Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perspectives of Adults Living With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Psychosocial and Occupational Implications

The incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has increased over the past decade suggesting a need for further research. This article describes a two phase phenomenological study which explored the lived experience of ASD and its psychosocial effects on relationships, socialization, and occupational participation. Phenomenological interviews were given to three women and three men with high functioning ASD. Phase two of the research included two additional individual interviews and four focus groups. Results indicated themes regarding participants' desires to engage in social occupations, and barriers caused by the nature of the ASD which may successfully be addressed by occupational therapy.
Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Adenylyltransferase Expression in Mitochondrial Matrix Delays Wallerian Degeneration

Studies of naturally occurring mutant mice, wlds, showing delayed Wallerian degeneration phenotype, suggest that axonal degeneration is an active process. We previously showed that increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-synthesizing activity by overexpression of nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (NMNAT) is the essential component of the Wlds protein, the expression of which is responsible for the delayed Wallerian degeneration phenotype in wlds mice. Indeed, NMNAT overexpression in cultured neurons provides robust protection to neurites, as well. To examine the effect of NMNAT overexpression in vivo and to analyze the mechanism that causes axonal protection, we generated transgenic mice (Tg) overexpressing NMNAT1 (nuclear isoform), NMNAT3 (mitochondrial isoform), or the Wlds protein bearing a W258A mutation, which disrupts NAD-synthesizing activity of the Wlds protein. Wallerian degeneration delay in NMNAT3-Tg was similar to that in wlds mice, whereas axonal protection in NMNAT1-Tg or Wlds(W258A)-Tg was not detectable. Detailed analysis of subcellular localization of the overexpressed proteins revealed that the axonal protection phenotype was correlated with localization of NMNAT enzymatic activity to mitochondrial matrix. Furthermore, we found that isolated mitochondria from mice showing axonal protection expressed unchanged levels of respiratory chain components, but were capable of increased ATP production. These results suggest that axonal protection by NMNAT expression in neurons is provided by modifying mitochondrial function. Alteration of mitochondrial function may constitute a novel tool for axonal protection, as well as a possible treatment of diseases involving axonopathy.
A positive behaviour support: a preliminary evaluation of a school‐wide plan for implementing AAC in a school for students with intellectual disabilities

This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention as part of a school‐wide positive behaviour support plan for enhancing the communication behaviours and reducing behavioural problems of students with intellectual disabilities. The whole staff was involved in developing an educational AAC positive support plan for enhancing communication in the school. An inventory was administered to evaluate differences in communication behaviours and behavioural problems before and after intervention. Teachers learned to assess the communication level of each child, use AAC strategies, incorporate graphic symbols into the students' educational programs and incorporate AAC into the class curriculum. After intervention, communication behaviours increased and problem behaviours decreased significantly. Directions for future research are discussed in the context of positive support plans and AAC.
Functional Connectivity and Coactivation of the Nucleus Accumbens: A Combined Functional Connectivity and Structure-Based Meta-analysis

This article investigates the functional connectivity patterns of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in 18 healthy participants using a resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) protocol. Also, a meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) was used to characterize patterns of functional coactivations involving NAcc: The results of a structure-based meta-analyses of 57 fMRI and PET studies were submitted to activation likelihood estimation analysis to estimate consistent activation patterns across the different imaging studies. The results of the combined rsFC and MACM analyses show that spontaneous activity in NAcc predicts activity in regions implicated in reward circuitries, including orbitomedial prefrontal cortex, globus pallidus, thalamus, midbrain, amygdala, and insula. This confirms the key role of NAcc in the mesocorticolimbic system, which integrates inputs from limbic and cortical regions. We also detected activity in brain regions having few or no direct anatomical connections with NAcc, such as sensorimotor cortex, cerebellum, medial and posterior parietal cortex, and medial/inferior temporal cortex, supporting the view that not all functional connections can be explained by anatomical connections but can also result from connections mediated by third areas. Our rsFC findings are in line with the results of the structure-based meta-analysis: MACM maps are superimposable with NAcc rsFC results, and the reward paradigm class is the one that most frequently generates activation in NAcc. Our results overlap considerably with recently proposed schemata of the main neuron systems in the limbic forebrain and in the anterior part of the limbic midbrain in rodents and nonhuman primates.
Public and private sector work stress: Workers compensation, levels of distress and job satisfaction, and the demand-control-support model

