Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of Potentially Harmful Skin-Lightening Products among Immigrant Women in Rome, Italy: A Pilot Study

Background: Skin-lightening products are increasingly common in European cities. These products may contain substances that are banned under EU regulations as they can induce adverse effects, including cutaneous and systemic reactions (e.g., mercury, hydroquinone and topical corticosteroids). Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of women regarding skin-lightening products and to quantify the potentially harmful substances in the products used. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study among 82 non-Italian women visiting an outpatient facility in Rome, Italy. The women completed a questionnaire on product use, side effects and risk awareness. We performed patch tests among a subgroup of 48 women who presented with contact dermatitis. We also quantified the allergenic and toxic substances in the 14 products reported, using dynamic reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for metals and high-performance liquid chromatography for hydroquinone and topical corticosteroids. Results: Out of the 82 women, 33 used skin-lightening products; about one fourth of these women were aware of potential risks. Three cosmetic creams and two soaps contained high concentrations of metals (Cr, Ni and Pb); hydroquinone was found in three creams and one oil. The only topical corticosteroid detected was dexamethasone, in one product. More than half of the women in the clinical evaluation had irritant contact dermatitis (i.e., negative response to patch test). Conclusions: Among immigrant women in Rome, the use of skin-lightening products seems to be fairly common, and some of these products contain potentially hazardous substances. Consumers must be informed of the potential risks, and EU regulations must be more strictly enforced.
An Investigation of Construct Validity and Generalizability of the Self-Concept:

This article presents an investigation of the self-concept in independent and interdependent cultures. Hypotheses are tested based on differences expected between Japanese (N = 402) and American (N = 233) consumers. Japanese conceptualizations of the self were found to be more integrated and less distinct in the sense that self-images of private and public self-consciousness were more strongly correlated. Japanese also experienced higher levels of social anxiety but lower levels of private self-consciousness than Americans. Attention to social comparison information was positively related to public self-consciousness and social anxiety, but unrelated to private self-consciousness, for both Americans and Japanese. Action control was negatively related to public and private self-consciousness and social anxiety for both Americans and Japanese. The attention to social comparison information was more strongly positively correlated with social anxiety and public self-consciousness for American as opposed to Ja.
Recognizing Pathogenic Empathy in Social Media

Empathy is an integral part of human social life, as people care about and for others who experience adversity. However, a specific “pathogenic” form of empathy, marked by automatic contagion of negative emotions, can lead to stress and burnout. This is particularly detrimental for individuals in caregiving professions who experience empathic states more frequently, because it can result in illness and high costs for health systems. Automatically recognizing pathogenic empathy from text is potentially valuable to identify at-risk individuals and monitor burnout risk in caregiving populations. We build a model to predict this type of empathy from social media language on a data set we collected of users’ Facebook posts and their answers to a new questionnaire measuring empathy. We obtain promising results in identifying individuals' empathetic states from their social media (Pearson r = 0.252, p <0.003).
Participatory system dynamics modeling for sustainable environmental management: Observations from four cases

Sustainable environmental management requires a decision support approach that accounts for dynamic connections between social and ecological systems, integrates stakeholder deliberation with scientific analysis, incorporates diverse stakeholder knowledge, and fosters relationships among stakeholders that can accommodate changing information and changing social and environmental conditions. Participatory system dynamics modeling provides such a framework. It supports stakeholder learning about the system and the perspectives of other stakeholders, and can help build social capital among stakeholders. Four cases of participatory system dynamics modeling, which range from no to full participant involvement in model development, support the idea that greater social capital development results from greater participation in model development, but also suggest that even the simplest use of simulation models in a group fosters stakeholder learning about the system through surprise and discovery. To maximize the learning value of simulation models, it is important to allow enough time for debriefing the “aha! ” moments that lead to curiosity about system behavior. To maximize social capital development, it is important to build enough time into the problem structuring and model conceptualization phases for stakeholders to articulate their mental models and examine those of other participants.
Training for Cognitive Complexity

Abstract : It is impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of training without adequate measurement techniques. In the research covered by this research note, measurement was accomplished through simulation technology; subjects were tested in a first simulation, and later re-tested. A consistent improvement in performance was found when people were given practical and conceptual information about how to apply conceptual stylistic to management efforts, especially decision-making. All measures of performance showed improvement.
A New Model of Cuprizone-Mediated Demyelination/Remyelination

