Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wnt ligands signal in a cooperative manner to promote foregut organogenesis

Endoderm-mesenchyme cross-talk is a central process in the development of foregut-derived organs. How signaling pathways integrate the activity of multiple ligands to guide organ development is poorly understood. We show that two Wnt ligands, Wnt2 and Wnt7b, cooperatively induce Wnt signaling without affecting the stabilization of the Wnt canonical effector β-catenin despite it being necessary for Wnt2–Wnt7b cooperativity. Wnt2–Wnt7b cooperation is specific for mesenchymal cell lineages and the combined loss of Wnt2 and Wnt7b leads to more severe developmental defects in the lung than loss of Wnt2 or Wnt7b alone. High-throughput small-molecule screens and biochemical assays reveal that the Pdgf pathway is required for cooperative Wnt2-Wnt7b signaling. Inhibition of Pdgf signaling in cell culture reduces Wnt2–Wnt7b cooperative signaling. Moreover, inhibition of Pdgf signaling in lung explant cultures results in decreased Wnt signaling and lung smooth-muscle development. These data suggest a model in which Pdgf signaling potentiates Wnt2–Wnt7b signaling to promote high levels of Wnt activity in mesenchymal progenitors that is required for proper development of endoderm-derived organs, such as the lung.
Role of Sex Hormones in the Control of Vegetative and Metabolic Functions of Middle-Aged Women

Aims: In women's life, menopause is characterized by significant physiological changes often associated with an increase in body mass and obesity-associated sicknesses. Numerous researches described interdependencies of estrogen deficiency, aging, and resting energy expenditure (REE) downfall in the obesity correlated with the menopause. The aim of this study was to determining whether healthy, obese menopausal women underwent HRT treatment, showed changes in their REE, autonomic asset, and assessment of oxidative stress in comparison with obese pre- and post-menopausal women. Methodology: In this study, we measured the body composition, the REE, the oxidative stress, the diet assimilation, and the autonomic nervous system activity in three groups: pre-menopause women (n = 50), post-menopause women following hormone-replacement therapy (HRT; n = 50), and post-menopause women not following HRT (n = 50). Results: In the group with HRT a significant increase of the sympathetic activity and REE was described. Finally this group showed a notable increment of oxidative stress compared with the others, and utilizing BIA instrument, the free fat mass was increased respect to the fat mass of obese women. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of the HRT-related physiological changes that influence body weight in menopause women. This results are important because have a practical implications for prevention and/or treatment of the obesity.
Critical Reflection: A Response to Neoliberal Challenges to Field Education?

This paper explores the ways in which neoliberal thinking and practices have impacted upon Australian social work, with a particular emphasis on field education programmes. We outline a number of challenges that neoliberalism presents for maintaining quality field education programmes in social work and, within this context, explore the opportunities for social work educators to respond creatively by using practices informed by critical pedagogy and critical social work approaches. We do this by reporting preliminary findings from original research that examined the possibilities for critical pedagogy and critical reflection to deconstruct myths and counteract some of the consequences of neoliberalism. We position such critical practices as forms of resistance within critical social work programmes, to maintain and protect the integrity and quality of field education in contemporary social work programmes.
Taxonomy of trauma and trauma assessment

A review of the theory of trauma as a special case of stress response theory, two different classifications/taxonomies of traumas emerge. Each taxonomy describes a different dimension of the traumatic event. The first taxonomy, areas of individual functioning, includes five types: Attachment trauma, autonomy or identity trauma, interdependence trauma, achievement or self-actualization trauma, and survival trauma. The second classification is based on experiential objective external criteria and includes two main categories: Factitious or trauma-like and real traumatic events. The first happens in one step transmission from one to one or more persons. The second get transmitted in multiple steps or cross-generationally. Traumas can get transmitted cross generationally in two venues: through family or collectively. Collective transmission of traumas happens in two contexts: historical and social structural. Direct traumas (person-made), on the other hand, is divided into two types: Simple (type I) and compl.
‘Oh he was forgettable’: Construction of self identity through use of communicative coping behaviors in the discourse of persons with cognitive impairment