Abstract Proportionately higher rates of work stress compensation claims in the public sector, and the media's portrayal of stress in the public sector as an epidemic has fuelled the commonly held notion that stress levels are higher in the public sector. However, reports from the research literature are somewhat contradictory. Using a heterogeneous community sample of public (N = 84) and private (N = 143) sector employees, we found no difference between sectors on levels of stress (psychological distress, job satisfaction). Using the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model to operationalise psychosocial risk and the work stress process we found no difference on levels of risk by sector, however public sector workers reported higher levels of control. For psychological distress we found clear support for a DC interaction effect. Further support for an interactive DCS by sector (4 way) effect was found, with social support operating differently between the sectors. For job satisfaction a DCS main effects model .
Zu Risiken und Nebenwirkungen lesen Sie …–Negative Effekte von Coaching

Zusammenfassung. Coaching hat sich in der Personalentwicklung etabliert. Der wissenschaftliche Blick auf die Wirksamkeit und Wirkfaktoren von Coaching ist aber bisher eingeschrankt. Wahrend in verschiedenen anderen Bereichen (z. B. in der Psychotherapie- oder Mentoringforschung) auch negative Effekte untersucht werden, findet dies in der Coachingforschung kaum statt. In der vorliegenden Studie wurden negative Effekte von Coaching erstmals systematisch untersucht. In einer qualitativen Vorstudie wurden potentielle negative Effekte von Coaching ermittelt und anschliesend die Haufigkeit, Intensitat und Dauer explorativ erforscht. Dazu wurden per Onlinefragebogen 123 Coachings aus der Perspektive der Coaches evaluiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass pro Coaching durchschnittlich zwei negative Effekte auftreten, die jedoch eine niedrige Intensitat besitzen. Weiterhin wurden Faktoren erfasst, welche die Coaches als ursachlich fur die negativen Effekte wahrnehmen. Dies sind insbesondere Klientenvariablen, aber auch der Umgang des Coaches mit psychischer Erkrankung des Klienten sowie Zeitknappheit. Daruber hinaus besteht ein positiver Zusammenhang zwischen der Anzahl behandelter Themen und der Haufigkeit negativer Effekte. Schlusselworter: Personalentwicklung, Coaching, Wirkfaktoren, negative Effekte For risks and side-effects read … Negative effects of coaching Abstract. Despite the fact that coaching has been established as an important tool within human resource development, research on its effectiveness is limited. Contrary to related research, the analysis of negative effects has been particularly neglected. For the first time, negative effects of coaching are systematically explored. Negative effects were determined within a qualitative preliminary study. Subsequently, their frequency, intensity, and length were rated for 123 coachings from the coaches' perspective. Results indicate an average of two negative effects per coaching; whereas the majority of negative effects occurs with a rather low intensity. Additionally, the coaches were asked to rate causes of negative effects. Most of all, they chose factors associated to clients, but also factors such as the coaches approach to the psychological illnesses of clients or limited time resources. Moreover, a positive relationship between the number of topics considered and the frequency of negative effects was detected.
18F-fluoride PET/CT for assessing bone involvement in prostate and breast cancers

ObjectiveTo evaluate the accuracy of 18F-fluoride PET/computed tomography (CT) to detect bone metastases (BMs) in a breast and prostate cancer population, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or thin-slice CT as a gold standard. MethodsWe have prospectively included 34 patients with breast (N=24) or prostate cancer (N=10) at high risk of BMs. Whole-body PET/CT (low-dose CT) and bone scintigraphy (BS) with single photon emission CT were obtained for all 34 patients and the results compared with a radiological gold standard. ResultsOut of the 386 foci detected by PET/CT, 219 (56.7%) could be verified by CT or MRI. Eighty-six additional foci were detected by BS (n=46) or seen only by CT (n=9), MRI (n=23), or both CT and MRI (n=8). The total number of verified lesions was therefore 274 (58.1%), including 119 (43.4%) benign and 155 (56.6%) BM. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 18F-fluoride PET/CT were 76, 84.2, and 80%, respectively. For BS, they were 44.8, 79.2, and 60%, respectively. Sensitivity significantly decreased for the lytic lesions. The accuracy of PET/CT was significantly superior to BS for pelvic and lumbar lesions. PET/CT provided a correct diagnosis (M+/M0) in 32 of 33 patients (one false positive) compared with 28 of 33 with BS (four false positive, one false positive). Conclusion 18F-fluoride PET/CT is significantly more accurate than BS for detecting BMs from breast and prostate cancers.
Objective self-awareness and focus of attention following awareness of self-standard discrepancies: Changing self or changing standards of correctness.

