticity during character displacement

Ecological character displacement is considered crucial in promoting diversification, yet relatively little is known of its underlying mechanisms. We examined whether evolutionary shifts in gene expression plasticity (‘genetic accommodation’) mediate character displacement in spadefoot toads. Where Spea bombifrons and S. multiplicata occur separately in allopatry (the ancestral condition), each produces alternative, diet‐induced, larval ecomorphs: omnivores, which eat detritus, and carnivores, which specialize on shrimp. By contrast, where these two species occur together in sympatry (the derived condition), selection to minimize competition for detritus has caused S. bombifrons to become nearly fixed for producing only carnivores, suggesting that character displacement might have arisen through an extreme form of genetic accommodation (‘genetic assimilation’) in which plasticity is lost. Here, we asked whether we could infer a signature of this process in regulatory changes of specific genes. In particular, we investigated whether genes that are normally expressed more highly in one morph (‘biased’ genes) have evolved reduced plasticity in expression levels among S. bombifrons from sympatry compared to S. bombifrons from allopatry. We reared individuals from sympatry vs. allopatry on detritus or shrimp and measured the reaction norms of nine biased genes. Although different genes displayed different patterns of gene regulatory evolution, the combined gene expression profiles revealed that sympatric individuals had indeed lost the diet‐induced gene expression plasticity present in allopatric individuals. Our data therefore provide one of the few examples from natural populations in which genetic accommodation/assimilation can be traced to regulatory changes of specific genes. Such genetic accommodation might mediate character displacement in many systems.
New Jersey Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers: Enumeration and Access to Healthcare Study

Despite the demanding physical labor Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers (MSFW) provide to meet consumer demands and keep the nation's agricultural industry gainful, MSFWs are the most economically disadvantaged population in the nation. MSFWs lack sufficient access to health care and suffer more illnesses than the general population. Besides the difficulties in providing adequate health care to this population, enumeration of MSFWs has been an even greater challenge due to their mobility and illegal status. Through the analysis of secondary data sources, this study looks to approximate the number of MSFWs in the state of New Jersey and to investigate MSFW access to health care. Farm workers are a vital part of not only New Jersey's agricultural economy but also the entire nation's economy. Understanding the health needs of this population, and knowing the number of individuals that comprise this population, would not only help eliminate many health problems but it also would better prepare health officials in meeting the needs of the MSFW population.
Contrasting effects of anthropogenic and natural acidity in streams: a meta-analysis

Large-scale human activities including the extensive combustion of fossil fuels have caused acidification of freshwater systems on a continental scale, resulting in reduced species diversity and, in some instances, impaired ecological functioning. In regions where acidity is natural, however, species diversity and functioning seem to be less affected. This contrasting response is likely to have more than one explanation including the possibility of adaptation in organisms exposed to natural acidity over evolutionary time scales and differential toxicity due to dissimilarities in water chemistry other than pH. However, empirical evidence supporting these hypotheses is equivocal. Partly, this is because previous research has mainly been conducted at relatively small geographical scales, and information on ecological functioning in this context is generally scarce. Our goal was to test whether anthropogenic acidity has stronger negative effects on species diversity and ecological functioning than natural acidity. Using a meta-analytic approach based on 60 datasets, we show that macroinvertebrate species richness and the decomposition of leaf litter—an important process in small streams—tend to decrease with increasing acidity across regions and across both the acidity categories. Macroinvertebrate species richness, however, declines three times more rapidly with increasing acidity where it is anthropogenic than where it is natural, in agreement with the adaptation hypothesis and the hypothesis of differences in water chemistry. By contrast, the loss in ecological functioning differs little between the categories, probably because increases in the biomass of taxa remaining at low pH compensate for losses in functionality that would otherwise accompany losses of taxa from acidic systems. This example from freshwater acidification illustrates how natural and anthropogenic stressors can differ markedly in their effects on species diversity and one aspect of ecological functioning.
Towards adaptive fire management for biodiversity conservation: experience in South African national parks

This paper reviews the experience gained in three South African national parks (Kruger, Table Mountain and Bontebok) with regard to the adaptive management of fire for the conservation of biodiversity. In the Kruger National Park, adaptive approaches have evolved over the past 15 years, beginning initially as a form of ‘informed trial and error’, but progressing towards active adaptive management in which landscape-scale, experimental burning treatments are being applied in order to learn. In the process, significant advances in understanding regarding the role and management of fire have been made. Attempts have been made to transfer the approaches developed in Kruger National Park to the other two national parks. However, little progress has been made to date, both because of a failure to provide an agreed context for the introduction of adaptive approaches, and because (in the case of Bontebok National Park) too little time has passed to be able to make an assessment. Fire management interventions, ultimately, will manifest themselves in terms of biodiversity outcomes, but definite links between fire interventions and biodiversity outcomes have yet to be made. Conservation implications: Significant challenges face the managers of fire-prone and fire adapted ecosystems, where the attainment of ecosystem goals may require approaches (like encouraging high-intensity fires at hot and dry times of the year) that threaten societal goals related to safety. In addition, approaches to fire management have focused on encouraging particular fire patterns in the absence of a sound understanding of their ecological outcomes. Adaptive management offers a framework for addressing these issues, but will require higher levels of agreement, monitoring and assessment than have been the case to date.
Expression of Cytokine and Chemokine Genes by Human Middle Ear Epithelial Cells Induced by Formalin-KilledHaemophilus influenzae or Its Lipooligosaccharide htrB and rfaD Mutants

