Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of postpartum depression on child development

There is evidence for an association between postpartum depression and a number of indices of adverse child outcome. In infants of mothers with postpartum depression, deficits have been found in their early interactions and their cognitive functioning. A high rate of insecure attachment is also apparent. There is also evidence for a longer term association: cognitive development in the four-year-olds of mothers who have had a postpartum depression appears compromised (at least in boys from lower socio-economic backgrounds), and there is an association with behavioural disturbance. Longitudinal analyses reveal that the impaired patterns of early interaction occurring between mother and infant in the context of the maternal mood disorder may be an important determinant of some of these adverse child outcomes. With respect to cognitive development, there is evidence of a sensitive developmental period, although its precise parameters are uncertain. Observational and experimental studies are needed to elucida.
Magnetization transfer and multicomponent T2 relaxation measurements with histopathologic correlation in an experimental model of MS

Magnetization transfer and multicomponent T2 imaging techniques were implemented to study guinea pig in vivo. A chronic‐progressive model of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was produced, and the inflammatory component of the disease was manipulated using antibodies against integrin. The magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) and T2 relaxation properties were measured in normal‐appearing white matter (NAWM) with histological comparisons. Significant reductions in both the mean MTR and the myelin water percentage were measured in NAWM of EAE guinea pig brain. However, the MTR and myelin water percentage appear to measure different aspects of pathology in NAWM in EAE. Reductions in the MTR were prevented or reversed with suppression of inflammation. However, modulation of inflammatory activity was not reflected in the measurement of the myelin water percentage. Since the amount of myelin is not expected to vary with inflammatory‐related changes, these observations support our hypothesis that the MTR is sensitive to physiological changes to myelin induced by inflammation, while the short T2 component is a more specific indicator of myelin content in tissue. Pathologic features other than demyelination may be important in the determination of the MTR. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2000;11:586–595. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
How much can we trust the electromechanical delay estimated by using electromyography?

In this paper different estimation techniques are evaluated for the assessment of electromechanical delay (EMD). The following techniques are compared for benchmarking purposes: envelope estimation and thresholding, with different subjective combinations of filters and thresholds, and a double threshold statistical detector (DTD). Performances are compared in terms of bias, standard deviation and erroneous detections of the estimations. DTD showed higher robustness and repeatability of results, guaranteed by the objective settings based on the statistical characteristics of the algorithm
Reintroducing group selection to the human behavioral sciences

In both biology and the human sciences, social groups are sometimes treated as adaptive units whose organization cannot be reduced to individual interactions. This group-level view is opposed by a more individualistic one that treats social organization as a byproduct of self-interest. According to biologists, group-level adaptations can evolve only by a process of natural selection at the group level. Most biologists rejected group selection as an important evolutionary force during the 1960s and 1970s but a positive literature began to grow during the 1970s and is rapidly expanding today. We review this recent literature and its implications for human evolutionary biology. We show that the rejection of group selection was based on a misplaced emphasis on genes as “replicators” which is in fact irrelevant to the question of whether groups can be like individuals in their functional organization. The fundamental question is whether social groups and other higher-level entities can be “vehicles” of selection. When this elementary fact is recognized, group selection emerges as an important force in nature and what seem to be competing theories, such as kin selection and reciprocity, reappear as special cases of group selection. The result is a unified theory of natural selection that operates on a nested hierarchy of units. The vehicle-based theory makes it clear that group selection is an important force to consider in human evolution. Humans can facultatively span the full range from self-interested individuals to “organs” of group-level “organisms. ” Human behavior not only reflects the balance between levels of selection but it can also alter the balance through the construction of social structures that have the effect of reducing fitness differences within groups, concentrating natural selection (and functional organization) at the group level. These social structures and the cognitive abilities that produce them allow group selection to be important even among large groups of unrelated individuals.
Tripartite Self-concept Change: Shifts in the Individual, Relational, and Collective Self in Adolescence

This study investigated changes in the tripartite self-concept in a sample of pre-, early-, mid-, and late-adolescents. Participants provided self-descriptions under conditions that primed either a personal or social context. As expected, adolescents showed fluctuating use of the individual, relational, and collective levels of self. The collective and individual self became more prominent, particularly in later adolescence, while the relational self became less prominent. The individual self became more socially oriented through adolescence, and the relational self shifted focus from the family context in pre-adolescence to the peer context in early adolescence. Implications for theory on self-concept change and on adolescent identity are presented, and highlight the need for further research on the development of social identity in adolescence.
Functional Characterization of Cytochrome P450 2A6 Allelic Variants CYP2A6*15, CYP2A6*16, CYP2A6*21, and CYP2A6*22

