Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Resistance in psychotherapy: what conclusions are supported by research.

Theoretical literature is contradictory in most areas, but virtually all theories agree on the existence of patient resistance and propose similar implications, meanings, and effects of its manifestation. However, theories differ widely in both the assumed causes of resistance and the methods of dealing with resistant patients. Common to various theoretical definitions is an assumption that resistance is both a dispositional trait and an in-therapy state of oppositional, angry, irritable, and suspicious behaviors. Reactance is a special class of resistance that is manifest in oppositional and uncooperative behavior. Resistance bodes poorly for treatment effectiveness. Nondirective and paradoxical strategies have been found to be quite successful in overcoming resistant and reactant states, while matching low-directive and self-directed treatments with resistant patients circumvents the effects of resistance traits.
Fluoroquinolones and the Risk for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Hospitalized Patients

To determine whether fluoroquinolone exposure is a risk factor for the isolation of Staphylococcus aureus and whether the effect is different for methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) versus methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), we studied two case groups. The first case group included 222 patients with nosocomially acquired MRSA. The second case group included 163 patients with nosocomially acquired MSSA. A total of 343 patients admitted concurrently served as controls. Outcome measures were the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for isolation of MRSA and MSSA after fluoroquinolone exposure. Exposure to both levofloxacin (OR 5.4; p < 0.0001) and ciprofloxacin (OR 2.2; p < 0.003) was associated with isolation of MRSA but not MSSA. After adjustment for multiple variables, both drugs remained risk factors for MRSA (levofloxacin OR 3.4; p < 0.0001; ciprofloxacin OR 2.5; p = 0.005) but not MSSA. Exposure to levofloxacin or ciprofloxacin is a significant risk factor for the isolation of MRSA, but not MSSA.
INVESTIGATION OF THICK BONDLINE ADHESIVE JOINTS.

Abstract : In recent years, the use of polymer matrix composite materials as primary structural components has risen, especially in the general aviation (GA) industry. The use of composites not only results in weight savings, but also reduces part counts, joining operations, and results in significant savings in assembly, storage, and inspection. However, joining of some integral parts is still required. GA aircraft industry also uses bonded joints with bondline thicknesses much greater than the 0.01 in. that was standard in aircraft bonded joints. For composites, there are two methods of joining: bonding and mechanical fastening. Of the two, adhesively bonding composite structures is the preferred method for a variety of reasons. There are several adhesive test methods that are used to determine the in situ properties of an adhesive joint for use in design. From these methods, ASTM D 1002, D 3165, and D 5656 were evaluated in this investigation with the substrate materials of 2024-T3 phosphoric anodized aluminum, carbon/epoxy quasi-isotropic laminate, and fiberglass/epoxy quasi-isotropic laminate. Bondline thicknesses from 0.010-0.160 inch were evaluated for three paste adhesive systems using different test methods and substrate materials. The apparent shear strength given by the test methods investigated was found to be highly dependent on adherend bending stiffness, which directly effects the peel stress distributions in the adhesive layer. Thin-adherend specimens, regardless of bondline thickness, yielded lower apparent shear strengths than the thick adherend specimens and gave misleading information when comparing the apparent shear strengths of different adhesive systems. The adhesive shear-stress behavior was characterized over the range of bond thicknesses and environmental conditions and several recommendations and correction factors were offered for the thick-adherend test method.
Efficient on-line processor scheduling for a class of IRIS (increasing reward with increasing service) real-time tasks

In this paper we consider the problem of on-line scheduling of real-time tasks which receive a "reward" that depends on the amount of service received. In our model, tasks have associated deadlines at which they must depart the system. The task computations are such that the longer they are able to execute before their deadline, the greater the value of their computations, i.e., the tasks have the property that they receive increasing reward with increasing service (IRIS). We focus on the problem of scheduling IRIS tasks in a system in which tasks arrive randomly over time, with the goal of maximizing the average reward accrued per task and per unit time. We describe and evaluate a two-level policy for this system. A top-level algorithm executes each time a task arrives and determines the amount of service to allocate to each task in the absence of future arrivals. A lower-level algorithm, an earliest deadline first (EDF) policy in our case, is responsible for the actual selection of tasks to execute. This two-level policy is evaluated through a combination of analysis and simulation, We observe that it provides nearly optimal performance when the variance in the interarrival times and/or laxities is low and that the performance is more sensitive to changes in the arrival process than the deadline distribution.
Azithromycin antimicrobial resistance and genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection: duration of therapy may be the key to improving efficacy

