Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hemodynamic responses to active and passive coping tasks and the prediction of future blood pressure in Thai participants: A preliminary prospective cohort study

Cardiovascular responses to mental stress tests have been related to future blood pressure (BP) levels. However, most studies have been completed in North America and Europe; only one study has been conducted in Asia. Therefore, the study explored whether cardiovascular responses to mental stress predict future resting BP in Thailand. Hemodynamic measures were obtained from 101 healthy adults before, during and after mental arithmetic, a speech task, and a cold pressor task. A follow-up assessment of resting BP was undertaken 1 year later. Results showed that Thais responded to standardized mental stress tasks with large and significant cardiovascular reactivity. Regression analyses indicated that, after adjustment for baseline BP and traditional risk factors, heightened systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses to mental arithmetic were associated with increased future SBP (ΔR2 = .045). These findings suggest that BP reactivity predicts future BP and may play a role in the development of hypertension. In addition, Thais displayed large cardiovascular responses to standardized mental stress tasks, of a similar magnitude to previous studies of North Americans and Europeans.
In Silico Post Genome-Wide Association Studies Analysis of C-Reactive Protein Loci Suggests an Important Role for Interferons

Background—Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have successfully identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). An important limitation of GWASs is that the identified variants merely flag the nearby genomic region and do not necessarily provide a direct link to the biological mechanisms underlying their corresponding phenotype. Here we apply a bioinformatics-based approach to uncover the functional characteristics of the 18 SNPs that had previously been associated with CRP at a genome-wide significant level. Methods and Results—In the first phase of in silico sequencing, we explore the vicinity of GWAS SNPs to identify all linked variants. In the second phase of expression quantitative trait loci analysis, we attempt to identify all nearby genes whose expression levels are associated with the corresponding GWAS SNPs. These 2 phases generate several relevant genes that serve as input to the next phase of functional network analysis. Our in silico sequencing analysis using 1000 Genomes Project data identified 7 nonsynonymous SNPs, which are in moderate to high linkage disequilibrium (r 2>0.5) with the GWAS SNPs. Our expression quantitative trait loci analysis, which was based on one of the largest single data sets of genome-wide expression probes (n>5000) identified 23 significantly associated expression probes belonging to 15 genes (false discovery rate <0.01). The final phase of functional network analysis revealed 93 significantly enriched biological processes (false discovery rate <0.01). Conclusions—Our post-GWAS analysis of CRP GWAS SNPs confirmed the previously known overlap between CRP and lipids biology. Additionally, it suggested an important role for interferons in the metabolism of CRP.
A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Intrinsic Religiosity and Locus of Control

The authors meta-analytically examined the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and internal locus of control. Thirty-seven independent samples, comprising 9,924 participants, yielded an average effect size of r = . 06, which was small, but significant, indicating a positive correlation between intrinsic religiosity and internal locus of control. Moderation analyses showed a significant trend of effects becoming weaker over time (from 1971 to 2011). The judged religiousness of samples significantly predicted the strength of the correlation, such that more religious samples showed stronger effect sizes.
A Robust and Fast Dewarping Method of Document Images

Document image distortion often appears when captured by the camera; this may induce recognition mistakes by OCR. In this paper, a robust and fast dewarping method of document images is proposed. Compared with traditional method, the computation of the correction baseline and the distance for vertical displace in this method is independent of the document's content, so it can guarantee the precision of words' slope and make all words be align with the same line. The computation complexity of the algorithm is discussed at the end of this paper, and comparative experiments with traditional method are made. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is efficient and robust.
Predictors of quality of life following stroke

Purpose : To determine the factors predicting quality of life during the course of rehabilitation following stroke. Method : Two hundred and fifteen stroke patients aged 41-93 were studied over a period of three months. Measurement of quality of life, functional ability, social support, demographic and treatment data were taken on admission to the rehabilitation hospital, at two weeks and three months. The instruments used were the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), the Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and The Social Support Questionnaire, short form (SSQ6). Results : Length of stay, previous stroke, functional ability and social support were found to be significantly correlated with quality of life. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that functional ability, psychological and physical SIP dimensions, social support satisfaction at two weeks and previous stroke explained 47% of the variance in sickness impact at three months following stroke. The factors predicting 53% of the variance in sickness impact at two weeks were baseline functional ability, psychological and physical SIP. Conclusions : The findings indicate that both psychosocial and physical factors are important in predicting quality of life in stroke rehabilitation. Determining such predictors at an early stage will help to guide clinical decisions throughout rehabilitation.
MAIN FACTORS UNDERLYING CONSUMERS' FOOD CHOICE: A FIRST STEP FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF ATTITUDES TOWARD “HEALTHY EATING”

