Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Smoke and Mirrors: The Perceived Benefits of Continued Tobacco use Among Current Smokers

Despite 50+ years of public health efforts to reduce smoking rates in the United States, approximately one-fifth of the adults living in this country continue to smoke cigarettes. Previous studies have examined smokers’ risk perceptions of cigarette smoking, as well as the perceived benefits of quitting smoking. Less research has focused on the perceived benefits of smoking among current cigarette smokers. The latter is the main focus of the present paper. Questionnaire-based interviews were conducted with a community-based sample of 485 adult current cigarette smokers recruited from the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area between 2004 and 2007. Active and passive recruiting approaches were used, along with a targeted sampling strategy. Results revealed that most current cigarette smokers perceive themselves to experience benefits as a result of their cigarette use, including (among others) increased relaxation, diminished nervousness in social situations, enjoyment of the taste of cigarettes when smoking, and greater enjoyment of parties when smoking. Perceiving benefits from cigarette smoking was associated with a variety of tobacco use measures, such as smoking more cigarettes, an increased likelihood of chain smoking, and overall negative attitude toward quitting smoking, among others. Several factors were associated with the extent to which smokers perceived themselves to benefit from their tobacco use, including education attainment, the age of first purchasing cigarettes, the proportion of friends who smoked, hiding smoking from others, being internally-oriented regarding locus of control, and self-esteem.
Protective effect of yellow tea extract on N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced liver carcinogenesis

Abstract Context Yellow tea containing the same catechins as other types of tea but in different proportions has been suggested to possess potent anticancer activities. Objective This study investigates the chemopreventive effect of yellow tea aqueous extract against N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced liver carcinogenesis in rats by employing histological and biochemical methods. Materials and methods Wistar rats were divided randomly into four groups: control (I), yellow tea (II), NDEA (III), and yellow tea + NDEA (IV). Groups II and IV were exposed via a diet to yellow tea extract in a concentration of 10 g/kg feed; groups III and IV received 0.01% NDEA in drinking water. The experiment lasted for 13 weeks. Results Daily intake of yellow tea in an average dose of 800 mg/kg b.w. alleviated the carcinogenic effect of NDEA as evidenced by reversed histopathological changes towards normal hepatocellular architecture and decreased lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl formation, and DNA degradation by 64%, 37% and 15%, respectively, as compared with values obtained in NDEA alone-treated rats. Treatment with yellow tea extract caused protection of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT); their activity was recovered by 47% and 12%, respectively, as compared with the NDEA-treated rats. Moreover, the extract normalized the NDEA-induced activity of paraoxonase 1 (PON1) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), while a further increase in the level of reduced glutathione (GSH) was noticed. Conclusions On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that treatment with yellow tea partially protected the livers of rats from NDEA-induced hepatocarcinogenesis and that its antioxidant activity contributed to this effect.
Leishmania GP63 Alters Host Signaling Through Cleavage-Activated Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases

The parasite protein GP63 triggers cleavage and activation of host protein tyrosine phosphatases to promote infection. Exploiting the Host’s Phosphatases Leishmaniasis is a globally important infectious disease caused by the parasite Leishmania. Gomez et al. show that infection of macrophages with Leishmania alters the activity of multiple protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) through cleavage mediated by the parasite protein GP63. The activated PTPs inhibit macrophage inflammatory immune responses through dephosphorylation of Janus kinases. In addition to the PTP SHP-1, previously reported to be activated in response to Leishmania infection, Gomez et al. show that the PTPs TCPTP and PTP1B are also activated and that PTP1B serves a key role in the initial stages of disease progression in mice. With more than 12 million people affected worldwide, 2 million new cases occurring per year, and the rapid emergence of drug resistance and treatment failure, leishmaniasis is an infectious disease for which research on drug and vaccine development, host-pathogen, and vector-parasite interactions are current international priorities. Upon Leishmania-macrophage interaction, activation of the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) SHP-1 rapidly leads to the down-regulation of Janus kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling, resulting in the attenuation of host innate inflammatory responses and of various microbicidal macrophage functions. We report that, in addition to SHP-1, the PTPs PTP1B and TCPTP are activated and posttranslationally modified in infected macrophages, and we identify an essential role for PTP1B in the in vivo progression of Leishmania infection. The mechanism underlying PTP modulation involves the proteolytic activity of the Leishmania surface protease GP63. Access of GP63 to macrophage PTP1B, TCPTP, and SHP-1 is mediated in part by a lipid raft–dependent mechanism, resulting in PTP cleavage and stimulation of phosphatase activity. Collectively, our data present a mechanism of cleavage-dependent activation of macrophage PTPs by an obligate intracellular pathogen and show that internalization of GP63, a key Leishmania virulence factor, into host macrophages is a strategy the parasite uses to interact and survive within its host.
Recalled Peritraumatic Distress in Survivors of Violent Crime: Exploring Its Impact on the Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Posttraumatic Growth

