Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional and morphological characterization of isolated bovine adrenal medullary cells

Single bovine adrenal medullary cells have been obtained by retrograde perfusion of adrenal medullae with a solution of 0.05% collagenase in Ca++-free Krebs Henseleit buffer. Chromaffin cells were obtained in high yield (5 X 10(6) cells/g medulla), and more than 95% of these were viable as shown by exclusion of trypan blue. The isolated cells were capable of respiring at a linear rate for a minimum of 120 min. Ultrastructural examination revealed that the cells were morphologically intact, and two distinct types of adrenal medullary cells were identified, on the basis of the morphology of their electron- dense vesicles, as (a) adrenaline-containing and (b) noradrenaline- containing cells. Biochemical analysis showed that the cells contained catecholamines and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH). The cells released catecholamines and DBH in response to acetylcholine (ACh), and this release was accompanied by changes in the vesicular and surface membranes observed at the ultrastructural level. The time-course of ACh- stimulated catecholamine and DBH release, and the dependence of this release on the concentration of ACh and extracellular Ca++ have been investigated. The isolated cells were pharmacologically sensitive to the action of the cholinergic blocking agents, atropine and hexamethonium.
Imprint of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on Tree-Ring Widths in Northeastern Asia since 1568

We present a new tree-ring reconstruction of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) spanning 1568–2007 CE from northeast Asia. Comparison of the instrumental AMO index, an existing tree-ring based AMO reconstruction, and this new record show strongly similar annual to multidecadal patterns of variation over the last 440 years. Warm phases of the AMO are related to increases in growth of Scots pine trees and moisture availability in northeast China and central eastern Siberia. Multi-tape method (MTM) and cross-wavelet analyses indicate that robust multidecadal (∼64–128 years) variability is present throughout the new proxy record. Our results have important implications concerning the influence of North Atlantic sea surface temperatures on East Asian climate, and provide support for the possibility of an AMO signature on global multidecadal climate variability.
The Impact of Purposeful End-User Computing Activities on Job Performance: An Empirical Investigation

It is generally agreed within information systems research that end-user computing (EUC) among professionals is critical to their job performance. The main assumption among IS-researchers is that software usage contributes to improved performance. This study suggests that end-user computing may influence job performance in a more comprehensive way than earlier assumed. To address this issue, a set of purposeful core activities in EUC has been identified. The influence of these EUC activities on job performance is tested in a study of 328 professionals. The results demonstrate that the activities “job-task specific computer utilisation”, “non-job task specific computer utilisation” and the “providing of support to colleagues” have impact on professionals’ job performance. Our findings have important implications for management of EUC and for research in the area of EUC. To that end, we offer directions for future research. ACS categories: K.6 (Management of Computing and Information Systems), K.8 (Personal Computing)
Physiological, Pharmacokinetic, and Pharmacodynamic Changes in Space

Medications have been taken since the first Mercury flight in 1967 and, since then, have been used for several indications such as space motion sickness, sleeplessness, headache, nausea, vomiting, back pain, and congestion. As the duration of space missions get longer, it is even more likely that astronauts will encounter some of the acute illnesses that are frequently seen on Earth. Microgravity environment induces several physiological changes in the human body. These changes include cardiovascular degeneration, bone decalcification, decreased plasma volume, blood flow, lymphocyte and eosinophil levels, altered hormonal and electrolyte levels, muscle atrophy, decreased blood cell mass, increased immunoglobulin A and M levels, and a decrease in the amount of microsomal P‐450 and the activity of some of its dependent enzymes. These changes may be expected to have severe implications on the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of drug substances.
An Online Algorithm for Large Scale Image Similarity Learning

Learning a measure of similarity between pairs of objects is a fundamental problem in machine learning. It stands in the core of classification methods like kernel machines, and is particularly useful for applications like searching for images that are similar to a given image or finding videos that are relevant to a given video. In these tasks, users look for objects that are not only visually similar but also semantically related to a given object. Unfortunately, current approaches for learning similarity do not scale to large datasets, especially when imposing metric constraints on the learned similarity. We describe OASIS, a method for learning pairwise similarity that is fast and scales linearly with the number of objects and the number of non-zero features. Scalability is achieved through online learning of a bilinear model over sparse representations using a large margin criterion and an efficient hinge loss cost. OASIS is accurate at a wide range of scales: on a standard benchmark with thousands of images, it is more precise than state-of-the-art methods, and faster by orders of magnitude. On 2.7 million images collected from the web, OASIS can be trained within 3 days on a single CPU. The non-metric similarities learned by OASIS can be transformed into metric similarities, achieving higher precisions than similarities that are learned as metrics in the first place. This suggests an approach for learning a metric from data that is larger by orders of magnitude than was handled before.
Evaluation of Ovarian Reserve Tests in Women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Impact of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) on fertility may be negative, and ovarian function can be also reduced by autoimmune oophoritis. In this article, we evaluated the ovarian reserve of pre‐menopausal women firstly diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
How Peer-Punishment Affects Cooperativeness in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Groups