ABSTRACT This research investigates consumers' factors underlying food choice and their attitudes toward healthy eating. The participants completed a questionnaire composed by two parts. The first one was based on the Food Choice Questionnaire where the mean scores and factor analyses pointed to “sensory appeal,”“price” and “convenience” as the most important factors in Spaniards' food choice. The agglomerative hierarchical clustering grouped women and adult people as the most concerned population about health and weight control. Considering the latter factor, the items “is low in calories,”“help me to control my weight” were more associated with “is low in fat” than “Is low in sugar. ” The second part of the questionnaire asked about the consumption frequencies of different kind of foods and revealed dairy products as the most consumed ones. Furthermore, foods with specific health-promoting ingredients exhibited low consumption frequency, most likely motivated by the low interest or knowledge about their health benefits. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Knowing the main factors underlying consumers' food choice provides important information for having a better understanding of consumers' interest and attitudes toward healthy eating, as well as their concerns about factors involving purchase decision. Knowledge about perceptions toward healthy foods is useful for researchers, producer, manufacturers and health professionals as a first step to design public health policies and consumer education strategies. In addition, the methodology used in the present study with potential application to any kind of population, establishes relationships between consumers perception and food consumption behavior for Spanish consumers.
Long-term function and survival of elderly donor kidneys transplanted into young adults.

BACKGROUND Traditionally, elderly donor kidneys have not been widely accepted for transplantation on the assumption of inferior performance. However, the United Network for Organ Sharing reports an increase in the number of elderly donors from less than 2% in 1982 to 24% in 1995. This trend is commensurate with the increase of older dialysis patients and an overall increase in the elderly population in the United States (1). Optimal utilization of these kidneys is essential to overcome the acute organ shortage. METHODS In this study, we transplanted 25 kidneys from elderly donors (ages 56-72 years) into young adult recipients (ages 20-50 years) (group 1) over a 4-year period. We compared the results with matched recipients of young adult donor kidneys (group 2) with regard to long-term kidney function and graft survival. A pretransplant biopsy of elderly donor kidneys was carried out and a frozen section report was obtained. Only those kidneys showing glomerulosclerosis of less than 20% were accepted for transplantation. All cadaveric kidneys were preserved in University of Wisconsin solution. RESULTS Pretransplant biopsies of elderly donor kidneys showed structural deficits, which included glomerulosclerosis in 85%, arteriolar and/or mesangial thickening in 75%, and interstitial lymphocyte infiltration in 30%. The mean serum creatinine was 2.4+/-0.74, 2.2+/-0.56, and 2.9+/-0.76 mg/100 ml in group 1 and 1.5+/-0.55, 2.3+/-2.24, and 1.7+/-0.62 in group 2 at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. The patient survival was 92%, 92%, and 88% in group 1, and 100%, 100%, and 100% in group 2 at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. The graft survival was 80%, 64%, and 56% in group 1 and 100%, 96%, and 88% in group 2 at similar time intervals. The differences in the serum creatinine and graft survival between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Most of the elderly donor kidneys with structural deficits transplanted into young adults provided suboptimal function and inferior long-term graft survival. To maximize the utilization and optimize the survival of elderly donor kidneys, we propose transplantation of these kidneys into age-matched recipients with similar physiological requirements as those of donors, with regard to kidney function.
Zentrale Resultate der Gesamtevaluation familienbezogener Leistungen

Commissioned by the Federal Government, the "Overall Evaluation of Benefit Payments to Married Couples and Families" is the first study to systematically and comprehensively evaluate the key instruments of German family policy. The evaluation focused on the following family-policy goals: securing families' financial stability, better reconciliation of family and career, early support for children, fulfilling the desire to have children, and compensating for inequalities between families. Viewed as a whole, the findings of the evaluation studies conducted by the DIW Berlin, ifo, and ZEW primarily show that one measure stands out as not having any conflicting family-policy objectives - namely public funding of daycare for children. There should be further investment in this measure - current parent participation should be retained initially and used to improve quality. The parental leave benefit (Elterngeld) also cause hardly any goal conflicts and should be developed further in order to provide greater incentives for fair division of labor between the partners. A reform of income splitting within the income tax for married couples toward limited "real" income splitting (Realsplitting) could help generate more financial scope. Since child benefit has relatively weak effects on the goals analyzed, it should not be increased. Mit der von der Bundesregierung in Auftrag gegebenen "Gesamtevaluation ehe- und familienbezogener Leistungen" wurden erstmals zentrale Instrumente der deutschen Familienpolitik systematisch und umfassend evaluiert. Dabei wurden folgende familienpolitische Ziele vorgegeben: die Sicherung der wirtschaftlichen Stabilitat der Familien, die bessere Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf, die fruhe Forderung von Kindern, die Erfullung von Kinderwunschen und der Nachteilsausgleich zwischen den Familien. Die Gesamtschau der Ergebnisse der Evaluationsstudien des DIW Berlin, ifo und ZEW zeigt, dass primar eine Masnahme heraussticht, mit der keine familienpolitischen Zielkonflikte verbunden sind. Dies ist die offentliche Finanzierung der Kindertagesbetreuung. In sie sollte weiter investiert werden - die bisherige Elternbeteiligung sollte zunachst beibehalten und fur Verbesserungen der Qualitat verwandt werden. Auch das Elterngeld verursacht kaum Zielkonflikte und sollte so weiterentwickelt werden, dass es mehr Anreize fur eine partnerschaftliche Arbeitsteilung setzt. Finanzieller Spielraum konnte durch eine Reform des Ehegattensplittings hin zu einem gedeckelten Realsplitting gewonnen werden. Aufgrund relativ schwacher Effekte des Kindergeldes auf die analysierten Ziele sollte von einer Erhohung dieser Leistung abgesehen werden.
Consumers' Acceptance of Unethical Clothing Consumption Activities: Influence of Cultural Identification, Ethnicity, and Machiavellianism