A test of cure following treatment for uncomplicated cervical or urethral Chlamydia trachomatis infection with either single dose azithromycin (1 g) or doxycyline (100 mg twice daily for 7 days) is currently not recommended. Earlier trials indicated that both treatments are more than 95% effective.1–3 However, recent evidence strongly suggests that treatment failure may occur in more than 5% patients. This was the subject of a recent editorial by Handsfield4 and a late breaker symposium at the recent ISSTDR meeting in Quebec. Handsfield has argued persuasively that this apparent increase in treatment failure with azithromycin is probably not real. Tissue culture, which is less sensitive than nucleic acid amplification tests, was predominantly used in the original treatment trials and would not have been able to detect small numbers of persistent of C trachomatis bacteria.1 4 This article reviews the evidence for treatment failure, considers whether we need to modify current treatment regimes and suggests possible topics for future research. It has always been assumed that individuals retesting positive for chlamydia after a full course of treatment may be due to re-infection.2 But, azithromycin treatment failures at levels >5% where re-infection has been excluded have been documented in women, men with non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) and in men with rectal chlamydia. Two studies in women, not at risk of re-infection, have observed treatment failure rates of approximately 8%. 5–7 A high failure rate (23%) was also recently observed in men with non-gonococcal urethritis treated with single dose azithromycin who were advised to abstain from sexual intercourse.8 Although re-infection could not be excluded, the doxycycline (100 mg twice daily for 7 days) group which did not differ in terms of sexual behaviour following treatment had a significantly lower failure rate (5.2%). 4 8 In a retrospective study of …
Nitric Oxide: Perspectives and Emerging Studies of a Well Known Cytotoxin

The free radical nitric oxide (NO•) is known to play a dual role in human physiology and pathophysiology. At low levels, NO• can protect cells; however, at higher levels, NO• is a known cytotoxin, having been implicated in tumor angiogenesis and progression. While the majority of research devoted to understanding the role of NO• in cancer has to date been tissue-specific, we herein review underlying commonalities of NO• which may well exist among tumors arising from a variety of different sites. We also discuss the role of NO• in human physiology and pathophysiology, including the very important relationship between NO• and the glutathione-transferases, a class of protective enzymes involved in cellular protection. The emerging role of NO• in three main areas of epigenetics—DNA methylation, microRNAs, and histone modifications—is then discussed. Finally, we describe the recent development of a model cell line system in which human tumor cell lines were adapted to high NO• (HNO) levels. We anticipate that these HNO cell lines will serve as a useful tool in the ongoing efforts to better understand the role of NO• in cancer.
The human Pif1 helicase, a potential Escherichia coli RecD homologue, inhibits telomerase activity

Telomeres, the protein–DNA complexes at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, are essential for chromosome stability, and their maintenance is achieved by the specialized reverse transcriptase activity of telomerase or the homologous recombination pathway in most eukaryotes. Here, we identified a human helicase, hPif1 that inhibits telomerase activity. The primary sequence and biochemical analysis suggest that hPif1 is a potential homologue of Escherichia coli RecD, an ATP-dependent 5′ to 3′ DNA helicase. Ectopic expression of wild-type, but not the ATPase/helicase-deficient hPif1, causes telomere shortening in HT1080 cells. hPif1 reduces telomerase processivity and unwinds DNA/RNA duplex in vitro. hPif1 preferentially binds telomeric DNA in vitro and in vivo. We propose that the mechanism of hPif1's inhibition on telomerase involves unwinding of the DNA/RNA duplex formed by telomerase RNA and telomeric DNA, and RecD homologues in eukaryotes may have evolved gaining additional functions.
Lysosomal Fusion Is Essential for the Retention of Trypanosoma cruzi Inside Host Cells