Abstract Several authors have speculated that the lack of consistency regarding the relationship between symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) is caused by third variables. Recalled peritraumatic distress (PD) may operate as a third variable because previous research suggests that both PTSD and PTG correlate with recalled PD. Therefore, the present study explored how recalled PD impacts the relationship between PTSD and PTG. An Internet questionnaire on PTSD symptom severity, recalled PD, and PTG was administered to 678 survivors of violent crime. The results suggested that recalled PD suppresses the association between PTSD symptom severity and PTG. In addition, a significant association between the interaction term of PTSD symptom severity and recalled PD and PTG was observed. Simple slopes tests indicated that self-reported PTSD symptoms were negatively associated with PTG but only among survivors with high levels of PD.
The molecular asymmetric rigid rotor Hamiltonian as an exactly solvable model

Representations of the rotation group may be formulated in second-quantised language via Schwinger's transcription of angular momentum states onto states of an effective two-dimensional oscillator. In the case of the molecular asymmetric rigid rotor, by projecting onto the state space of rigid body rotations, the standard Ray Hamiltonian H(1, κ, −1) (with asymmetry parameter 1 ≥ κ ≥ −1), becomes a quadratic polynomial in the generators of the associated dynamical su(1, 1) algebra. We point out that H(1, κ, −1) is in fact quadratic in the Gaudin operators arising from the quasiclassical limit of an associated su q (1, 1) Yang–Baxter algebra. The general asymmetric rigid rotor Hamiltonian is thus an exactly solvable model. This fact has important implications for the structure of the spectrum, as well as for the eigenstates and correlation functions of the model. 1Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. 2Australian Postgraduate Award.
Self-assembly of small peptide amphiphiles, the structures formed and their applications. (A foods and home and personal care perspective)

In this opinion piece, some specific challenges in the field of peptide self-assembly and gel formation are discussed. One major hurdle to finding functional small peptides is that there are a huge number of compounds to explore, which increases exponentially with the peptide size. This in itself creates a barrier to the discovery and application of materials, both through the difficulty of finding the peptides, and because protecting inventions also becomes more difficult. Recent work has shown that computer simulations may provide us a route to explore such a huge compound space; this is discussed along with the prospect for future developments. At the microscopic scale, many fibril-forming peptides form gels, apparently through a process of lateral association of primary self-assembled filaments, which leads to a relatively coarse-grained structure of rigid interconnects. However, recent data obtained on Fmoc-tyrosine gels appear to indicate that the gel microstructure is both more flexible and finer grained than previously believed. As such, it is clear that there is a considerable amount that is still not understood regarding this class of gel. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Soft interfacial materials: from fundamentals to formulation’.
Distributed Control of Uncertain Systems Using Superpositions of Linear Operators

Control in the natural environment is difficult in part because of uncertainty in the effect of actions. Uncertainty can be due to added motor or sensory noise, unmodeled dynamics, or quantization of sensory feedback. Biological systems are faced with further difficulties, since control must be performed by networks of cooperating neurons and neural subsystems. Here, we propose a new mathematical framework for modeling and simulation of distributed control systems operating in an uncertain environment. Stochastic differential operators can be derived from the stochastic differential equation describing a system, and they map the current state density into the differential of the state density. Unlike discrete-time Markov update operators, stochastic differential operators combine linearly for a large class of linear and nonlinear systems, and therefore the combined effects of multiple controllable and uncontrollable subsystems can be predicted. Design using these operators yields systems whose statistical behavior can be specified throughout state-space. The relationship to Bayesian estimation and discrete-time Markov processes is described.
Reconstruction of temporomandibular joint ankylosis with temporalis myofascial flap in a cat : a case report

An approximately 7-year-old 1.7kg, female Siamese cat with a history of a malocclusion and an inability to open its mouth was referred the Animal Medical Center, Chonbuk National University. The cat had shown signs since it was adopted four years earlier but the cause was not determined. The mandible was deviated 2 mm to left, the mouth could be opened only 2 mm and attempts to open the jaws caused considerable pain. Radiographs indicated new bone formation and a loss of joint space in the right temporomandibular joint(TMJ). 3-dimensional CT showed bony fusion and bone thickness in the right TMJ. The physical, 3-dimensional CT and radiographic examinations revealed right TMJ ankylosis. Under general anesthesia, surgical treatment was performed to remove the ankylosis block with subsequent interpositional arthroplasty using a temporalis myofascial flap. The patient showed distinct improvement in both the articular functionality and clinical signs.
The life-span of complement-sensitive and -insensitive red cells in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