We studied the influence of clothing consumers' ethnicity, cultural identification, and one personality characteristic, Machiavellianism, on acceptance of unethical clothing consumption activities. Using a survey of 127 Chinese and U.S. students, the following findings were obtained: 1) those more closely identifying with U.S. culture tend to be more accepting of unethical clothing consumption activities than those identifying with Chinese culture, 2) ethnicity moderates the influence of cultural identification on consumers' acceptance of unethical clothing consumption activities, 3) those who are more Machiavellian accept more unethical behaviors than those who are less Machiavellian, and 4) both cultural identification and Machiavellianism significantly explain variance in consumers' acceptance of unethical clothing consumption activities. The findings of this study contribute to the development of a consumer ethics model.
Analyzing the effects of the Footprint of Uncertainty in Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Controllers

Uncertainty is an inherent part in controllers used for real-world applications. The use of new methods for handling incomplete information is of fundamental importance in engineering applications. We simulated the effects of uncertainty produced by the instrumentation elements in type-1 and type-2 fuzzy logic controllers to perform a comparative analysis of the systems' response, in the presence of uncertainty. We are presenting a proposal to optimize interval type-2 membership functions using an average of two type-1 systems we did some experiments where we optimized the MFs under different ranges values for the Footprint Of Uncertainty (FOU) and different noise values. Index Terms—Type-2 Fuzzy Logic, Intelligent Control.
Task‐related gamma‐band dynamics from an intracerebral perspective: Review and implications for surface EEG and MEG

Although non‐invasive techniques provide functional activation maps at ever‐growing spatio‐temporal precision, invasive recordings offer a unique opportunity for direct investigations of the fine‐scale properties of neural mechanisms in focal neuronal populations. In this review we provide an overview of the field of intracranial Electroencephalography (iEEG) and discuss its strengths and limitations and its relationship to non‐invasive brain mapping techniques. We discuss the characteristics of invasive data acquired from implanted epilepsy patients using stereotactic‐electroencephalography (SEEG) and electrocorticography (ECoG) and the use of spectral analysis to reveal task‐related modulations in multiple frequency components. Increasing evidence suggests that gamma‐band activity (>40 Hz) might be a particularly efficient index for functional mapping. Moreover, the detection of high gamma activity may play a crucial role in bridging the gap between electrophysiology and functional imaging studies as well as in linking animal and human data. The present review also describes recent advances in real‐time invasive detection of oscillatory modulations (including gamma activity) in humans. Furthermore, the implications of intracerebral findings on future non‐invasive studies are discussed. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hydrothermal Routes for the Synthesis of CdSe Core Quantum Dots

The synthesis of QDs in aqueous solution is still pursued in hopes of providing a material that is easily fabricated and functionalized. During many years, the synthesis of CdSe in aqueous media has been investigated with limited success due to the low quantum yields and poor crystallinity of the nanoparticles produced. Moreover, the fluorescence of the CdSe QDs obtained by this approach cannot be controlled over a wide range. Direct synthesis of CdSe QDs in water is however a promising alternative route to organometallic reactions and facilitates the use of the dots in biological systems. Hydrothermal synthesis offers also the following advantages: (1) lower reaction temperatures with comparable PL QY; (2) does not use toxic and expensive organometallic reagents; (3) surface functionalization during synthesis without further treatment; (4) comparatively smaller sizes (3-8 nm) than those obtained after encapsulation of hydrophobic QDs with amphiphilic lipids or polymers (generally > 20 nm); (5) more reproducible. Thus, it is still a challenging task to develop a method for preparing CdSe QDs with the desired quality under mild and environmentally friendly conditions using a low-cost and simple method. In this review, we summarize the aqueous solution-based syntheses of CdSe nanocrystals developed in recent years and the applications of these nanocrystals.
The Interactive Effect of Conscientiousness and Agreeableness on Job Performance Dimensions in South Korea