Trypomastigotes, the highly motile infective forms of Trypanosoma cruzi, are capable of infecting several cell types. Invasion occurs either by direct recruitment and fusion of lysosomes at the plasma membrane, or through invagination of the plasma membrane followed by intracellular fusion with lysosomes. The lysosome-like parasitophorous vacuole is subsequently disrupted, releasing the parasites for replication in the cytosol. The role of this early residence within lysosomes in the intracellular cycle of T. cruzi has remained unclear. For several other cytosolic pathogens, survival inside host cells depends on an early escape from phagosomes before lysosomal fusion. Here, we show that when lysosome-mediated T. cruzi invasion is blocked through phosophoinositide 3-kinase inhibition, a significant fraction of the internalized parasites are not subsequently retained inside host cells for a productive infection. A direct correlation was observed between the lysosomal fusion rates after invasion and the intracellular retention of trypomastigotes. Thus, formation of a parasitophorous vacuole with lysosomal properties is essential for preventing these highly motile parasites from exiting host cells and for allowing completion of the intracellular life cycle.
Calibrating the Mixing-Length Parameter for a Red Giant Envelope

Two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations were made to calibrate the mixing-length parameter for modeling red giants' convective envelopes. As was briefly reported in a recent paper by Asida & Tuchman, a comparison of simulations starting with models integrated with different values of the mixing-length parameter has been made. In this paper more results are presented, including tests of the spatial resolution and large-eddy simulation terms used by the numerical code. The consistent value of the mixing-length parameter was found to be 1.4 for a red giant of mass 1.2 M☉, core mass 0.96 M☉, luminosity 200 L☉, and metallicity Z = 0.001.
Gauge-Invariant Couplings of Noncommutative Branes to Ramond-Ramond Backgrounds

We derive the couplings of noncommutative D-branes to spatially varying Ramond-Ramond fields, extending our earlier results in hep-th/0009101. These couplings are expressed in terms of *n products of operators involving open Wilson lines. Equivalence of the noncommutative to the commutative couplings implies interesting identities as well as an expression for the Seiberg-Witten map that was previously conjectured. We generalise our couplings to include transverse scalars, thereby obtaining a Seiberg-Witten map relating commutative and noncommutative descriptions of these scalars. RR couplings for unstable non-BPS branes are also proposed.
Readiness for change and readiness for help-seeking: a composite assessment of client motivation.

AIMS To investigate the correspondence between readiness for behaviour change in general and readiness for alcohol related help-seeking in particular. A related aim was to examine how, if at all, measures of dependence severity, use, and consequences were related to a composite measure depicting agreements and disagreements between general change readiness and help-seeking readiness. METHODS Non-treatment seeking alcohol-dependent patients, numbering 549, from general hospitals in Germany were interviewed. RESULTS When taking into account both dimensions of motivation, findings indicate 42% of the subjects were characterized by different motivation levels regarding readiness for change and readiness for help-seeking. Higher help-seeking readiness was associated with higher alcohol problem severity. Readiness to change was not affected by alcohol problem severity. CONCLUSIONS Findings underscore the need to evaluate both motivational constructs in determining clients' need and receptivity to formal help.
Studies on Mechanism of Action of Anticancer Peptides by Modulation of Hydrophobicity Within a Defined Structural Framework

In the present study, the hydrophobicity of a 26-residue α-helical peptide (peptide P) was altered to study the effects of peptide hydrophobicity on the mechanism of action of cationic anticancer peptides. Hydrophobicity of the nonpolar face of the peptides was shown to correlate with peptide helicity. The self-association ability of peptides in aqueous environment, determined by the reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography temperature profiling, showed strong influence on anticancer activity. The peptide analogues with greater hydrophobicity showed stronger anticancer activity determined by IC50 values with a necrotic-like membrane disruption mechanism. Peptide analogues exhibited high specificity against cancer cells and much higher anticancer activity than widely-used anticancer chemical drugs. The mechanism of action of anticancer peptides was also investigated. The hydrophobicity of peptides plays a crucial role in the mechanism of action against cancer cells, which could present a way, using a de novo design approach, to create anticancer peptides as potential therapeutics in clinical practices. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(3); 416–26. ©2011 AACR.
Bone regeneration and stem cells

