Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Media Exposure, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating: An Examination of Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms

The purpose of this study is to further explore the relationship of media exposure to body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance by examining the mediating effects of pressures and internalization as well as the moderating effects of ethnicity and weight. In the current study, the effects of television and magazine exposure were separated. Pressure was operationalized as influences perceived to be exerted by the media. Internalization was operationalized as the incorporation of specific values (conveyed by the media) to the point they become guiding principles. The results regarding media use reveal that women read an average of three magazines and watch four television programs on a regular basis. They spend an average of two hours reading magazines and 12.3 hours watching television programs weekly. The results further reveal that while non-White women weigh more than White women, White women exhibit greater body dissatisfaction, feel more pressure to conform to thin images in media and display greater risk of eating disorder. Thus, ethnicity was found to moderate the effects of internalization, body dissatisfaction, and pressure in relation to magazine exposure. Because Body Mass Index (BMI) was not related to the sociocultural variables, it was not found to moderate the effects of internalization. The relationships to television exposure are negative or non-significant; therefore, magazine exposure is a more pertinent predictor of body dissatisfaction, eating disorder, pressure and indirectly internalization. Likewise, pressure is more salient than internalization revealing, that internalization is not a necessary precursor to women experiencing increased levels of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder. This study adds to our understanding of the relationship of media exposure to body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance by examining the mediating roles of pressures and internalization as well as the moderating roles of ethnicity and weight, as measured by the BMI. The results of this study reveal that body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance must be examined in light of exposure to magazines and the pressure women feel to conform to thin images portrayed in the media. The results reveal different underlying processes for magazine and television exposure. Future research should continue to focus on operationalizing media exposure in a precise manner that separates the effects of the media of interest. Future research should also focus on samples
Medical Outcome in Asthmatic Patients: Effects of Airways Hyperreactivity and Symptom‐Focused Anxiety

&NA; Hypotheses about medical outcome in asthma, indexed by rates of rehospitalization within 6 months after discharge from long‐term intensive care, were evaluated. Predictions for rehospitalization were based on the levels of airways hyperreactivity, indexed by inhalation challenges with histamine or methacholine, and levels of anxiety focused upon and concurrent with periods of asthmatic distress, indexed by Panic‐Fear symptomatology. Results indicated that, although some prediction could be made on the basis of levels of anxiety and airways hyperreactivity alone, the best predictions resulted from the combined effects of these factors. Almost half of the patients who had highly hyperreactive airways and a tendency to disregard symptoms of breathing difficulty were rehospitalized. By comparison, none of the patients who had less hyperreactive airways and a tendency to be vigilant about their symptoms were rehospitalized. The hypotheses and results are discussed with respect to symptom‐focused and general, illness‐dependent types of anxiety which have different effects upon medical outcome in chronic asthma. The results have implications for the application of anxiety‐reducing forms of intervention in asthma.
Hemodynamic and inotropic effects of antiarrhythmic drugs used to treat paroxysmal supraventricular arrhythmias

Episodes of sustained paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardias can be terminated by antiarrhythmic drugs given intravenously. The cardiodepressive effects of these drugs are an important limitation of this therapeutic procedure. The dose-dependent circulatory and myocardial effects of the nucleoside adenosine (0.5, 2.0, 5.0 mg/kg/minute) and the class I antiarrhythmic drug ajmaline (1.0, 2.0, 4.0 mg/kg) were investigated in 73 open-chest rats. Hemodynamic measurements in the intact circulation and isovolumic registrations (peak isovolumic left ventricular systolic pressure and peak isovolumic dP/dtmax) were compared with saline controls. Adenosine has a short-lasting, negative, chronotropic effect that causes a dose-dependent reduction of cardiac output (−34%, −54%, −65% vs control). The peak isovolumic left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP) is not changed significantly by adenosine (−6%, −4%, +5% vs control). The negative chronotropic effect of ajmaline with consecutive reduction of cardiac output is less pronounced (cardiac output: −18%, −20%, −38% vs control). The highest dose of ajmaline causes a significant reduction of peak isovolumic LVSP (−2%, −1%, −7% vs control). Adenosine has an impressive negative chronotropic effect with a consequent marked decrease of cardiac output. The reduction of cardiac output by adenosine is more pronounced compared with ajmaline. Nevertheless, adenosine has—in contrast to ajmaline—no cardiodepressive effectsin vivo.
Multifractal comparison of the painting techniques of adults and children

Statistical analysis of art, particularly of the abstract genre, is becoming an increasingly important tool for understanding the image creation process. We present a multifractal clustering analysis of non-representational images painted by adults and children using a 'pouring' technique. The effective dimensions (D0) are measured for each, as is the associated multifractal depth ▵D = D0 - DOO. It is shown that children create paintings whose dimensions D0 are less than those created by adults. The effective dimensions for adult painters tend to cluster around 1.8, while those for children assume typical values of 1.6. In a similar fashion, the multifractal depths for images painted by adults and children show statistically-significant differences in their values. Adult paintings show a relatively shallow depth (▵D ~ 0.02), while children's paintings show a much greater depth (▵D ~ 0.1). Given that the 'pouring' technique reflects the body motions of the artist, the results suggest that the differences in the paintings' fractal characteristics are potential indicators of artist physiology.
The case for software-defined networking in heterogeneous networked environments