Communication involving persons with cognitive impairment (CI) associated memory issues requires particular attention in the clinical setting due to the sensitive and often difficult institutional work that must take place between the patient and his or her physician. An individual with CI is often tested for memory issues during the office visit, generating a potentially face-threatening situation. Said individual may attempt to preserve positive identity or ‘save face’ (Gumperz, 1982) by using communicative coping behaviors (CCBs). This study characterizes the use of CCBs (e.g., accounts and humor) by persons with CI in clinical interviews and provides important insight on how to improve doctor—patient communication involving people with CI. In order to describe and compare CCBs used by persons with cognitive impairment, and those used by cognitively normal individuals, verbatim, in-office transcripts from both groups were analyzed. Results showed that participants with CI used more memory accounts than cognitively normal individuals and similar amounts of humor in order to save face and construct a normal identity. These data help to inform doctors and caregivers regarding the ways in which persons with CI construct and preserve a positive sense of self-identity through communication.
Finding Prosperity as a Lottery Winner: Presentations of Self after Acquisition of Sudden Wealth

The narrative about the squandering lottery winner ending up alone and in debt has been shown to affect other lottery winners’ thinking about how to manage their money. Based on a narrative analysis of interviews with 14 Swedish lottery winners, this article considers the ways in which lottery winners present themselves and their post-winning life in counter-position to this story about the squandering winner. By spending their prize money responsibly in order to project moderate, non-luxury consumption, the winners are ‘rewarded’ by feelings of fortune, security, and happiness. Finally, the article discusses how this narrative about ‘the prospering winner’ might be understood in relation to norms about consumption and identity.
How American Adolescents Interpret Success and Failure in Classroom Music: Relationships among Attributional Beliefs, Self-Concept and Achievement

Research involving early adolescents highlights systematic declines in motiva- tion for learning as students progress from elementary school to secondary school. Students' attributions or explanations for past achievement outcomes often are important determinants of future activity choice, investment and persistence. In this article, we critique prior music attribution research and report findings from our empirical study of American 7th-graders' attributional beliefs about success and failure in classroom music. Our results demonstrated that secondary students do not attribute success and failure to the same factors, and that many of the most salient reasons for music-related outcomes (family-, teacher- and peer-influence) are not addressed in traditional attribution research. Attributional beliefs, particularly those concerning music ability, were strongly linked to students' music self-concept and achievement test scores, and the magnitude of those linkages was typically greater when students reflected upon past failures. Based on these findings, we recommend that music practitioners increase their awareness of students' attributional beliefs (particularly the tendency to attribute failure to lack of ability and/or negative family influence), encourage students to consider the r6le that less stable and more controllable factors (effort, persistence, strategy use, metacognition) play in determining achievement outcomes, and employ instructional or evaluative strategies that promote more expansive and developmental views of music ability among all students.
Diazepam-Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles: Design and Characterization

The aim of the present study was to investigate the feasibility of the inclusion of a water-insoluble drug (diazepam, DZ) into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), which offer combined advantages of rapid onset and prolonged release of the drug. This work also describes a new approach to prepare suppositories containing DZ-loaded SLN dispersions, as potential drug carrier for the rectal route. Modified high-shear homogenization and ultrasound techniques were employed to prepare SLNs. The effect of incorporation of different concentrations of Compritol® ATO 888 or Imwitor® 900K and Poloxamer 188 or Tween 80 was investigated. Results showed that varying the type or concentration of lipid matrix or surfactant had a noticeable influence on the entrapment efficiencies, particle size, and release profiles of prepared SLNs. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the majority of SLNs possessed less ordered arrangements of crystals than the corresponding bulk lipids, which was favorable for increasing the drug loading capacity. Transmission electron microscopy and laser diffractometry studies revealed that the prepared nanoparticles were round and homogeneous and 60% of the formulations were less than 500 nm. Additionally, SLN formulations showed significant (P < 0.05) prolonged release than DZ solution. The subsequent step encompassed the preparation and evaluation of SLN-based suppositories utilizing SLN formulations that illustrated optimal release profiles. The in vitro release of DZ from the suppositories prepared using DZ-loaded SLN dispersions (equivalent to 2 mg DZ) was significantly (P < 0.05) extended compared to suppositories containing 2 mg DZ free drug.
The Sacralisation of politics: Definitions, interpretations and reflections on the question of secular religion and totalitarianism

This article discusses the various historical and theoretical questions that characterise the relationship between religion and politics, and religion and totalitarianism. Given the complexity of this relationship, it limits itself to examining only certain aspects of it. In the first instance, it defines the concepts of the sacralisation of politics and totalitarianism, and examines only those aspects of the latter that connect it directly with lay religion. It does not, therefore, offer any comprehensive interpretation either of totalitarianism or of secular religion.1 Second, it subsequently provides a historiographical verification of these theoretical questions, and examines, by way of various key examples, how the religious dimension of totalitarianism during the interwar period has been perceived and interpreted.
Health-related factors associated with participation in creative hobbies by Australian women aged in their eighties