Two experiments tested the proposition that focus of attention following awareness of a self-standard discrepancy determines whether the motivation to reduce that discrepancy results in changing self toward the standard or changing the standard toward self. In addition, this research tested the hypothesis that focusing on the standard rather than on self results in a negative evaluation of the standard. In Experiment 1, highly self-focused (HSF) persons focused attention either on their performance or on the standard for that performance immediately following a self-standard discrepancy induction. It was predicted that HSF persons who focused on their performance would match self to the standard more than would HSF persons who focused on the standard. This prediction was confirmed. It was also predicted that HSF persons who focused on the standard would (a) change the standard toward self and (b) evaluate it more negatively than would HSF persons who focused on their performance. Hypothesis (b) was confirmed while (a) was not. Results of Experiment 2 confirmed all predictions. HSF persons who focused on their performance changed self toward the standard more than did HSF persons who focused on the standard. Conversely, HSF persons who focused on the standard changed the standard toward self more than did HSF persons who focused on their performance. HSF persons who focused on the standard also evaluated it more negatively than did those who focused on their performance. Implications of these findings for theories involving operation of the self-to-standard type of system are discussed.
‘Zoning’ before zoning: the regulation of apartment housing in early twentieth century Winnipeg and Toronto

‘Residential restrictions’ were widely used in North American cities prior to the development of more comprehensive zoning schemes. This paper examines the use of restrictive by-laws to control the spread of apartment housing in two Canadian cities, Toronto and Winnipeg, prior to World War II. In both cities apartment-house booms in the early 1910s and late 1920s were perceived as threatening the growth of suburban homeownership. Drawing on newspaper reports, council records and correspondence, as well as more quantitative local government records, it is argued that the apparently ‘populist’ anti-apartment regulations in Toronto were actually more flexible and more favourable to developers than less extensive, but more rigid by-laws in Winnipeg. In both cities, the application of regulations both reflected and created distinctive social geographies. The paper indicates the need to focus on how residential restrictions were implemented on the ground as much as on debates surrounding the formulation of policy or the passage of legislation.
A Longitudinal Study of Reading Development of Canadian Children from Diverse Linguistic Backgrounds

This study examined the development of reading and reading‐related skills for native and nonnative speakers of English through the first and second grades. Tasks assessing reading, phonological, and language processing were administered to 36 native English speakers (NS) and 38 children who spoke English as a second language (ELL). Both ELL and NS children showed similar patterns of growth and achievement on measures of word recognition and phonological processing. Error analyses revealed that children from both language groups used similar strategies in reading unfamiliar words. Furthermore, the same first‐grade variables—pseudoword reading and phonological awareness—were important contributors to reading skill for children from both language groups. Therefore, the findings from this sample suggested that word recognition in English develops in a similar way for NS and ELL children from middle‐class backgrounds.
The role of networks of practice, value sharing, and operational proximity in knowledge flows between professional groups

This article investigates the process of knowledge sharing between individuals in different professional groups. Through an ethnographic study in a hospital unit, we examine the individuals’ involvement in networks of practice, their sharing of organizational values, and their operational proximity. Recent attention to networks of practice has led to a view of organizations as crossroads of networks; accordingly, boundary relations between different networks of practice are of core relevance to ensure knowledge diffusion in organizations, but empirical evidence is still lacking. Our grounded theory supports the idea that working side-by-side and having common organizational values are important bases for knowledge transfer between professional groups which belong to different networks of practice. Boundary knowledge transfer evokes new kinds of organizational citizenship behaviours. Professionals who initiate the transfer exhibit extra-role behaviours which, in turn, require the recipient to perform extra-role behaviours as well. Implications of knowledge sharing between professional groups are discussed together with recommendations for managerial action.
Genetics and Morphology of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in Septic Tanks in Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT Dengue viruses, primarily transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti (L.), affect an estimated 50–100 million people yearly. Traditional approaches to control mosquito population numbers, such as the use of pesticides, have had only limited success. Atypical mosquito behavior may be one reason why current vector control efforts have been less efficacious than expected. In Puerto Rico, for example, adult Ae. aegypti have been observed emerging from septic tanks. Interestingly, adults emerging from septic tanks are larger on average than adults collected from surface containers. To determine whether adults colonizing septic tanks constitute a separate Ae. aegypti population, we used 12 previously validated microsatellite loci to examine adult mosquitoes collected from both septic tanks and surface containers, but found no evidence to suggest genetic differentiation. Size differences between septic tank and surface mosquitoes were reduced when nutrient levels were held constant across experimental groups. Despite the absence of evidence suggesting a genetic difference between experimental groups in this study, Ae. aegypti emerging from septic tanks may still represent a more dangerous phenotype and should be given special consideration when developing vector control programs and designing public health interventions in the future.
Does Cannabidiol Protect Against Adverse Psychological Effects of THC?

