Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physician firearm ownership as a predictor of firearm injury prevention practice.

OBJECTIVES This study explored the relation between physicians' gun ownership and their attitudes and practices regarding firearm injury prevention. METHODS Internists and surgeons were surveyed, and logistic regression models were developed with physicians' personal involvement with firearms (in the form of a gun score) as the primary independent variable. RESULTS Higher gun scores were associated with less agreement that firearm injury is a public health issue and that physicians should be involved in firearm injury prevention but with a greater likelihood of reporting the inclusion of firearm ownership and storage as part of patient safety counseling. CONCLUSIONS Despite being less likely to say that doctors should participate in firearm injury prevention, physician gun owners are more likely than nonowners to report counseling patients about firearm safety.
Nuclear Import of Plasmid DNA in Digitonin-permeabilized Cells Requires Both Cytoplasmic Factors and Specific DNA Sequences*

Although much is known about the mechanisms of signal-mediated protein and RNA nuclear import and export, little is understood concerning the nuclear import of plasmid DNA. Plasmids between 4.2 and 14.4 kilobases were specifically labeled using a fluorescein-conjugated peptide nucleic acid clamp. The resulting substrates were capable of gene expression and nuclear localization in microinjected cells in the absence of cell division. To elucidate the requirements for plasmid nuclear import, a digitonin-permeabilized cell system was adapted to follow the nuclear localization of plasmids. Nuclear import of labeled plasmid was time- and energy-dependent, was inhibited by the lectin wheat germ agglutinin, and showed an absolute requirement for cytoplasmic extract. Addition of nuclear extract alone did not support plasmid nuclear import but in combination with cytoplasm stimulated plasmid nuclear localization. Whereas addition of purified importin α, importin β, and RAN was sufficient to support protein nuclear import, plasmid nuclear import also required the addition of nuclear extract. Finally, nuclear import of plasmid DNA was sequence-specific, requiring a region of the SV40 early promoter and enhancer. Taken together, these results confirm and extend our findings in microinjected cells and support a protein-mediated mechanism for plasmid nuclear import.
Quality management of user-generated content in participatory journalism

Newsrooms utilize increasing amounts of user-generated content (UGC) in news making. However, managing the quality of UGC is challenging. Our three-phase study identifies qualities of newsworthy UGC, and ways to enhance the quality of contributions by online feedback. Review of 31 UGC-driven websites revealed as the most used methods of improving the quality of contributions flagging of inappropriate content, counts of sharing to social media services, ratings, user's activity statistics, and badges. Interviews of news editors and reader reporters showed a conceptual difference in the qualities of good news content. Interviewed reader reporters expressed the feedback from the newsroom as the most important for their development in addition to seeing the examples by other reader reporters. Content was perceived as more important than competition in case of readers' UGC. Communal quality management conventions, online community elements, and guidelines for developing quality management are presented.
Institutional Involvement and the Mental Health Effects of Perceived Neighborhood Disorder in Old Age: The Role of Personal and Divine Control

Title of Dissertation: INSTITUTIONAL INVOLVEMENT AND THE MENTAL HEALTH EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED NEIGHBORHOOD DISORDER IN OLD AGE: THE ROLE OF PERSONAL AND DIVINE CONTROL. Alex Bierman, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Directed By: Professor Melissa A. Milkie Department of Sociology Previous research has shown that perceptions of neighborhood disorder are related to increased levels of psychological distress. Neighborhood disorder may be especially salient for older adults because the transitions associated with aging heighten the salience of the neighborhood as an arena for social interaction. A stress-process perspective suggests that the effects of neighborhood disorder on mental health may be indirect, and mediated through harm in elders’ self-concepts, but also that the structural arrangements in which individuals are embedded may protect elder’s mental health by protecting the self. I add to this perspective by focusing on engagement in family and religious institutions as primary indications of enmeshment in the structural arrangements of society. Using a longitudinal study of older adults, I examine whether marriage prevents the mental health effects of perceived neighborhood disorder by protecting mastery, and whether attendance at religious services and prayer protect elders’ mental health by preventing loss of a second type of perceived control, sense of divine control. Results show that marriage prevents the effects of neighborhood disorder on depression and anger by preventing a loss of mastery. Further, losses in mastery strengthen the effects of neighborhood disorder on mental health, but only for women and the less educated. Neighborhood disorder is also related to loss of sense of divine control, but only for elders with greater levels of education, and religious involvement helps prevent these effects. However, this moderation provides no mental health benefits, and change in sense of divine control does not alter the relationship between neighborhood disorder and mental health. A primary contribution of this dissertation is that it places the effects of perceived neighborhood disorder in a larger structural context by demonstrating that they are contingent on engagement in the social structures which pattern human behavior and sustain the structure of society. INSTITUTIONAL INVOLVEMENT AND THE MENTAL HEALTH EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED NEIGHBORHOOD DISORDER IN OLD AGE: THE ROLE OF PERSONAL AND DIVINE CONTROL.
Patterns of reading‐to‐write