Background: Population-based epidemiological studies can contribute to the spectrum of research evidence regarding the potential role of the arts in improving health and well-being among older people. To date, these studies are uncommon. The aim of the current study was to investigate health-related factors associated with participation in creative hobbies in women aged in their eighties living in Australia. Method: Descriptive and regression analyses were performed on data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health 2008 postal survey of women born 1921–1926 (n = 5470). Results: Creative hobbies were undertaken by 52.7% of the sample and positively associated with physical health (IADL), health-related quality of life (general health, social functioning) and other social and demographic indicators. Conclusion: The relationship between participation in creative hobbies and health in older women is likely to be complex and influenced by many factors including individual physical capacity and independence as well as access to art-making activities.
The National Food Consumption Survey (NFCS): South Africa, 1999

Abstract Objective The aim of the National Food Consumption Survey (NFCS) in South Africa was to determine the nutrient intakes and anthropometric status of children (1–9 years old), as well as factors that influence their dietary intake. Design This was a cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of all children aged 1–9 years in South Africa. A nationally representative sample with provincial representation was selected using 1996 Census information. Subjects Of the 3120 children who were originally sampled data were obtained from 2894, a response rate of 93%. Methods The sociodemographic status of each household was assessed by a questionnaire. Dietary intake was assessed by means of a 24-hour recall and a food-frequency questionnaire from the caregivers of the children. Food purchasing practices were determined by means of a food procurement questionnaire. Hunger was assessed by a modified hunger scale questionnaire. Nutritional status was determined by means of anthropometric measurements: height, weight, head circumference and arm circumference. Results At the national level, stunting (height-for-age below minus two standard deviations (< -2SD) from the reference median) was by far the most common nutritional disorder, affecting nearly one in five children. The children least affected (17%) were those living in urban areas. Even with regard to the latter, however, children living in informal urban areas were more severely affected (20%) compared with those living in formal urban areas (16%). A similar pattern emerged for the prevalence of underweight (weight-for-age < -2SD), with one in 10 children being affected at the national level. Furthermore, one in 10 (13%) and one in four (26%) children aged 1–3 years had an energy intake less than half and less than two-thirds of their daily energy needs, respectively. For South African children as a whole, the intakes of energy, calcium, iron, zinc, selenium, vitamins A, D, C and E, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and folic acid were below two-thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowances. At the national level, data from the 24-hour recalls indicated that the most commonly consumed food items were maize, sugar, tea, whole milk and brown bread. For South African children overall, one in two households (52%) experienced hunger, one in four (23%) were at risk of hunger and only one in four households (25%) appeared food-secure. Conclusion The NFCS indicated that a large majority of households were food-insecure and that energy deficit and micronutrient deficiencies were common, resulting in a high prevalence of stunting. These results were used as motivation for the introduction of mandatory fortification in South Africa.
Prokineticin 1 induces Dickkopf 1 expression and regulates cell proliferation and decidualization in the human endometrium

Prokineticin 1 (PROK1) signalling via prokineticin receptor 1 (PROKR1) regulates the expression of several genes with important roles in endometrial receptivity and implantation. This study investigated PROK1 regulation of Dickkopf 1 (DKK1) expression, a negative regulator of canonical Wnt signalling, and its function in the non-pregnant endometrium and first trimester decidua. DKK1 mRNA expression is elevated during the mid-secretory phase of the menstrual cycle and expression increases further in first trimester decidua. DKK1 protein expression is localized to glandular epithelial and stromal cells during the proliferative, early- and mid-secretory phases, whereas expression is confined to the stroma in the late-secretory phase and first trimester decidua. PROK1 induces the expression of DKK1 in endometrial epithelial cells stably expressing PROKR1 and in first trimester decidua explants, via a Gq-calcium-calcineurin-nuclear factor of activated T-cells-mediated pathway. Endometrial epithelial cell proliferation is negatively regulated by PROK1-PROKR1 signalling. We demonstrate that this effect on cell proliferation occurs via DKK1 expression, as siRNA targeted against DKK1 reduces the PROK1-induced decrease in proliferation. Furthermore, decidualization of primary human endometrial stromal cells with progesterone and cyclic adenosine monophosphate is inhibited by miRNA knock down of PROK1 or DKK1. These data demonstrate important roles for PROK1 and DKK1 during endometrial receptivity and early pregnancy, which include regulation of endometrial cell proliferation and decidualization.
Argumentative Zoning : Information Extraction from Scientific Text