The survival of the complement-sensitive and complement-insensitive red cells in four patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) have been determined using either a cohort or a random label. The complement-sensitive cells have a very short survival (T ½) of less than 6 days by either technique). The complement-insensitive cells have a longer survival, with a large component of random destruction. The complement-sensitive cells are not changed into complement-insensitive cells. The proportion of complement-sensitive cells produced per day is very much greater than the proportion of these cells in the circulating blood.
Dynamic Behaviour of Dyneema

The design of modern body armour systems is a field which sees constant research and innovation. It is for this reason that UNSW Canberra and Defence Science and Technology Group wish to research the dynamic behaviour of Dyneema® HB26 as a potential alternative armour plating system. Dyneema® is the brand name for a type of Ultra High Molecular Weight Poly-Ethylene fibre that is created by Dutch State Mines and has been shown to exhibit extremely high strength to weight which allows for greater ballistic protection when utilised in a composite plate with a polyethylene matrix material. The aim of this research has been to develop and test an experimental set up to determine the spall strength of Dyneema® HB26 in order to validate current numerical models. The spall strength of this material is of particular interest as minimal research has been conducted on it in the past and it has a strong effect on the ballistic properties of the material. This research has been conducted utilising the light gas gun housed at UNSW Canberra to conduct plate impact experiments with limited success. The experimental set-up has been developed through multiple iterations, each with increasing accuracy and the cause of any discrepancies have been discussed, and for the majority, resolved. The attained results have been lower than anticipated however a spall strength of 3.32MPa for Dyneema® HB26 has been determined over the course of this research.
Rogerian Science-Based Nursing Theories

In this column, the author provides a general overview of selected theories derived from Rogerian nursing science. After a brief discussion of the Rogerian perspective, she highlights representative theories. She suggests that ongoing development of proposed theories has been relatively slow for two main reasons. First, scholars still use the 1970 book as a major reference. Unfortunately, despite her promise to do so, Rogers never updated the 1970 book and admitted on many occasions that it would more accurately reflect her refinement of her science if a major portion of the pages were torn out. Second, theories were often proposed by doctoral candidates who changed focus in their careers postdoctorate. Despite this, there is a fascinating body of theories in various stages of development for Rogerian scholars to pursue.
Effect of Amla fruit (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) on blood glucose and lipid profile of normal subjects and type 2 diabetic patients

The present study evaluated the anti-hyperglycemic and lipid-lowering properties of Emblica officinalis Gaertn. fruit in normal and diabetic human volunteers. The results indicated a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in fasting and 2-h post-prandial blood glucose levels on the 21st day in both normal and diabetic subjects receiving 1, 2 or 3 g E. officinalis powder per day as compared with their baseline values. Significant (P < 0.05) decreases were also observed in total cholesterol and triglycerides in both normal and diabetic volunteers on day 21 that were given either 2 or 3 g E. officinalis powder per day. However, diabetic volunteers receiving only 3 g E. officinalis powder exhibited a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in total lipids on day 21. Both normal and diabetic volunteers receiving 2 or 3 g E. officinalis powder significantly (P < 0.05) improved high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and lowered low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels.
Investigation of numerical simulation on all-optical flip-flop stability maps of 1550nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

Based on the extended spin-flip model, the all-optical flip-flop stability maps of the 1550nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser have been studied. Theoretical results show that excellent agreement is found between theoretical and the reported experimental results in polarization switching point current which is equal to 1.95 times threshold. Furthermore, the polarization bistable region is wide which is from 1.05 to 1.95 times threshold. A new method is presented that uses power difference between two linear polarization modes as the judging criterion of trigger degree and stability maps of all-optical flip-flop operation under different injection parameters are obtained. By alternately injecting set and reset pulse with appropriate parameters, the mutual conversion switching between two polarization modes is realized, the feasibility of all-optical flip-flop operation is checked theoretically. The results show certain guiding significance on the experimental study on all optical buffer technology.
Diversity of introduced terrestrial flatworms in the Iberian Peninsula: a cautionary tale