This article analyzes how the anticipation of peer-punishment affects cooperativeness in the provision of public goods under social identity. For this purpose we conduct one-shot public good games with induced social identity and implement in-group, out-group and random matching protocols. Our measure of cooperativeness is subjects' conditional contribution elicited via the strategy method, which allows for observing behavior contingent on every possible level of group members' cooperation. We demonstrate, firstly, that the social environment is a determinant of how the threat of peer-punishment influences cooperation. The strongest increase is clearly evident when subjects interact with members of different identities, which is especially the case for individuals who were initially categorized as freeriders. Secondly, anticipation of peer-punishment clearly eliminates the typically existing ingroup bias without punishment and renders out-group members to be as cooperative as ingroups members. Lastly, the results indicate that the institutions of peer-punishment and social identity may be complemented in order to raise subjects' cooperativeness.
Evaluation of Surfactant Replacement Therapy Effects--A New Potential Role of Lung Ultrasound.

INTRODUCTION Previous studies suggested that effects of the surfactant administration in preterm intants with respiratory distress syndrome cannot be followed by lung ultrasound (L-US). OBJECTIVE The aim of the paper is to evaluate the surfactant replacement therapy effects using a new, proposed grading system for L-US findings. METHODS We report the series of 12 preterm infants with clinical and radiographic signs of respiratory distress syndrome, in whom L-US examinations were performed prior to, and within the first 24 hours after surfactant administration. To evaluate the surfactant replacement therapy effects, we proposed a new grading system (1 to 6) for L-US findings at each examined lung area, based on the presence of normal finding, the amount of B-lines and subpleural consolidations. RESULTS All preterm infants had an improvement of L-US findings from one to four grades observed within the first 24 hours after surfactant administration, which has not been previously reported. The improvement of L-US findings was most commonly observed in anterior lung areas. CONCLUSION L-US might enable an early detection of the surfactant replacement therapy effects. Further prospective studies are necessary to define the role of L-US in this field.
Person-environment and gender comparisons in the integration of interests, abilities, and skills

This study evaluated Holland’s (1997) theory of the equivalence of person and work environment structures by comparing the relationships among interest, ability, and skills based on individual and occupational ratings of constructs selected from the U. S. Department of Labor’s O*NET database. Individual ratings by 816 college students were analyzed separately by gender. A bootstrapped property vector fitting technique was used to embed ability and skill constructs into a two-dimensional RIASEC interest circumplex. No significant gender differences were found in the integration of these constructs. There were differences between the person and environment models for 14 of the 32 (44%) abilities and skills. Discussion of the results focuses on implications for Holland’s theory, occupational data, and measurement issues.
Are the black hole masses in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies actually small?

Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) are generally considered peculiar objects among the broad class of Type 1 active galactic nuclei, due to the relatively small width of the broad lines, strong X–ray variability, soft X–ray continua, weak [O iii], and strong Fe ii line intensities. The mass MBH of the central massive black hole (MBH) is claimed to be lighter than expected from known MBH–host galaxy scaling relations, while the accretion rate onto the MBH larger than the average value appropriate to Seyfert 1 galaxies. In this Letter, we show that NLS1 peculiar MBH and L/LEdd turn out to be fairly standard, provided that the broad line region is allowed to have a disc–like, rather than isotropic, geometry. Assuming that NLS1s are rather “normal” Seyfert 1 objects seen along the disc axis, we could estimate the typical inclination angles from the fraction of Seyfert 1 classified as NLS1s, and compute the geometrical factor relating the observed FWHM of broad lines to the virial mass of the MBH. We show that the geometrical factor can fully account for the “black hole mass deficit” observed in NLS1s, and that L/LEdd is (on average) comparable to the value of the more common broad line Seyfert 1 galaxies.
Standard precautions: a KAP study among nurses in the dialysis unit in a University Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt.