We present a new type of analysis for scientific text which we call Argumentative Zoning. We demonstrate that this type of text analysis can be used for generating usertailored and task-tailored summaries and for performing more informative citation analyses. We also demonstrate that our type of analysis can be applied to unrestricted text, both automatically and by humans. The corpus we use for the analysis (80 conference papers in computational linguistics) is a difficult test bed; it shows great variation with respect to subdomain, writing style, register and linguistic expression. We present reliability studies which we performed on this corpus and for which we use two unrelated trained annotators. The definition of our seven categories (argumentative zones) is not specific to the domain, only to the text type; it is based on the typical argumentation to be found in scientific articles. It reflects the attribution of intellectual ownership in scientific articles, expressions of authors’ stance towards other work, and typical statements about problem-solving processes. On the basis of sentential features, we use two statistical models (a Naive Bayesian model and an ngram model operating over sentences) to estimate a sentence’s argumentative status, taking the hand-annotated corpus as training material. An alternative, symbolic system uses the features in a rule-based way. The general working hypothesis of this thesis is that empirical discourse studies can contribute to practical document management problems: the analysis of a significant amount of naturally occurring text is essential for discourse linguistic theories, and the application of a robust discourse and argumentation analysis can make text understanding techniques for practical document management more robust.
Query-Performance Prediction Using Minimal Relevance Feedback

There has been much work on devising query-performance prediction approaches that estimate search effectiveness without relevance judgments (i.e., zero feedback). Specifically, post-retrieval predictors analyze the result list of top-retrieved documents. Departing from the zero-feedback approach, in this paper we show that relevance feedback for even very few top ranked documents can be exploited to dramatically improve prediction quality. Specifically, applying state-of-the-art zero-feedback-based predictors to only a very few relevant documents, rather than to the entire result list as originally designed, substantially improves prediction quality. This novel form of prediction is based on quantifying properties of relevant documents that can attest to query performance. We also show that integrating prediction based on relevant documents with zero-feedback-based prediction is highly effective; specifically, with respect to utilizing state-of-the-art direct estimates of retrieval effectiveness when minimal feedback is available.
The impact of technology use on couple relationships: a neuropsychological perspective.

We are in the midst of an Internet revolution and entering an era of enhanced digital connectivity (Hoffman, Novak, & Venkatesh, 2004). The increasing use and accessibility of technology today allows humans to engage and disconnect continuously during face-to-face interactions. Technology is not only used in workspaces but in everyday social relationships as well. The impact of technology use on couple relationships from a neuropsychological perspective has not yet been explored, however. This study investigated the use of television (TV), mobile phones, computers, and laptops in a sample of 21 couples to assess how this impacts on an individual’s sense of safety, control, and attachment. It was found that using a laptop while in the presence of a partner, but without engaging/interacting with them, was associated with a couple’s negative perception of the relationship, but this effect was not found in relation to mobile, computer, or TV use. Conversely, it was found that couples using technology together while engaging/interacting was linked to positive perceptions about their relationship. This was found most specifically in TV use. It was concluded that technology may enhance or hinder couple relationships depending on the couple’s ability to manage, monitor, and reflect on its use. Leggett, C. , & Rossouw, P. J. (2014). The impact of technology use on couple relationships: A neuropsychological perspective. International Journal of Neuropsychotherapy, 2(1), 44–99. doi: 10.12744/ijnpt.2014. 0044-0099
Adolescents’ self-concordance, school engagement, and burnout predict their educational trajectories.

This study investigated whether self-concordance of adolescents' achievement-related goal predicts their school engagement and lack of burnout during upper secondary school as well as their subsequent educational trajectories. We also examined whether goal effort and progress mediate these associations. The sample consisted of 614 17-year-old upper secondary school students, who were surveyed three times: (1) in the second grade of upper secondary, (2) in the third grade of upper secondary school, and (3) one year later. The results showed that when adolescents pursued their achievement-related goal for internal reasons, they also invested effort in their goal, which was reflected in a high level of goal progress. Among girls, goal progress predicted a high level of school engagement during upper secondary school and, subsequently, success in the educational transition after upper secondary school, whereas low goal progress was related to school burnout, which in turn was reflected later on in delay in studies and low educational aspirations.