Many tropical terrestrial planarians (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae) have been introduced around the globe. One of these species is known to cause significant decline in earthworm populations, resulting in a reduction of ecological functions that earthworms provide. Flatworms, additionally, are a potential risk to other species that have the same dietary needs. Hence, the planarian invasion might cause significant economic losses in agriculture and damage to the ecosystem. In the Iberian Peninsula only Bipalium kewense Moseley, 1878 had been cited till 2007. From that year on, four more species have been cited, and several reports of the presence of these animals in particular gardens have been received. In the present study we have: (1) analyzed the animals sent by non-specialists and also the presence of terrestrial planarians in plant nurseries and garden centers; (2) identified their species through morphological and phylogenetic molecular analyses, including representatives of their areas of origin; (3) revised their dietary sources and (4) used Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) for one species to evaluate the risk of its introduction to natural areas. The results have shown the presence of at least ten species of alien terrestrial planarians, from all its phylogenetic range. International plant trade is the source of these animals, and many garden centers are acting as reservoirs. Also, landscape restoration to reintroduce autochthonous plants has facilitated their introduction close to natural forests and agricultural fields. In conclusion, there is a need to take measures on plant trade and to have special care in the treatment of restored habitats.
High-Resolution Remote Sensing Data Classification over Urban Areas Using Random Forest Ensemble and Fully Connected Conditional Random Field

As an intermediate step between raw remote sensing data and digital maps, remote sensing data classification has been a challenging and long-standing problem in the remote sensing research community. In this work, an automated and effective supervised classification framework is presented for classifying high-resolution remote sensing data. Specifically, the presented method proceeds in three main stages: feature extraction, classification, and classified result refinement. In the feature extraction stage, both multispectral images and 3D geometry data are used, which utilizes the complementary information from multisource data. In the classification stage, to tackle the problems associated with too many training samples and take full advantage of the information in the large-scale dataset, a random forest (RF) ensemble learning strategy is proposed by combining several RF classifiers together. Finally, an improved fully connected conditional random field (FCCRF) graph model is employed to derive the contextual information to refine the classification results. Experiments on the ISPRS Semantic Labeling Contest dataset show that the presented 3-stage method achieves 86.9% overall accuracy, which is a new state-of-the-art non-CNN (convolutional neural networks)-based classification method.
An Investigation into the Pedagogical Features of Documents

Characterizing the content of a technical document in terms of its learning utility can be useful for applications related to education, such as generating reading lists from large collections of documents. We refer to this learning utility as the “pedagogical value” of the document to the learner. While pedagogical value is an important concept that has been studied extensively within the education domain, there has been little work exploring it from a computational, i.e., natural language processing (NLP), perspective. To allow a computational exploration of this concept, we introduce the notion of “pedagogical roles” of documents (e.g., Tutorial and Survey) as an intermediary component for the study of pedagogical value. Given the lack of available corpora for our exploration, we create the first annotated corpus of pedagogical roles and use it to test baseline techniques for automatic prediction of such roles.
Comparative Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Group A Rotavirus in Cow Calves of Punjab, India

Group A rotavirus has been recognized as the major etiological agent of diarrhoea in calves, which leads to heavy economic loss to dairy farmers. The present study was done to estimate the prevalence along with genotypic characterization of group A rotavirus circulating in dairy herds of Punjab. A total of 198 faecal samples of cow calves were analyzed from April 2012 to March 2013 in Ludhiana and Bathinda districts of Punjab by ELISA, RNA-PAGE and RT-PCR. G and P genotyping was done by RT-PCR using genotype-specific primer sets targeting VP4 and VP7 genes. RNA PAGE, RT-PCR and ELISA showed a positive prevalence rate of 6.56%, 7.57% and 9.59%. RT-PCR showed perfect agreement with other two diagnostic techniques by Diagnostic Test Agreement. Eight RTPCR positive samples were further screened by nested multiplex PCR using G and P-genotype specific primers for genotypic characterization. Out of these, two samples exhibited G6 types and rest were untypable. In P typing, four samples showed P[11] type. G6P [11] was the main combination in the present study. This study suggests that the RT PCR is the highly suitable technique for the detection of group A rotavirus. Further investigation is required to find out the untypable strain by designing suitable primers.
Oxidative Stress and Immune System in Vitiligo and Thyroid Diseases

Vitiligo is an acquired dermatological disease frequently associated with autoimmune thyroid disorders. Several theories have been proposed so far to unravel the complex vitiligo pathogenesis. Currently, the autocytotoxic and the autoimmune theories are the most accredited hypothesis, since they are sustained by several important clinical and experimental evidences. A growing body of evidences shows that autoimmunity and oxidative stress strictly interact to finally determine melanocyte loss. In this scenario, associated thyroid autoimmunity might play an active and important role in triggering and maintaining the depigmentation process of vitiligo.