Abstract The purpose of this article is to determine what patterns of researching proficient middle school students conducting a school research task use and whether the organizational pattern of the final written text follows the researching pattern. Six middle school students were interviewed and observed while they were conducting a reading‐to‐write activity. Students were interviewed before and after seven researching sessions. While they were researching, investigators took field notes and videotaped their actions to record their searching, reading, and writing strategies. From the data, individual researching profiles were established. Of the six students in the study, one used a sequential approach, four used a spiral approach, and one used a recursive approach to researching. The students who used a sequential or spiral pattern wrote summary papers, and the student who used a recursive researching pattern wrote an integrated paper. This study concludes that at least three separate researching patt.
Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial of a 42-Day Tapering Course of Dexamethasone to Reduce the Duration of Ventilator Dependency in Very Low Birth Weight Infants

Objective. To assess the effect on duration of ventilator dependency of a 42-day tapering course of dexamethasone in very low birth weight neonates. Methods. Infants (N = 118) were assigned randomly, within birth weight/gender strata, to treatment with either a 42-day tapering course of dexamethasone or an equal volume of saline as placebo. Entry criteria were 1) birth weight <1501 g; 2) age between 15 and 25 days; 3) <10% decrease in ventilator settings for 24 hours and Fio 2 ≥0.3; 4) absence of patent ductus arteriosus, sepsis, major congenital malformation, congenital heart disease; and 5) no evidence of maternal HIV or hepatitis B infection. The dosage schedule was 0.25 mg/kg bid for 3 days, then 0.15 mg/kg bid for 3 days, then a 10% reduction in the dose every 3 days until a dose of 0.1 mg/kg had been given for 3 days, from which time a dose of 0.1 mg/kg qod was continued until 42 days after entry. The primary endpoint was the number of days on assisted ventilation after study entry. Secondary outcomes of interest included days on supplemental oxygen, days of hospitalization, and potential adverse effects, such as infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, left ventricular hypertrophy, and severe retinopathy of prematurity. Results. Infants in the dexamethasone- and placebo-treated groups were similar in terms of baseline attributes, including birth weight, gestational age, gender, race, and ventilator settings at entry. Infants treated with dexamethasone were on assisted ventilation and supplemental oxygen for fewer days after study entry (median days on ventilator, 5th and 95th percentiles, 13 [1–64] vs 25 [6–104]; days on oxygen, 59 [6–247] vs 100 [11–346]). No differences were found in risk of death, infection, or severe retinopathy. In subgroup analyses, the association of dexamethasone with more rapid weaning from the ventilator was weaker among infants enrolled before the 16th day of life, infants with chest radiographs showing cystic changes and/or hyperinflation, and infants requiring an Fio 2 ≥0.7 or a peak inspiratory pressure ≥19 at study entry. Conclusions. A 42-day tapering course of dexamethasone decreases the duration of ventilator and oxygen dependency in very low birth weight infants and is not associated with an increased risk of short-term adverse effects.
Effect of soft and softer handoffs on CDMA system capacity