• Introduction • Bone fracture healing and healing problems • Biomaterial scaffolds and tissue engineering in bone formation ‐ Bone tissue engineering ‐ Biomaterial scaffolds ‐ Synthetic scaffolds ‐ Micro‐ and nanostructural properties of scaffolds ‐ Conclusion • Mesenchymal stem cells and osteogenesis ‐ Bone tissue ‐ Origin of osteoblasts ‐ Isolation and characterization of bone marrow derived MSC ‐ In vitro differentiation of MSC into osteoblast lineage cells ‐ In vivo differentiation of MSC into bone ‐ Factors and pathways controlling osteoblast differentiation of hMSC ‐ Defining the relationship between osteoblast and adipocyte differentiation from MSC ‐ MSC and sex hormones ‐ Effect of aging on osteoblastogenesis ‐ Conclusion • Embryonic, foetal and adult stem cells in osteogenesis ‐ Cell‐based therapies for bone ‐ Specific features of bone cells needed to be advantageous for clinical use ‐ Development of therapeutic biological agents ‐ Clinical application concerns ‐ Conclusion • Platelet‐rich plasma (PRP), growth factors and osteogenesis ‐ PRP effects in vitro on the cells involved in bone repair ‐ PRP effects on osteoblasts ‐ PRP effects on osteoclasts ‐ PRP effects on endothelial cells ‐ PRP effects in vivo on experimental animals ‐ The clinical use of PRP for bone repair ‐ Non‐union ‐ Distraction osteogenesis ‐ Spinal fusion ‐ Foot and ankle surgery ‐ Total knee arthroplasty ‐ Odontostomatology and maxillofacial surgery ‐ Conclusion • Molecular control of osteogenesis ‐ TGF‐β signalling ‐ FGF signalling ‐ IGF signalling ‐ PDGF signalling ‐ MAPK signalling pathway ‐ Wnt signalling pathway ‐ Hedgehog signalling ‐ Notch signalling ‐ Ephrin signalling ‐ Transcription factors regulating osteoblast differentiation ‐ Conclusion • Summary
Evidence for a Catalytically and Kinetically Competent Enzyme–Substrate Cross-Linked Intermediate in Catalysis by Lipoyl Synthase

Lipoyl synthase (LS) catalyzes the final step in lipoyl cofactor biosynthesis: the insertion of two sulfur atoms at C6 and C8 of an (N6-octanoyl)-lysyl residue on a lipoyl carrier protein (LCP). LS is a member of the radical SAM superfamily, enzymes that use a [4Fe–4S] cluster to effect the reductive cleavage of S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) to l-methionine and a 5′-deoxyadenosyl 5′-radical (5′-dA•). In the LS reaction, two equivalents of 5′-dA• are generated sequentially to abstract hydrogen atoms from C6 and C8 of the appended octanoyl group, initiating sulfur insertion at these positions. The second [4Fe–4S] cluster on LS, termed the auxiliary cluster, is proposed to be the source of the inserted sulfur atoms. Herein, we provide evidence for the formation of a covalent cross-link between LS and an LCP or synthetic peptide substrate in reactions in which insertion of the second sulfur atom is slowed significantly by deuterium substitution at C8 or by inclusion of limiting concentrations of SAM. The observation that the proteins elute simultaneously by anion-exchange chromatography but are separated by aerobic SDS-PAGE is consistent with their linkage through the auxiliary cluster that is sacrificed during turnover. Generation of the cross-linked species with a small, unlabeled (N6-octanoyl)-lysyl-containing peptide substrate allowed demonstration of both its chemical and kinetic competence, providing strong evidence that it is an intermediate in the LS reaction. Mössbauer spectroscopy of the cross-linked intermediate reveals that one of the [4Fe–4S] clusters, presumably the auxiliary cluster, is partially disassembled to a 3Fe-cluster with spectroscopic properties similar to those of reduced [3Fe–4S]0 clusters.
Masculine voices signal men's threat potential in forager and industrial societies