BACKGROUND Compliance with standard precautions measures is essential to prevent and control health-care-associated infections. OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to determine the degree to which standard precautions were applied by nurses in a dialysis unit in terms of hand hygiene and use of personal protective equipments. It also aimed to assess nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward standard precautions. MATERIALS AND METHODS This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the dialysis unit of the Student University Hospital in Alexandria governorate. The study population included all nurses (17 nurses). An observational checklist was used to record practical activities performed by the nurses and a self-administered questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge and attitude toward standard precautions. A minimum required sample size was estimated to be 323 observations per shift. Each nurse was observed 19 times on different work shifts. RESULTS During the study period, 1082 opportunities for applying standard precautions were recorded. None of the nurses (0%) washed hands before and after the different activities that required hand washing or used plastic aprons or face protection. In contrast, all of them (100%) wore nonsterile gloves before or after the different activities that required wearing of gloves. Less than half of nurses (47.1%) correctly knew that they had to wash their hands before and after caring for a patient. None of the nurses received training in infection control. Among the reported barriers for not applying standard precautions, inaccessibility of sinks, high workload or lack of appropriate staffing, and interference with the practice of care, were cited as the most important barriers. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The dialysis unit should revise staff compliance with dialysis unit precautions, and wherever necessary improve the precautions to be applied in the care of all patients and provide performance feedback to nurses. Training of health-care workers (preservice and inservice) about blood-borne infections and universal blood precautions should be regularly carried out.
Contributor profiles, their dynamics, and their importance in five q&a sites

Q&A sites currently enable large numbers of contributors to collectively build valuable knowledge bases. Naturally, these sites are the product of contributors acting in different ways - creating questions, answers or comments and voting in these - contributing in diverse amounts, and creating content of varying quality. This paper advances present knowledge about Q&A sites using a multifaceted view of contributors that accounts for diversity of behavior, motivation and expertise to characterize their profiles in five sites. This characterization resulted in the definition of ten behavioral profiles that group users according to the quality and quantity of their contributions. Using these profiles, we find that the five sites have remarkably similar distributions of contributor profiles. We also conduct a longitudinal study of contributor profiles in one of the sites, identifying common profile transitions, and finding that although users change profiles with some frequency, the site composition is mostly stable over time.
Evidence for Antibody-Mediated Injury as a Major Determinant of Late Kidney Allograft Failure

Background. Late graft failure (LGF) is believed to be the consequence of immunologic and nonimmunologic insults leading to progressive deterioration in kidney function. We studied recipients with new onset late kidney graft dysfunction (n=173) to determine the importance of C4d staining and circulating donor-specific antibody (DSA) in subsequent LGF. Methods. One hundred seventy-three subjects transplanted before October 1, 2005 (mean time after transplant 7.3±6.0 years) had a baseline serum creatinine level of 1.4±0.3 mg/dL before January 1, 2006 and underwent biopsy for new onset graft dysfunction after that date (mean creatinine at biopsy 2.7±1.6 mg/dL). Statistical analysis was based on central DSA and blinded pathology determinations. Results. Subjects were divided into four groups based on C4d and DSA: no C4d, no DSA (group A; n=74); only DSA (group B; n=31); only C4d (group C; n=28); and both C4d and DSA (group D; n=40). Among DSA+ recipients (groups B and D), group D had broader reactivity and a stronger DSA response. After 2 years, groups C and D (C4d+) were at significantly greater risk for LGF than groups A and B. Adjusting for inflammation (Banff i, t, g, and ptc scores) did not change the outcome. Local diagnosis of calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity was spread across all four subgroups and did not impact risk of LGF. Conclusions. Evidence of antibody-mediated injury (DSA or C4d) is common (57%) in patients with new onset late kidney allograft dysfunction. The risk of subsequent graft failure is significantly worse in the presence of C4d+ staining.
The Relationship between Mother-Adolescent Communication and Adolescents' Alienation in Single Mother-Headed Family and Two-Parent family