The effect of soft and softer handoffs on code-division multiple-access (CDMA) system capacity is evaluated for unsectorized and sectorized hexagonal cells according to an average bit energy-to-interference power spectral density, which corresponds to a bit-error rate (BER) of 10/sup -3/. The effect of imperfect sectorization on sectorization efficiency is also considered. On the reverse link, there is no capacity loss as no extra channels are needed to perform soft handoff, while the macrodiversity provided by soft handoff can improve the reverse-link quality and extend the cell coverage. On the forward link, when soft handoff is employed in unsectorized cells, the capacity loss due to two traffic channels assigned to a user in the handoff zone is 0.2% or 1.1% for a voice activity factor of 3/8 or 1/2, respectively. As the forward-link capacity is higher than that of the reverse link, this small capacity loss does not affect the system capacity. For sectorized cells having three sectors per cell, there are overlapping coverage areas between sectors, where mobiles in these areas are subjected to an increase in cochannel interference. For an overlapping angle of 5/spl deg/, the sectorization efficiency is 0.96 and 0.7 for the reverse-link and forward-link systems, respectively. When soft and softer handoffs are employed, the forward-link sectorization efficiency is improved to 0.97. We find the application of soft and softer handoff improves not only the forward-link capacity, but also the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) for mobiles near the cell and sector boundaries.
When unbearable suffering incites psychiatric patients to request euthanasia: qualitative study†

Background The concept of ‘unbearable suffering’ is central to legislation governing whether euthanasia requests may be granted, but remains insufficiently understood, especially in relation to psychiatric patients. Aims To provide insights into the suffering experiences of psychiatric patients who have made a request for euthanasia. Method Testimonials from 26 psychiatric patients who requested euthanasia were analysed using QualiCoder software. Results Five domains of suffering were identified: medical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, societal and existential. Hopelessness was confirmed to be an important contributor. The lengthy process of applying for euthanasia was a cause of suffering and added to experienced hopelessness, whereas encountering physicians who took requests seriously could offer new perspectives on treatment. Conclusions The development of measurement instruments to assess the nature and extent of suffering as experienced by psychiatric patients could help both patients and physicians to better navigate the complicated and sensitive process of evaluating requests in a humane and competent way. Some correlates of suffering (such as low income) indicate the need for a broad medical, societal and political debate on how to reduce the burden of financial and socioeconomic difficulties and inequalities in order to reduce patients' desire for euthanasia. Euthanasia should never be seen (or used) as a means of resolving societal failures.
Improvement of reading comprehension and rhetoric speaking skills of elementary school studentsthrough mind-mapping strategies

Abstract: This action research study aimed at improving students ~skills in reading comprehension and rhetoric speaking through mind-mapping strategies. The study was conducted at SD Muhammadiyah Purwodiningratan 2 Yogyakarta. The subjects were 29 students in the VIa class consisting of 17 boys and 12 girls. Data were gathered by the use of intensive observations, questionnaires, and interviews. The study was conducted in two cycles. The results showed that the application of mind-mapping strategies in Bahasa Indonesia teaching-learning process, could improve students' speaking and reading skills". Students were able to comprehend the passage better and perform rhetorical speaking morefluently. Similarly, students' speaking skills in both language and non-language aspects improved significantly. Keywords: reading comprehension, rhetoric speaking, mind mapping strategy, silent reading, oral reading, communicative language skills, . motivation, reading texts
The marine osmium isotope record

Over the past decade the marine osmium isotope record has been developed into a new tracer in palaeoceanographic research. Several analytical developments, particularly in the past few years, have significantly increased our ability to study the behaviour of osmium in the surficial environment. The 187Os/188Os and osmium concentration of seawater, river water, rain, and hydrothermal vent fluids have been measured directly. Recently, the behaviour of osmium in estuaries–critical for estimating the marine residence time of osmium–has been studied. Our knowledge of the surficial osmium cycle has thus significantly improved. In addition, reconstructions of past variations in the marine 187Os/188Os recently have been extended back into the Mesozoic. This review attempts to summarize our current understanding of the marine osmium system–present and past.
Divergent Effects of Liraglutide, Exendin-4, and Sitagliptin on Beta-Cell Mass and Indicators of Pancreatitis in a Mouse Model of Hyperglycaemia