ABSTRACT To define the role of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) lipooligosaccharide (LOS) in the induction of proinflammatory cytokine gene expression during otitis media, we compared the abilities of formalin-killed NTHI strain 2019 and its LOShtrB and rfaD mutants to stimulate human middle ear epithelial (HMEE) cell cytokine and chemokine gene expression and production in vitro. Strain DK-1, an rfaDgene mutant, expresses a truncated LOS consisting of only three deoxy-d-manno-octulosonic acid residues, a single heptose, and lipid A. Strain B29, an isogenichtrB mutant, possesses an altered oligosaccharide core and an altered lipid A. HMEE cells were incubated with formalin-killed NTHI 2019, B29, or DK-1. The supernatants and the cells were collected at 2, 4, 8, and 24 h after stimulation. Expression of genes for the cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin lβ (IL-1β), and IL-6 and for the chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein 1β (MIP-1β), monocyte chemotactic peptide 1 (MCP-1), and IL-8 was quantitated by real-time PCR. NTHI B29 did not significantly stimulate any cytokine or chemokine mRNA expression in HMEE cells. In striking contrast, NTHI 2019 induced up to 105-, 139-, and 187-fold increases in HMEE cell expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, and MIP-1β, respectively (P < 0.01 [2019 versus B29]). NTHI 2019 also induced upregulation of IL-8, IL-6, and MCP-1 mRNA expression (by 26-, 44-, and 14-fold, respectively [P < 0.05 {2019 versus B29}]). The significant induction of cytokine genes was confirmed by quantitating the secretion of cytokines in culture supernatants with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. There were no significant differences in mRNA expression of IL-8, IL-6, and MCP-1 between the 2019- and DK-1-treated groups. The low levels of gene transcripts observed after incubation of HMEE cells with B29 indicate that products of the disrupted NTHI htrB LOS gene may play a major role in induction of these particular inflammatory mediators.
Entry in Liberalized Railway Markets: The German Experience

In Germany, competitive franchising is increasingly being used to procure passenger railway services that were previously provided by a state monopolist. This paper analyzes 77 tenders that differ with respect to network size, service frequency, contract duration and the proximity to other lines that are already run by competitors of DB Regio, a subsidiary of the successor of the former state monopolist. Our analysis shows that competitors are more likely to win small networks and more recent auctions. Other controls such as contract duration and the adjacency to other lines run by entrants are insignificant.
On the Stability of the Passive Dynamics of Quadrupedal Running with a Bounding Gait

This paper examines the passive dynamics of quadrupedal bounding. First, an unexpected difference between local and global behavior of the forward speed versus touchdown angle in the self-stabilized Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum (SLIP) model is exposed and discussed. Next, the stability properties of a simplified sagittal plane model of our Scout II quadrupedal robot are investigated. Despite its simplicity, this model captures the targeted steady state behavior of Scout II without dependence on the fine details of the robot structure. Two variations of the bounding gait, which are observed experimentally in Scout II, are considered. Surprisingly, numerical return map studies reveal that passive generation of a large variety of cyclic bounding motion is possible. Most strikingly, local stability analysis shows that the dynamics of the open loop passive system alone can confer stability to the motion! These results can be used in developing a general control methodology for legged robots, resulting from the synthesis of feedforward and feedback models that take advantage of the mechanical system, and might explain the success of simple, open loop bounding controllers on our experimental robot.
Because Syntax Does Matter: Improving Predicate-Argument Structures Parsing with Syntactic Features

Parsing full-fledged predicate-argument structures in a deep syntax framework requires graphs to be predicted. Using the DeepBank (Flickinger et al., 2012) and the Predicate-Argument Structure treebank (Miyao and Tsujii, 2005) as a test field, we show how transition-based parsers, extended to handle connected graphs, benefit from the use of topologically different syntactic features such as dependencies, tree fragments, spines or syntactic paths, bringing a much needed context to the parsing models, improving notably over long distance dependencies and elided coordinate structures. By confirming this positive impact on an accurate 2nd-order graph-based parser (Martins and Almeida, 2014), we establish a new state-of-the-art on these data sets.
Modeling of reflections and air absorption in acoustical spaces a digital filter design approach

A method is presented for modeling sound propagation in rooms using a signal processing approach. Low order digital filters are designed to match to sound propagation transfer functions calculated from boundary material and air absorption data. The technique is applied to low frequency, finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation of room acoustics and to real-time image-source based virtual acoustics.
Medication Administration Errors at Children ' s University Hospitals : Nurses Point of View

Medication administration errors(MAE) can threaten patient outcomes and are a dimension of patient safety directly linked to nursing care. Children are particularly vulnerable to medication errors because of their unique physiology and developmental needs. Aims: The present study aims to examine types, stages and causes of medication errors. Barriers of medication administration errors reporting and its facilitator at pediatric University hospitals from nurses point of view. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in Pediatric intensive care units, medical, surgical and urology ward of children's university hospital at Mansoura University, intensive care units, kidney dialysis at Abouelrash pediatric hospital and general wards of Elmonaira at Cairo University Hospitals. 80 nurses were included in the study after fulfilling the criteria of selection. A structured interview questionnaire that consists of four sections was used. Results: The highest types of medication errors as reported by studied nurses occurred when the medication is delivered by the wrong route, the highest stage of medication errors done by nurses was missing of medication then patient monitoring and administration and the highest cause of medication errors was due to heavy workload. The results of this study indicated that the strongest perceived barriers to medication administration errors reporting were fear from consequences of reporting, then managerial factor and then the process of reporting from the nurse's viewpoint. The nurses agree that identifying benefits of reporting followed agree that feeling safe about working environment, and agree that good professional relationship with physicians was the most facilitating factors of reporting medication errors. Conclusions: It was concluded that medication errors result from interrelated factors, the strongest perceived barriers to medication administration errors reporting were fear from consequences of reporting, and good relationship with nurse managers and physicians were the most facilitators of reporting medication errors. Recommendation: The study recommended that the assessment of medication errors should be done periodically and inservice training program about medication administrations should be applied