Variation in CYP2A6 levels and activity can be attributed to genetic polymorphism and, thus, functional characterization of allelic variants is necessary to define the importance of CYP2A6 polymorphism in humans. The aim of the present study was to investigate the reported alleles CYP2A6*15, CYP2A6*16, CYP2A6*21, and CYP2A6*22, in terms of the functional consequences of their mutations on the enzyme catalytic activity. With use of the wild-type CYP2A6 cDNA as template, site-directed mutagenesis was performed to introduce nucleotide changes encoding K194E substitution in CYP2A6*15, R203S substitution in CYP2A6*16, K476R substitution in CYP2A6*21, and concurrent D158E and L160I substitutions in CYP2A6*22. Upon sequence verification, the CYP2A6 wild-type and mutant constructs were individually coexpressed with NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase in Escherichia coli. A kinetic study using a coumarin 7-hydroxylase assay indicated that CYP2A6*15 exhibited higher Vmax than the wild type, whereas all mutant constructs, except for variant CYP2A6*16, exhibited higher Km values. Analysis of the Vmax/Km ratio revealed that all mutants demonstrated 0.85- to 1.05-fold differences from the wild type, with the exception of variant CYP2A6*22, which only portrayed 39% of the wild-type intrinsic clearance. These data suggested that individuals carrying the CYP2A6*22 allele are likely to have lower metabolism of CYP2A6 substrate than individuals expressing CYP2A6*15, CYP2A6*16, CYP2A6*21, and the wild type.
Ultrasound-Guided Procedures in Rheumatology. What Is the Evidence?

AbstractUltrasound (US) is a cost-effective, noninvasive, and accessible imaging modality that clinicians use at the point of care to assess disease activity and therapeutic efficacy in different rheumatic conditions. It can play a relevant role in invasive procedures performed by the rheumatologist, potentially ensuring a higher degree of accuracy. However, US-guided injections are still underused, and the conventional blind injection the most commonly adopted approach. In this article, we analyze the current evidence supporting the use of US-guided procedures, emphasizing comparative studies between conventional and US-guided procedures and their benefits in the daily rheumatological practice.
Motivational Selectivity Prospectively Predicts Couples' Realization of Their Goal to Have a Child

theories have emphasized that motivational selectivity - focusing on a few goals instead of "wanting it all" - regulates development in individuals, dyads, or groups. We provide first evidence that this motivational strategy predicts an objective, goal-related developmental outcome years later. We followed up on initially childless couples in which both partners had reported the goal of starting a family within the next three and a half years. At baseline, partners reported on their general behavioral tendency to prioritize goals of particular importance in their partnership (i.e., their motivational selectivity). Three and a half years later, 50% of the couples had realized the goal to have a child. The higher the couples' initial motivational-selectivity scores had been, the more likely they were to have indeed started a family, controlling for other potential predictors of child-bearing. These findings suggest that motivational selectivity meaningfully characterizes social entities like couples, and regulates their development.
Rethinking Reproductive Gifts as Body Projects

In New Zealand, ovarian egg donation and surrogate pregnancy arrangements are often viewed through the interpretative lens of altruism and reproductive gift-giving. However, gift terminology does not represent the narrative accounts of all women who have participated in donor-assisted conception strategies. Drawing on interview data with New Zealand women, this article deals with accounts from donors who see their donative acts not so much as gifts, but as projects of the self, or as events that serve to mark out new beginnings in their lives.
National project on drink spiking: investigating the nature and extent of drink spiking in Australia

The report is founded on evidence obtained directly from victims of drink spiking in addition to data received from police in each Australian jurisdiction and data from the Centre Against Sexual Assault. Natalie Taylor, Jeremy Prichard and Kate Charlton highlight the degree to which drink spiking is under-reported, a fundamental challenge in measuring the extent of drink spiking in the community. Of significant concern is the finding that while one third of all drink spiking incidents are associated with sexual assault, less than one sixth of suspected drink spiking sexual assaults are believed to be reported to police.
Examination of Genome Homogeneity in Prokaryotes Using Genomic Signatures