The recreational use of cannabis can have persistent adverse effects on mental health. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, and most, if not all, of the effects associated with the use of cannabis are caused by THC. Recent studies have suggested a possible protective effect of another cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD). A literature search was performed in the bibliographic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science using the keyword “cannabidiol. ” After removing duplicate entries, 1295 unique titles remained. Based on the titles and abstracts, an initial selection was made. The reference lists of the publications identified in this manner were examined for additional references. Cannabis is not a safe drug. Depending on how often someone uses, the age of onset, the potency of the cannabis that is used and someone’s individual sensitivity, the recreational use of cannabis may cause permanent psychological disorders. Most recreational users will never be faced with such persistent mental illness, but in some individuals cannabis use leads to undesirable effects: cognitive impairment, anxiety, paranoia, and increased risks of developing chronic psychosis or drug addiction. Studies examining the protective effects of CBD have shown that CBD can counteract the negative effects of THC. However, the question remains of how the laboratory results translate to the types of cannabis that are encountered by real-world recreational users.
The Effect of Spectral Tilt on Size Discrimination of Voiced Speech Sounds

A number of studies, with either voiced or unvoiced speech, have demonstrated that a speaker’s geometric mean formant frequency (MFF) has a large effect on the perception of the speaker’s size, as would be expected. One study with unvoiced speech showed that lifting the slope of the speech spectrum by 6 dB/octave also led to a reduction in the perceived size of the speaker. This paper reports an analogous experiment to determine whether lifting the slope of the speech spectrum by 6 dB/octave affects the perception of speaker size with voiced speech (words). The results showed that voiced speech with high-frequency enhancement was perceived to arise from smaller speakers. On average, the point of subjective equality in MFF discrimination was reduced by about 5%. However, there were large individual differences; some listeners were effectively insensitive to spectral enhancement of 6 dB/octave; others showed a consistent effect of the same enhancement. The results suggest that models of speaker size perception will need to include a listener specific parameter for the effect of spectral slope.
Visual sensory processing deficits in patients with bipolar disorder revealed through high-density electrical mapping.

BACKGROUND Etiological commonalities are apparent between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. For example, it is becoming clear that both populations show similar electrophysiological deficits in the auditory domain. Recent studies have also shown robust visual sensory processing deficits in patients with schizophrenia using the event-related potential technique, but this has not been formally tested in those with bipolar disorder. Our goal here was to assess whether early visual sensory processing in patients with bipolar disorder, as indexed by decreased amplitude of the P1 component of the visual evoked potential (VEP), would show a similar deficit to that seen in those with schizophrenia. Since the P1 deficit has already been established as an endophenotype in schizophrenia, a finding of commonality between disorders would raise the possibility that it represents a measure of common genetic liability. METHODS We visually presented isolated-check stimuli to euthymic patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and age-matched healthy controls within a simple go/no-go task and recorded VEPs using high-density (72-channel) electroencephalography. RESULTS The P1 VEP amplitude was substantially reduced in patients with bipolar disorder, with an effect size of f = 0.56 (large according to Cohen's criteria). LIMITATIONS Our sample size was relatively small and as such, did not allow for an examination of potential relations between the physiologic measures and clinical measures. CONCLUSION This reduction in P1 amplitude among patients with bipolar disorder represents a dysfunction in early visual processing that is highly similar to that found repeatedly in patients with schizophrenia and their healthy first-degree relatives. Since the P1 deficit has been related to susceptibility genes for schizophrenia, our results raise the possibility that the deficit may in fact be more broadly related to the development of psychosis and that it merits further investigation as a candidate endophenotype for bipolar disorder.
Evolution and spread of IncFIV plasmids conferring resistance to trimethoprim

Twenty-one IncFIV-group plasmids conferring trimethoprim resistance in Escherichia coli isolates from humans and pigs were examined. Three evolutionary lines of plasmids were identified on the basis of restriction enzyme analysis. One was found exclusively in human isolates and another was found in pig isolates, while the third line consisted of plasmids from both sources. All R plasmids readily transferred to laboratory strains, and evidence was found for transfer to other biotypes of E. coli in the environment. The Tpr genes from representatives of the plasmid lines were cloned and compared by restriction analysis and by hybridization with two characterized Tpr dihydrofolate reductase genes. The sequences flanking the Tpr genes were different for each line, but all showed homology with the type 2 dihydrofolate reductase gene, irrespective of whether they were of human or animal origin. There was no hybridization to the type 1 gene. The remarkable degree of similarity among plasmids of the third line provided clear evidence of the exchange of plasmid-bearing E. coli between humans and pigs.
Current drug treatment of asthma.

• 2 4 1 H O S P I TA L P H A R M AC I S T Miss Hassan is specialist pharmacist, respiratory directorate,Mrs Topol is medicines information manager, Dr Oldfield is specialist registrar in respiratory medicine and Ms Campbell is asthma research project nurse at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, London M AHINAZ HASSAN, BPHARM, MRPHARMS, ALEXANDRA TOPOL, MSC, MRPHARMS, W ILLIAM O LDFIELD, MSC, MRCP, and DEBBIE CAMPBELL, RGN, EN(G)