In the central nervous system, demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, result in devastating long-term neurologic damage, in part because of the lack of effective remyelination in the adult human brain. One model used to understand the mechanisms regulating remyelination is cuprizone-induced demyelination, which allows investigation of remyelination mechanisms in adult animals following toxin-induced demyelination. Unfortunately, the degree of demyelination in the cuprizone model can vary, which complicates understanding the process of remyelination. Previous work in our laboratory demonstrated that the Akt/mTOR pathway regulates active myelination. When given to young postnatal mice, the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, inhibits active myelination. In the current study, the cuprizone model was modified by the addition of rapamycin during cuprizone exposure. When administered together, cuprizone and rapamycin produced more complete demyelination and provided a longer time frame over which to investigate remyelination than treatment with cuprizone alone. The consistency in demyelination will allow a better understanding of the mechanisms initiating remyelination. Furthermore, the slower rate of remyelination provides a longer window of time in which to investigate the diverse contributing factors that regulate remyelination. This new model of cuprizone-induced demyelination could potentially aid in identification of new therapeutic targets to enhance remyelination in demyelinating diseases.
Abstract Meaning Representation for Sembanking

We describe Abstract Meaning Representation (AMR), a semantic representation language in which we are writing down the meanings of thousands of English sentences. We hope that a sembank of simple, whole-sentence semantic structures will spur new work in statistical natural language understanding and generation, like the Penn Treebank encouraged work on statistical parsing. This paper gives an overview of AMR and tools associated with it.
Reduced Functional Connectivity of Default Mode and Set-Maintenance Networks in Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency

Background and Purpose Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) is an X-chromosome linked urea cycle disorder (UCD) that causes hyperammonemic episodes leading to white matter injury and impairments in executive functioning, working memory, and motor planning. This study aims to investigate differences in functional connectivity of two resting-state networks—default mode and set-maintenance—between OTCD patients and healthy controls. Methods Sixteen patients with partial OTCD and twenty-two control participants underwent a resting-state scan using 3T fMRI. Combining independent component analysis (ICA) and region-of-interest (ROI) analyses, we identified the nodes that comprised each network in each group, and assessed internodal connectivity. Results Group comparisons revealed reduced functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) of OTCD patients, particularly between the anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/mPFC) node and bilateral inferior parietal lobule (IPL), as well as between the ACC/mPFC node and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) node. Patients also showed reduced connectivity in the set-maintenance network, especially between right anterior insula/frontal operculum (aI/fO) node and bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG), as well as between the right aI/fO and ACC and between the ACC and right SFG. Conclusion Internodal functional connectivity in the DMN and set-maintenance network is reduced in patients with partial OTCD compared to controls, most likely due to hyperammonemia-related white matter damage. Because several of the affected areas are involved in executive functioning, it is postulated that this reduced connectivity is an underlying cause of the deficits OTCD patients display in this cognitive domain.
Learning Physical Intuition of Block Towers by Example

Wooden blocks are a common toy for infants, allowing them to develop motor skills and gain intuition about the physical behavior of the world. In this paper, we explore the ability of deep feedforward models to learn such intuitive physics. Using a 3D game engine, we create small towers of wooden blocks whose stability is randomized and render them collapsing (or remaining upright). This data allows us to train large convolutional network models which can accurately predict the outcome, as well as estimating the block trajectories. The models are also able to generalize in two important ways: (i) to new physical scenarios, e.g. towers with an additional block and (ii) to images of real wooden blocks, where it obtains a performance comparable to human subjects.
CD8 independence and specificity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes restricted by HLA-Aw68. 1

The crystal structure of the HLA-Aw68. 1 antigen binding site revealed a negatively charged pocket centred on aspartic acid 74 (Garrett et al. 1989). Access to this ‘74 pocket’ is blocked in HLA-Aw68. 2 and HLA-Aw69 by two substitutions at positions 97 and 116. This key feature suggests that the Aw68. 1 - peptide-specific interactions may involve salt bridges between oppositely charged residues. In this paper, the influenza epitope recognized by virus-specific HLA-Aw68. 1-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) has been defined in vitro with a synthetic peptide corresponding to residues 89—101 of the nucleoprotein (NP). Amino acid substitutions of the peptide NP 89—101 showed that the arginine at position 99 is an anchor point of the peptide within the Aw68. 1 antigen binding site. Consistent with this we find that neither HLA-Aw68. 2 nor HLA-Aw69 positive cells can present peptide NP 89—101 to Aw68. 1-restricted CTL. Our results therefore suggest a model in which presentation of NP 89-101 by HLA-Aw68. 1 is dependent upon interaction of the positively charged arginine residue at position 99 of the peptide, with the negatively charged aspartic acid in the ‘74 pocket’ of HLA-Aw68. 1. We also show that influenza-virus-specific HLA-Aw68. 1-restricted CTL are CD8 independent. This result is consistent with the low affinity of HLA-Aw68. 1 for CD8 (Salter et al. 1989) and reveals a unique example of CD8-independent priming of CTL by natural infection with a common pathogen in humans.
Behavioral and biochemical evidence of the role of acetaldehyde in the motivational effects of ethanol