Aims Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors improve glucose tolerance by still incompletely understood mechanisms. Each class of antihyperglycemic drugs has also been proposed to increase pancreatitis risk. Here, we compare systematically the effects of two widely-used GLP-1 analogues, liraglutide and exendin-4, and the DPP4 inhibitor, sitagliptin, in the mouse. Methods C57BL6 mice were maintained for 131 days on a normal diet (ND) or a diet comprising 60% fat (HFD) before measurements of fasting blood glucose and insulin, and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance. Beta- and alpha- cell volume, and Reg3b immunoreactivity, were measured by immunohistochemical analysis of pancreatic slices. Results Whereas liraglutide (200 µg/kg) and exendin-4 (10 µg/kg) treatment reduced body weight and/or improved glucose tolerance, sitagliptin (10 mg/kg) was without effect on either parameter. Liraglutide caused a sharp reduction in beta-cell mass in both ND and HFD mice, whereas exendin-4 exerted no effect. By contrast, sitagliptin unmasked an action of high fat diet to increase beta-cell mass. Reg3B positive area was augmented by all three agents in normal chow-fed mice, whilst sitagliptin and exendin-4, but not liraglutide, affected this parameter in HFD animals. Correspondingly sitagliptin, but not the GLP-1 analogues, increased circulating amylase levels in ND and HFD mice. Conclusions Liraglutide improves glucose tolerance in the mouse whilst exerting relatively modest effects on pancreatitis risk. Conversely, exendin-4 and sitagliptin, at doses which exert, respectively, minor or no effects on metabolic parameters, lead to signs of pancreatitis.
Stress and Burnout

Teachers in correctional schools are exposed to stress because of the general demands of teaching and the peculiar constraints of correctional education. This study is an attempt to discover whether stressed teachers differ from nonstressed teachers in their work-related characteristics and in their pattern of somatic complaints and illnesses. A total of 17% of the teachers in this study were classified as burned out. It was concluded that burnout represented some potential health risks for stressed teachers.
Territorial behavior in Taiwanese kukrisnakes (Oligodon formosanus)

The independent evolutionary origin of a complex trait, within a lineage otherwise lacking it, provides a powerful opportunity to test hypotheses on selective forces. Territorial defense of an area containing resources (such as food or shelter) is widespread in lizards but not snakes. Our studies on an insular population of Taiwanese kukrisnakes (Oligodon formosanus) show that females of this species actively defend sea turtle nests by repelling conspecifics for long periods (weeks) until the turtle eggs hatch or are consumed. A clutch of turtle eggs comprises a large, long-lasting food resource, unlike the prey types exploited by other types of snakes. Snakes of this species have formidable weaponry (massively enlarged teeth that are used for slitting eggshells), and when threatened, these snakes wave their tails toward the aggressor (an apparent case of head-tail mimicry). Bites to the tail during intraspecific combat bouts thus can have high fitness costs for males (because the hemipenes are housed in the tail). In combination, unusual features of the species (ability to inflict severe damage to male conspecifics) and the local environment (a persistent prey resource, large relative to the snakes consuming it) render resource defense both feasible and advantageous for female kukrisnakes. The (apparently unique) evolution of territorial behavior in this snake species thus provides strong support for the hypothesis that resource defensibility is critical to the evolution of territoriality.
Endoplasmic Reticulum Glycoprotein Quality Control Regulates CD1d Assembly and CD1d-mediated Antigen Presentation*