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship mother-adolescent communication and adolescents' alienation in both single mother-headed family and two-parent family. The subjects were 548 middle and high school students who were 82 single mother-headed family's adolescents and 466 two-parent family's adolescents in Keoungbok. The data were analyzed by factor analysis, t-test, standard multiple- and hierarchical multiple regression(using SPSS 12.1). Major findings were as follows: (1) The single mother-headed family's adolescents were perceived less positive mother-adolescent communication and higher alienation than two-parent family's adolescents. (2) The adolescents' alienation was associated with mother-adolescent communication in both single mother-headed and two-parent family. The less positive parent-adolescent communication, the higher adolescents' alienation. (3) The family structure(single mother-headed or two-parent) was a significant predictor of adolescents' alienation. But when the effect of mother-adolescent communication was controlled, the effect of the family structure became non-significant.
Association between hemoglobin level and endothelial function in uncomplicated, untreated hypertensive patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Hemoglobin (Hb) is an important nitric oxide (NO) buffer and a modulator of NO bioavailability. In addition, endothelial dysfunction is common in hypertensive patients, suggesting a pivotal role of hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]) in vascular function. To investigate the potential role of [Hb] in endothelium-dependent vasodilation, the relationship between Hb and endothelial function was tested in a group of patients with essential hypertension. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS In this retrospective study, 174 nonsmoking, uncomplicated, never-treated hypertensives were enrolled. Endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation was assessed by measurement of forearm blood flow response during intra-arterial infusion of increasing doses of acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) using strain-gauge plethysmography. Correlation with established risk factors of endothelial dysfunction was performed. RESULTS The vasodilatory response to ACh was inversely (P < 0.001) related to [Hb], and this relationship was dose dependent (P < 0.001), being minimal at the lowest dose and maximal at the highest dose. No association was found between Hb and the vasodilatory response to SNP. In a multiple linear regression model adjusted for Framingham risk factors (age, sex, BP, cholesterol, body mass index, glucose) and emerging risk factors (homeostasis model assessment index, C-reactive protein, estimated GFR), [Hb] maintained a strong and independent link with the vasodilatory response to ACh (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS In a large group of nonsmoking untreated hypertensives, [Hb] is inversely related to forearm endothelium-dependent vasodilation. [Hb] should be taken into account, especially in conditions associated with low [Hb], when performing vascular function studies.
Eating and Substance Use: A Comparison of Latter-day Saint and Non-Latter-day Saint College Females

Eating and Substance Use: A Comparison of Latter-Day Saint and Non-Latter-Day Saint College-Age Females Monika Sandberg Department of Psychology Doctor of Philosophy This study examined differences between Latter-Day Saint (LDS) and non-Latter-Day Saint (non-LDS) females across six universities in the United States regarding desire to engage in substance use and eating behaviors in response to negative emotion. Additionally, this study explored differences between LDS and non-LDS females regarding body image, as well as body image differences between LDS females residing inside Utah and outside Utah. Findings suggested that non-LDS females were more likely to experience increased urges to use substances in response to negative emotion than LDS females, consistent with LDS doctrine teaching the avoidance of substance use. LDS females also did not appear to substitute LDS-sanctioned eating behaviors for substance use in response to negative emotion, as has previously been suggested by other researchers. Additionally, LDS females were found to have more positive body image than non-LDS females generally, although LDS females in Utah have less positive body images than LDS females residing in other states. Body image findings are substantial since body image distress is rampant and is a risk factor for the development of eating disorders. Clinical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.
Piaget's theory of cognitive and affective development

1. Intellectual Organization and Adaptation. 2. Intellectual Development and Other Factors. 3. Sensorimotor Development. 4. The Development of Preoperational Thought. 5. The Development of Concrete Operations. 6. The Development of Formal Operations. 7. Further Aspects of Piaget's Theory. 8. The Implications of Piaget's Theory for Education: Principles of Constructivism. 9. Applications.
Inferior Frontal and Middle Temporal Lobe Contributions to Goal-directed Cognition

The ability to utilize stored semantic knowledge in the service of goal-directed behavior is an important component of cognitive control. Though a growing amount of work has been done to characterize the precise role of ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) in memory processing, it is currently unclear whether left VLPFC supports controlled access to long-term memory and/or post-retrieval selection to stimuli outside of the explicitly verbal domain. Furthermore, the precise contribution of left posterior middle temporal gyrus (left pMTG) in supporting goal-relevant knowledge is unclear. More specifically, it is uncertain whether this region represents semantic function knowledge about a stimulus and/or knowledge about how a stimulus moves when it is in motion. The goal of this volume is to further explore the contributions of left VLPFC and left pMTG in accessing and representing goal-relevant knowledge, respectively. Chapter 1 reviews the literature on the involvement of PFC in goal-directed cognition and mnemonic processing, as well as the evidence supporting the role of left pMTG in representing knowledge. Chapter 2 discusses a functional MRI study examining the neural correlates of controlled retrieval and selection using foreign and domestic traffic signs. The results suggest that the anterior portion of left VLPFC is more sensitive to controlled retrieval, the posterior extent is more sensitive to selection demands, and the region intermediate to these two is sensitive to both demands. Chapter 3 describes an fMRI study focusing on the retrieval of distinct types of knowledge relevant to everyday manipulable objects. We found that left anterior VLPFC was driven by semantic retrieval demands, and that a region in left pMTG, previously associated with correctly retrieving the meanings to traffic signs, was most engaged when accessing knowledge about the object's function. To control for other factors (e.g., task difficulty) which may have fueled these results, we replicated this study while better controlling for task demands and difficulty (Chapter 4). In Chapter 5, these findings are synthesized and future directions are discussed. In summary, this work supports the involvement of left VLPFC and left pMTG in the retrieval and representation of stored knowledge that informs our actions.