Background DNA word frequencies, normalized for genomic AT content, are remarkably stable within prokaryotic genomes and are therefore said to reflect a “genomic signature. ” The genomic signatures can be used to phylogenetically classify organisms from arbitrary sampled DNA. Genomic signatures can also be used to search for horizontally transferred DNA or DNA regions subjected to special selection forces. Thus, the stability of the genomic signature can be used as a measure of genomic homogeneity. The factors associated with the stability of the genomic signatures are not known, and this motivated us to investigate further. We analyzed the intra-genomic variance of genomic signatures based on AT content normalization (0th order Markov model) as well as genomic signatures normalized by smaller DNA words (1st and 2nd order Markov models) for 636 sequenced prokaryotic genomes. Regression models were fitted, with intra-genomic signature variance as the response variable, to a set of factors representing genomic properties such as genomic AT content, genome size, habitat, phylum, oxygen requirement, optimal growth temperature and oligonucleotide usage variance (OUV, a measure of oligonucleotide usage bias), measured as the variance between genomic tetranucleotide frequencies and Markov chain approximated tetranucleotide frequencies, as predictors. Principal Findings Regression analysis revealed that OUV was the most important factor (p<0.001) determining intra-genomic homogeneity as measured using genomic signatures. This means that the less random the oligonucleotide usage is in the sense of higher OUV, the more homogeneous the genome is in terms of the genomic signature. The other factors influencing variance in the genomic signature (p<0.001) were genomic AT content, phylum and oxygen requirement. Conclusions Genomic homogeneity in prokaryotes is intimately linked to genomic GC content, oligonucleotide usage bias (OUV) and aerobiosis, while oligonucleotide usage bias (OUV) is associated with genomic GC content, aerobiosis and habitat.
Elicitation of the passé composé in French preschoolers with and without specific language impairment

ABSTRACT This study examines inflectional abilities in French-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI) using a verb elicitation task. Eleven children with SLI and age-matched controls (37–52 months) participated in the experiment. We elicited the passé composé using eight regular and eight irregular high frequency verbs matched for age of acquisition. Children with SLI showed dissimilar productive verb inflection abilities to control children (even when comparing participants with similar verb vocabularies and mean length of utterance in words). Control children showed evidence of overregularization and sensitivity to morphological structure, whereas no such effects were observed in the SLI group. Error patterns observed in the SLI group demonstrate that, at this age, they cannot produce passé composé forms in elicitation tasks, even though some participants used them spontaneously. Either context by itself might therefore be insufficient to fully evaluate productive linguistic abilities in children with SLI.
The role of computer-aided assessment in health professional education: a comparison of student performance in computer-based and paper-and-pen multiple-choice tests

There is a lack of empirical research in the use of computers in assessment. A study was conducted to compare student performance in computerized and paper-and-pen multiple-choice tests and assess the extent and effect of 'computer anxiety'. The LXR.TEST 5.1 software was used for the computerized test. A validated rating scale was used to assess computer anxiety. Most students had little computer experience other than in word processing. Only about a third of the students had moderate to mild computer anxiety. Neither computer experience nor anxiety correlated significantly with performance in the computer test. Whereas students performed significantly better in the paper test than in the computer test, there was no statistical difference in ranking in the two assessments formats. This suggests that computer-based assessment could be used with confidence for the purposes of ranking students, but care should be taken in using it for grading.
Collaborative partnership between HE and employers: a study of workforce development

This paper draws together two major strands in current Government policies for higher education—the promotion of collaborative partnerships in higher education and the widening participation agenda. Both of these also contribute to the enhancement of workforce development. The paper explores the interface between these two policies through a case study of an employer‐led curriculum development for a group of people who had hitherto been excluded from higher education. The case in question is a collaboration between a higher education institution and a charitable organization whose aim was to develop their well‐established in‐house training into a diploma of higher education. This study draws on evidence from documentary analysis, participant observation and semi‐structured interviews of the major stakeholders in the programme over a period of two years. It explores the motivation of the partners for engaging in collaborative curriculum development both at an individual and institutional level and the principles underlying their cooperation. The findings offer insights on the perceived benefits of collaborative partnerships on a number of dimensions and concludes by proposing a model that could underpin and enhance collaborative partnerships in the future.
Potential stereotype threat and face validity effects on cognitive‐based test performance in the classroom

Evaluation is an inherent part of education for an increasingly diverse student population. Confidence in one’s test‐taking skills, and the associated testing environment, needs to be examined from a perspective that combines the concept of Bandurian self‐efficacy with the concept of stereotype threat reactions in a diverse student sample. Factors underlying testing reactions and performance on a cognitive ability test in four different testing conditions (high or low stereotype threat and high or low test face validity) were examined in this exploratory study. The stereotype threat manipulation seemed to lower African‐American and Hispanic participants’ test scores. However, the hypothesis that there would be an interaction with face validity was only partially supported. Participants’ highest scores resulted from low stereotype threat and high face validity, as predicted. However, the lowest scores were not in the high stereotype threat/ low face validity condition as expected. Instead, most groups tended to score lower when the test was perceived to be more face valid. Stereotype threat manipulation affected Whites as well as non‐Whites, although differently. Specifically, high stereotype threat increased Whites’ cognitive ability test scores in the low face validity condition, but decreased them in the high face validity condition. Implications for testing and classroom environment design are discussed.
Dollars, Distinction, or Duty? The Meaning of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards for Teachers’ Work and Collegial Relations