Since Chevens' report, in the early 50's that his patients under treatment with the aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor, antabuse, could experience beneficial effects when drinking small volumes of alcoholic beverages, the role of acetaldehyde (ACD) in the effects of ethanol has been thoroughly investigated on pre-clinical grounds. Thus, after more than 25 years of intense research, a large number of studies have been published on the motivational properties of ACD itself as well as on the role that ethanol-derived ACD plays in the effects of ethanol. Accordingly, in particular with respect to the motivational properties of ethanol, these studies were developed following two main strategies: on one hand, were aimed to challenge the suggestion that also ACD may exert motivational properties on its own, while, on the other, with the aid of enzymatic manipulations or ACD inactivation, were aimed to test the hypothesis that ethanol-derived ACD might have a role in ethanol motivational effects. Furthermore, recent evidence significantly contributed to highlight, as possible mechanisms of action of ACD, its ability to commit either dopaminergic and opioidergic transmission as well as to activate the Extracellular signal Regulated Kinase cascade transduction pathway in reward-related brain structures. In conclusion, and despite the observation that ACD seems also to have inherited the elusive nature of its parent compound, the behavioral and biochemical evidence reviewed points to ACD as a neuroactive molecule able, on its own and as ethanol metabolite, to exert motivational effects.
Postprandial decrease in LDL-cholesterol in men with metabolic syndrome

Abstract Background: In some epidemiological studies, blood lipids are determined at non-fasting state, which may impact cardiovascular risk estimation. The aim of this study was to evaluate postprandial LDL-C changes in men with newly diagnosed metabolic syndrome (MetSy). Methods: 36 male patients were examined: 12 men with and 24 men without MetSy. The fat tolerance test was performed before and after a three-month hypolipidemic treatment. Serum lipids were measured using routine methods, lipid peroxides (LPO) colorimetrically, apoli- poproteins A-I, B, and hsCRP immunoturbidimetrically. Results: The postprandial increase in triglycerides was associated with a decrease in LDL-C and a small decrease in apo B. In men with MetSy, the mean change in LDL-C (-19.5 ± 2.3 mg/dl) was greater than in healthy men (-5.7 ± 3.8 mg/dl). All lipid changes (ΔTG, ΔLDL-C and ΔLPO) were linearly dependent on the postprandial non-LDL-choles- terol. After three months of hypolipidemic treatment, in all men with MetSy, the apoB/apoA-I ratio remained the same as before the therapy. Conclusion: In men diagnosed with MetSy, postprandial decreases in LDL-cholesterol may cause underestimation of cardiovascular risk. After three months of hypolipidemic treatment, there was only a partial reduction in this risk, as the apoB/apoA-I ratio remained the same.
Fungus-Mediated Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles and Standardization of Parameters for its Biosynthesis

We report the extracellular biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using a fungus Fusarium acuminatum. Mycosynthesis of Au-NPs was carried out by challenging the fungal cells filtrate with HAuCl4 solution (1 mM), as nanoparticles synthesizing enzyme secrete extracellularly by the fungi. The AuNPs were characterized with the help of UV-Visible spectrophotometer, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, Zeta Potential, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We observed absorbance peak in between 520 nm-550 nm corresponding to the surface plasmon absorbance of the gold nanoparticles. The nanoparticles synthesized in the present investigation were found to be capped by proteins. XRD results showed that the distinctive formation of crystalline gold nanoparticles in the solution. The spherical and polydispersed AuNPs in the range 8 to 28 nm with average size of 17 nm were observed by TEM analysis. We also standardized the parameters like the effect of pH, temperature and salt concentration on the biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles. It was found that acidic pH, 1 mM salt concentration and 37 °C temperature were found to be optimum for the synthesis of Au-NPs. Therefore, the present study introduces the easy, better and cheaper method for biosynthesis of AuNPs.
Partially Observed Maximum Entropy Discrimination Markov Networks

Learning graphical models with hidden variables can offer semantic insights to complex data and lead to salient structured predictors without relying on expensive, sometime unattainable fully annotated training data. While likelihood-based methods have been extensively explored, to our knowledge, learning structured prediction models with latent variables based on the max-margin principle remains largely an open problem. In this paper, we present a partially observed Maximum Entropy Discrimination Markov Network (PoMEN) model that attempts to combine the advantages of Bayesian and margin based paradigms for learning Markov networks from partially labeled data. PoMEN leads to an averaging prediction rule that resembles a Bayes predictor that is more robust to overfitting, but is also built on the desirable discriminative laws resemble those of the M3N. We develop an EM-style algorithm utilizing existing convex optimization algorithms for M3N as a subroutine. We demonstrate competent performance of PoMEN over existing methods on a real-world web data extraction task.
A high-performance sensorless indirect stator flux orientation control of induction motor drive