While much is known about the effects of personality traits on performance, there is still limited empirical evidence that examines how personality traits may interact with each other to impact dimensions of performance. This study examined how conscientiousness and agreeableness interact to predict both task performance and organizational citizenship behavior using a sample of 113 bank employees in South Korea. The interaction between the two personality traits was significantly related to both dimensions of performance.
An Analysis of Basic Blocks within SPECjvm98 Applications

In this report the authors present the results of performing a quantitative analysis of basic blocks that are contained within SPECjvm98 applications. They firstly investigate the distribution of basic block sizes both statically and dynamically and then focus on frequently occurring basic blocks. They then present the findings on the workload differences between top ranked basic blocks and overall application. Finally the authors present the results from the investigation into the existence of a linear correlation between static and dynamic basic block frequencies
What is the Role of the Communication Discipline in Social Justice, Community Engagement, and Public Scholarship? A Visit to the CM Café

In early December of 2010, the virtual doors of the CM Cafe were swung open. Seven scholars were invited to the opening*Sarah Dempsey (University of North Carolina), Mohan Dutta (Purdue University), Larry Frey (Trinity University, University of Colorado at Boulder), Bud Goodall (Arizona State University), Soyini Madison (Northwestern University), Jennifer Mercieca (Texas A&M University), and Tom Nakayama (Northeastern University). These scholars were invited to the Cafe to join in a discussion about social justice, community engagement, and public scholarship in the communication discipline, and all were excited to bring their experiences from various areas of the discipline*organizational communication, performance studies, applied communication, communication and culture, rhetoric, health communication*to the table in a wide-ranging conversation. The CM Cafe was facilitated through a private group on Facebook and remained open for about two weeks. As scholars arrived at this virtual Cafe, they often joined the conversation with brief introductions structured by questions posted on the chalkboard overhead. But through the days, new issues were introduced, old ones revisited, and scholars, media personalities, and others outside the Cafe walls were called forth in argument and support. The invited scholars popped in and out of the Cafe as their busy schedules allowed*some were able to linger over many cups of coffee, though others just stopped by for a quick bite and some conversation. Shelly Blair and I stood behind the counter and listened, throwing in only an occasional question or comment. I think it is safe to say that we were all challenged and enlightened by our time in the Cafe*the conversations managed to strike that precarious balance of cordiality and challenge that we strive for in academic debates. In the following pages, you will be privy to some of the comments and conversations that emerged during the December 2010 opening of the CM Cafe.
Cutaneous Abscesses in Children: Epidemiology in the Era of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Pediatric Emergency Department

Objective Skin and soft tissue infections are a major public health issue. Previous literature suggests a recurrence rate of 4% in children. The purpose of this study was to examine the epidemiology, body location, and history of previous infections among children in the emergency department setting. Methods A retrospective study was performed using electronic medical records from all subjects treated in a large pediatric emergency department with attending physician diagnosis and billing codes indicative of a cutaneous abscess from July 1, 2007, to December 31, 2007. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate abscess location, prior history of infection, bacterial etiology, and patient disposition. Results Three hundred eighteen abscess visits occurred in 308 individual subjects; 79% were due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Approximately 14% of subjects presented with more than 1 abscess. Those 2 years or younger were more likely to have buttock abscesses (P < 0.001). Of the 192 subjects for whom responses were documented, 82 (43%) had a history of a prior abscess. Children 2 years or younger were significantly more likely to be hospitalized or go to the operating room: 49% versus 15% (P < 0.001). Conclusions Many children with a cutaneous abscess have a prior history of infection. Multiple abscesses are common. Young children are more likely to have abscesses in the diaper area or be hospitalized. Studies of effective hygiene practices and interventions to reduce recurrence are urgently needed.
Implicit and explicit homonegativity as moderated by self-presentation concerns and sexual orientation

Investigated whether the relation between implicit and explicit attitude measures is affected by self-presentation concerns. In Experiment 1, 70 high-school students made evaluative ratings of pictures of homosexual and heterosexual couples. Self-presentation was manipulated by either instructing participants that the study concerned attitudes regarding sexual orientation (socially sensitive) or attitudes regarding age (less sensitive). The age-instruction led to increased homonegativity but not to a stronger correlation with an Implicit Association Test with homo/heterosexual couples. Concerns regarding the construct validity of the IAT were alleviated in Experiment 2, where heterosexual (n = 30) but not homosexual (n = 30) participants showed implicit homonegativity. The findings are problematic for the interpretation of low implicit/explicit attitude correspondence as being primarily an effect of self-presentation concerns. (Less)