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is the most prominent contemporary effort to professionalize teaching. Along with identifying exceptional teachers, the NBPTS seeks to alter teachers’ work by establishing a cadre of expert teachers capable of and obligated to leading school improvement efforts. This article reports findings from a mixed methods study of teachers’ responses to the NBPTS in four urban elementary schools. Drawing on institutional theory, the authors find that whether and how the NBPTS enters teachers’ work depends on the interplay of professional logics, district and state policy, occupational sentiments, and local school organization.
Voice Climate, Supervisor Undermining, and Work Outcomes

This study draws from social information processing theory and the climate literature to examine an antecedent to and the consequences of voice climate, defined as shared group member perceptions of the extent to which they are encouraged to engage in voice behaviors. The authors test their hypotheses using data collected from a sample of 374 full-time employees nested in 54 work groups. Their results indicate that group perceptions of supervisor undermining have a negative effect on group perceptions of voice climate. In addition, voice climate predicts group voice behavior and also has a significant influence on group performance beyond the influence through group voice behavior. These findings provide additional evidence for the predictive validity of the voice climate construct and provide future research opportunities for researchers.
The Double-Auction Gambling Market: An Experimental Examination

I examine a new sports wagering mechanism that utilizes a double auction rather than the traditional wager matching bookmaker. Laboratory experiments were performed that modeled the two institutions in an attempt to compare the efficiency and volatility of the new mechanism versus the status quo. The new proposed double auction institution was less efficient and more volatile than the matching mechanism. However, the relative performance of the double auction mechanism was significantly improved by an increase in the size of the market.
Lifetime Number of Partners As the Only Independent Risk Factor for Human Papillomavirus Infection: A Population‐Based Study

Background and Objectives. Previous studies of relationships between genital human papillomavirus infection and tentative risk factors have yielded conflicting results, possibly because of inaccuracy of the viral detection methods used and differences in selection criteria. Goal of This Study. To determine human papillomavirus prevalence and identify risk factors in a group of young Swedish women. Study Design. This was a population-based study involving comu-pletion of a structured questionnaire, analysis of cervical scrapings for human papillomavirus and Chlamydia trachomatis, and sero-logic tests for C. trachomatis and herpes simplex virus antibodies. Results. The prevalence of human papillomavirus infection was 22% among the sexually active women and 4% among the virgins. A number of factors were associated with human papillomavirus prevalence in univariate analysis, but logistic regression analysis showed that lifetime number of male sexual partners was the only independent risk factor for human papillomavirus infection (adjusted odds ratio, 7.45; 95 % CI, 2.79–19.92 for six or more partners vs. one partner). Conclusion. Human papillomavirus infection is a prevalent sexually transmitted disease among young Swedish women, and the lifetime number of male sexual partners is a major risk factor.
Sources of Difficulty in Deductive Reasoning: The THOG Task

The THOG task presents four designs constructed from two shapes and two colours. Subjects are told that the experimenter has written down one of the shapes and one of the colours and are provided the rule that if, and only if, any design has either the shape or the colour, but not both, written down, then it is a THOG. Finally, they are given an exemplar and are asked to classify the remaining designs. Successful solution requires construction of hypotheses, reasoning under each hypothesis, and comparison of the results under each to reach a final conclusion. Few subjects are able to provide adequate responses on the standard version of the task. We present the results of four experiments, with 160 undergraduates each presented with one of eight versions of the task. Experiments 1 and 2 indicate that (1) some subjects think that the properties that are written down are identical to those of the exemplar, although these are not the same subjects who exhibit the modal error pattern, (2) many subjects correctly understand the disjunction of the rule but fail to consider the hypotheses, and (3) poor initial encoding of the problem is not easily corrected. Experiment 3 investigates the sufficiency of the claim of Griggs and Newstead (1982) that appropriate problem solution follows from explicit presentation of all problem information (including use of positive labels for properties that are not written down), and Experiment 4 investigates the necessity of the claim. The results of Experiments 3 and 4 show that presenting positive category labels does increase the frequency of correct solution; however, positive category labels are not necessary for such improvement. Separation of the labels of the THOG rule from those of the exemplar, or informing subjects that only one other design is a THOG, also increases the frequency of successful solution. The results suggest that many people have some fairly sophisticated reasoning skills. but application of these skills is easily discouraged when the features of the task lead to poor initial encoding.