A new method for the implementation of a sensorless indirect stator-flux-oriented control (ISFOC) of induction motor drives with stator resistance tuning is proposed in this paper. The proposed method for the estimation of speed and stator resistance is based only on measurement of stator currents. The error of the measured q-axis current from its reference value feeds the proportional plus integral (PI) controller, the output of which is the estimated slip frequency. It is subtracted from the synchronous angular frequency, which is obtained from the output integral plus proportional (IP) rotor speed controller, to have the estimated rotor speed. For current regulation, this paper proposes a conventional PI controller with feedforward compensation terms in the synchronous frame. Owing to its advantages, an IP controller is used for rotor speed regulation. Stator resistance updating is based on the measured and reference d-axis stator current of an induction motor on d-q frame synchronously rotating with the stator flux vector. Experimental results for a 3-kW induction motor are presented and analyzed by using a dSpace system with DS1102 controller board based on the digital signal processor (DSP) TMS320C31. Digital simulation and experimental results are presented to show the improvement in performance of the proposed method.
Angiotensin-(1–7) Attenuates Neointimal Formation After Stent Implantation in the Rat

Angiotensin-(1–7) is an endogenous, biologically active peptide of the renin-angiotensin system with vasodilatory, antithrombotic, and antiproliferative properties. This study examined the effects of angiotensin-(1–7) infusion on neointimal formation after stent placement in the rat. Male Wistar rats underwent stent implantation in the abdominal aorta or sham surgery. Subsequently, an osmotic minipump was placed for angiotensin-(1–7) (24 &mgr;g/kg per hour) or saline administration. After 4 weeks, histomorphometric and histological analyses were performed, and the endothelial function was measured in isolated thoracic aortic rings. Stent implantation resulted in equal mean injury scores within the groups. The angiotensin-(1–7)–treated group displayed a significant reduction in neointimal thickness (112±8 versus 141±11 &mgr;m; P<0.05), neointimal area (0.51±0.05 versus 0.70±0.07 mm2; P<0.05), and percentage stenosis (10.4±1.0 versus 14.0±1.3%; P<0.05) compared with the saline-treated group. Furthermore, angiotensin-(1–7) infusion attenuated the stenting-induced impairment in endothelium-dependent relaxation (42.6±3.0 versus 64.5±6.0% of phenylephrine maximal contraction; P<0.001). In conclusion, angiotensin-(1–7) treatment attenuates neointimal formation after stent implantation in the rat, combined with an improvement of endothelial function.
POLİSLERDE TÜKENMİŞLİK VE GÖRÜLEN PSİKOLOJİK BELİRTİLER

Bu calismanin amaci, polis memurlarinin tukenmisliklerini ve psikolojik belirti duzeylerini incelemektir. Arastirmada Mersin Il Emniyet Mudurlugune bagli cesitli birimlerde gorev yapan 201 polise Maslach Tukenmislik Envanteri (MTE) ve Kisa Semptom Envanteri (KSE) uygulanmistir. Verilere Tek Yonlu Varyans Analizi ve t testi uygulanmistir. Elde edilen bulgular, literatur isiginda tartisilmis ve bazi onerilerde bulunulmustur.
Microbiological sampling of poultry carcasses.

Summary: The skin contamination of poultry carcasses from 3 different processing plants was found to vary considerably on the 6 different sites sampled. The neck skin and to a less extent the back and near-vent sites were more heavily contaminated than 2 sites on the leg and 1 under the wing. Significantly (P < 0·001) lower counts were obtained when the organisms present were recovered at 4° than at 15 or 22°. Swabbing of the skin did not give as good recovery as when the skin sample was removed and shaken in a diluent with an abrasive material, but is adequate to indicate contamination where a nondestructive method is essential. When defrosting frozen carcasses, 2 h on the bench gave as good recovery as carcasses defrosted for 4 h.
Desiring Revolution: Second-Wave Feminism and the Rewriting of American Sexual Thought, 1920 to 1982

Introduction1. Modern Women and Modern Marriage: Reinventing Female Heterosexuality2. Between Freudianism and Feminism: Sexology's Postwar Challenge3. Politicizing Pleasure: Radical Feminist Sexual Theory, 1968-19754. Desires and their Discontents: Feminist Fiction of the 1970s5. Cultural Feminism: Reimagining Sexual Freedom, 1975-1982Conclusion