Background: Various lipid antigens presented by the glycoprotein CD1d strongly influence immune responses. Results: In the absence of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) glycoprotein quality control, CD1d complexes are formed prematurely and have altered antigenicity. Conclusion: ER glycoprotein quality control monitors CD1d assembly and likely influences the loaded lipid repertoire. Significance: Our findings reveal a new mechanism for regulating CD1d-mediated antigen presentation. The non-classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) homologue CD1d presents lipid antigens to innate-like lymphocytes called natural-killer T (NKT) cells. These cells, by virtue of their broad cytokine repertoire, shape innate and adaptive immune responses. Here, we have assessed the role of endoplasmic reticulum glycoprotein quality control in CD1d assembly and function, specifically the role of a key component of the quality control machinery, the enzyme UDP glucose glycoprotein glucosyltransferase (UGT1). We observe that in UGT1-deficient cells, CD1d associates prematurely with β2-microglobulin (β2m) and is able to rapidly exit the endoplasmic reticulum. At least some of these CD1d-β2m heterodimers are shorter-lived and can be rescued by provision of a defined exogenous antigen, α-galactosylceramide. Importantly, we show that in UGT1-deficient cells the CD1d-β2m heterodimers have altered antigenicity despite the fact that their cell surface levels are unchanged. We propose that UGT1 serves as a quality control checkpoint during CD1d assembly and further suggest that UGT1-mediated quality control can shape the lipid repertoire of newly synthesized CD1d. The quality control process may play a role in ensuring stability of exported CD1d-β2m complexes, in facilitating presentation of low abundance high affinity antigens, or in preventing deleterious responses to self lipids.
Natural killer cell activity during the course of disease in patients with Hodgkin's disease

Natural killer (NK) activity was investigated in 61 patients with Stage III and IV Hodgkin's disease during the course of disease and in 30 healthy age‐ and sex‐matched healthy volunteers. The mean NK activity was significantly lower (P < 0.001) in untreated patients and in patients in the active phase of the disease during treatment, compared with controls. There was a similar mean value of NK activity in normal subjects, compared with patients in clinical remission. NK activity correlated with the response to therapy. In patients responding to treatment, NK activity was increasing, reaching normal range in remission. The patients not responding to therapy showed gradual decrease of NK activity during the course of disease. These results suggest that the study of NK function might offer a helpful tool in following the clinical course and the efficacy of therapy, as well as for monitoring cancer patients from an immunologic viewpoint.
A Fast and Robust Level Set Method for Image Segmentation Using Fuzzy Clustering and Lattice Boltzmann Method

In the last decades, due to the development of the parallel programming, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has attracted much attention as a fast alternative approach for solving partial differential equations. In this paper, we first designed an energy functional based on the fuzzy c -means objective function which incorporates the bias field that accounts for the intensity inhomogeneity of the real-world image. Using the gradient descent method, we obtained the corresponding level set equation from which we deduce a fuzzy external force for the LBM solver based on the model by Zhao. The method is fast, robust against noise, independent to the position of the initial contour, effective in the presence of intensity inhomogeneity, highly parallelizable and can detect objects with or without edges. Experiments on medical and real-world images demonstrate the performance of the proposed method in terms of speed and efficiency.
Ca2+ clearance mechanisms in isolated rat adrenal chromaffin cells.

1. Intracellular Ca2+ clearance mechanisms were studied in rat adrenal chromaffin cells, by measuring slow tail currents through small‐conductance Ca(2+)‐activated K+ channels and using indo‐1 photometry following depolarization‐induced Ca2+ loading. 2. Following several‐hundred millisecond depolarizations, [Ca2+]i decayed in three phases. An initial fast decay was followed by a long‐lasting, low plateau, then [Ca2+]i returned to the resting level slowly. 3. Replacement of external Na+ moderately slowed [Ca2+]i decay, indicating a contribution of plasma membrane Na(+)‐Ca2+ exchange. 4. Raising external pH or application of extracellular Eosin of La3+ prolonged slow tail currents, indicating a contribution of plasma membrane Ca(2+)‐ATPase to Ca2+ clearance. 5. Ca(2+)‐induced Ca2+ release from caffeine‐sensitive stores occurred during depolarization. 6. Inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)‐ATPase had little effect on Ca2+ clearance. 7. Slow tail currents and [Ca2+]i decay following 0.2 ‐ 2 s depolarizations were much prolonged by mitochondrial inhibition with carbonyl cyanide m‐chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) or Ruthenium Red, which abolished the initial rapid decay and plateau of [Ca2+]i. 8. In conclusion, mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake plays a major role in Ca2+ clearance by rapidly and reversibly sequestering Ca2+ during depolarization‐evoked Ca2+ loads.