Humans and many non-human primates exhibit large sexual dimorphisms in vocalizations and vocal anatomy. In humans, same-sex competitors and potential mates attend to acoustic features of male vocalizations, but vocal masculinity especially increases perceptions of physical prowess. Yet, the information content of male vocalizations remains obscure. We therefore examined relationships between sexually dimorphic acoustic properties and men's threat potential. We first introduce a new measure of the structure of vocal formant frequencies, ‘formant position’ (Pf), which we show is more sexually dimorphic and more strongly related to height than is the most widely used measure of formant structure, ‘formant dispersion’, in both a US sample and a sample of Hadza foragers from Tanzania. We also show large sexual dimorphisms in the mean fundamental frequency (F0) and the within-utterance standard deviation in F0 (F0 − s.d.) in both samples. We then explore relationships between these acoustic parameters and men's body size, strength, testosterone and physical aggressiveness. Each acoustic parameter was related to at least one measure of male threat potential. The most dimorphic parameters, F0 and Pf, were most strongly related to body size in both samples. In the US sample, F0 predicted testosterone levels, Pf predicted upper body strength and F0 − s.d. predicted physical aggressiveness.
Accelerating Fuzzy-C Means Using an Estimated Subsample Size

Many algorithms designed to accelerate the fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm randomly sample the data. Typically, no statistical method is used to estimate the subsample size, despite the impact subsample sizes have on speed and quality. This paper introduces two new accelerated algorithms, i.e., geometric progressive fuzzy c-means (GOFCM) and minimum sample estimate random fuzzy c-means (MSERFCM), that use a statistical method to estimate the subsample size. GOFCM, which is a variant of single-pass fuzzy c-means (SPFCM), also leverages progressive sampling. MSERFCM, which is a variant of random sampling plus extension fuzzy c-means, gains a speedup from improved initialization. A general, novel stopping criterion for accelerated clustering is introduced. The new algorithms are compared with FCM and four accelerated variants of FCM. GOFCM's speedup was four-47 times that of FCM and faster than SPFCM on each of the six datasets that are used in the experiments. For five of the datasets, partitions were within 1% of those of FCM. MSERFCM's speedup was five-26 times that of FCM and produced partitions within 3% of those of FCM on all datasets. A unique dataset, consisting of plankton images, exposed the strengths and weaknesses of many of the algorithms tested. It is shown that the new stopping criterion is effective in speeding up algorithms such as SPFCM and the final partitions are very close to those of FCM.
Cryopreservation Effect on Expression of Sex Steroid Receptors of Boar Spermatozoa

This study aimed to investigate the expressions of estrogen receptor (ER) alpha, ER beta, and progesterone receptor (PR) during semen cryopreservation, to evaluate the correlation among ERa, ERβ, PR, capacitation, acrosome reaction, and semen quality parameters, and to investigate the effect of different concentrations of L-cysteine on the expressions of ERa, ERβ, and PR. Semen samples were collected from 12 boars [Duroc (n = 4), Landrace (n=4), and Large white (n=4)]. The controlled rate-freezing method was used to cryopreserve the semen samples. The samples were collected at different times: fresh semen, after adding Modena TM , after adding extender II (TE2), after adding extender III (TE3), and post-thaw (PT). For extender II and III, the samples were divided into 4 groups: negative control (group 1), 5 (group 2), 10 (group 3), and 15 (group 4) mM/100ml L-cysteine supplementation. Sperm parameters including motility, intact plasma membrane, acrosome integrity, non-capacitated sperm, ERa-, ERβ-, and PR-positive spermatozoa were evaluated. Correlations among all parameters were also investigated. Results demonstrated that the acrosome integrity of group 3 was higher than that of group 1 and 4. Moreover, the other parameters of group 3 tended to be higher than those of the other groups. Regarding time during cryopreservation, all parameters in TE2 and TE3 were higher than those in PT. The expression of sex steroid receptors (ERa, ERβ, and PR) positively correlated with motility, intact plasma membrane, acrosome integrity, and non-capacitated spermatozoa. In conclusion, cryopreservation and thawing resulted in decreased expressions of ERa, ERβ, PR, and sperm qualities. Moreover, L-cysteine supplementation in different concentrations did not affect the expressions of ERa, ERβ and PR.