Motivated by a vision of a fully connected world, we explore how Software-Defined Networking (SDN) can be utilized to support heterogeneous environments consisting of both infrastructure-based and infrastructure-less networks. To make the case for SDN in heterogeneous networks, or Heterogeneous SDN (H-SDN), we examine application scenarios in which H-SDN is a key enabling technology.
Regional Glucose Metabolism within Cortical Brodmann Areas in Healthy Individuals and Autistic Patients

A new Brodmann area (BA) delineation approach was applied to FDG-PET scans of autistic patients and healthy volunteers (n = 17 in each group) to examine relative glucose metabolism (rGMR) during performance of a verbal memory task. In the frontal lobe, patients had lower rGMR in medial/cingulate regions (BA 32, 24, 25) but not in lateral regions (BA 8–10) compared with healthy controls. Patients had higher rGMR in occipital (BA 19) and parietal regions (BA 39) compared with controls, but there were no group differences in temporal lobe regions. Among controls, better recall and use of the semantic-clustering strategy was associated with greater lateral and medial frontal rGMR, while decreased rGMR in medial-frontal regions was associated with greater perseverative/intrusion errors. Patients failed to show these patterns. Autism patients have dysfunction in some but not all of the key brain regions subserving verbal memory performance, and other regions may be recruited for task performance.
The BRG-1 Subunit of the SWI/SNF Complex Regulates CD44 Expression*

Aberrant regulation of CD44, a transmembrane glycoprotein, has been implicated in the growth and metastasis of numerous tumors. Although both CD44 overexpression and loss have been implicated in tumor progression, the mechanism of CD44 down-regulation in these tumor types is not known. By immunoblot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis we determined that a cervical carcinoma cell line, C33A, lacks CD44 expression. To determine how CD44 is down-regulated in C33A cells, we utilized cell fusions of C33A cells with a CD44-expressing cell line (SAOS-2). We found that SAOS-2 fusion restored CD44 expression in C33A cells, suggesting that a trans-acting factor present in SAOS-2 cells promotes CD44 production. C33A cells are BRG-1-deficient, and we found that CD44 was absent in another BRG-1-deficient tumor cell line, indicating that loss of BRG-1 may be a general mechanism by which cells lose CD44. Reintroduction of BRG-1 into these cells restored CD44 expression. Furthermore, disruption of BRG-1 function through the use of dominant-negative BRG-1 demonstrated the requirement of BRG-1 in CD44 regulation. Finally, we show that Cyclin E overexpression resulted in the attenuation of CD44 stimulation, which is consistent with previous observations that Cyclin E can abrogate BRG-1 action. Taken together, these results suggest that BRG-1 is a critical regulator of CD44 expression, thus implicating SWI/SNF components in the regulation of cellular adhesion and metastasis.
Relationships Among Pain, Protective Parental Responses, and Disability for Adolescents With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: The Mediating Role of Pain Catastrophizing

ObjectivesChildren learn to cope with pain within the context of the family and parental responses to pediatric pain can impact health outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine relationships among pain, protective parental responses to pain, functional disability, and pain catastrophizing for adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain syndromes. MethodsInitial evaluation records for 138 adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain who consulted a pediatric multidisciplinary pain management clinic were examined. Measures were collected at the time of the initial evaluation and included adolescent self-reports of their own usual pain intensity, perceived parental responses to their pain, adolescent functional disability, and pain catastrophizing. ResultsPain catastrophizing was significantly correlated with pain intensity, protective parental responses to pain, and functional disability. Multiple regression analyses further suggest that pain catastrophizing serves as a mediator of relationships between: (1) pain and disability and (2) protective parenting responses and disability. Evidence supporting a significant indirect effect for pain catastrophizing on disability was found within both models through bootstrap and Sobel analyses. DiscussionPain catastrophizing seems to play an important role in understanding relationships between pain, protective parental responses, and disability for adolescents with musculoskeletal pain. Our findings suggest that strategies that help modify adolescent catastrophic pain beliefs and parental responses to pain, may help improve adolescent functioning.
Model and adaptive control for a 4-DOF manipulator with a flexible arm

The model of a manipulator with four degrees of freedom and a long flexible arm that includes the coupling effects between rigid and flexible links is used to design a decentralized control scheme. An additional control scheme is included to suppress the elastic variation of the flexible arm. The control scheme does not rely on the dynamic model and payload parameters since disturbance estimation and rejection techniques are used. The simulation results show that the model is accurate enough to design the controller and to perform further analysis on the system. The proposed controller closely tracks the desired input under variations of configuration, payload, and input reference signal. <<ETX>>
Emotional, Behavioral, Social, and Academic Outcomes in Adolescents Born With Very Low Birth Weight

BACKGROUND. Very low birth weight survivors are at increased risk of developing emotional and behavioral problems and low social and academic competencies. Information on such problems in very low birth weight adolescents is still sparse. OBJECTIVES. Our purpose for this work was to study gender-specific emotional and behavioral problems and social and academic competencies in a cohort of very low birth weight adolescents in north Norway. METHODS. Families with very low birth weight adolescents aged 13 to 18 years, born between 1978 and 1989 (n = 162) were addressed by mail and asked to complete the Child Behavior Check List and the Youth Self-Report. Data were compared with 2 normative adolescent populations (Child Behavior Check List, n = 540; Youth Self-Report, n = 2522). Scores given by very low birth weight adolescents and their parents on identical items in Child Behavior Check List and Youth Self-Report (cross-informant syndrome constructs) were compared in pairs. To explore predictive effects, demographic and early medical characteristics were entered into a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. RESULTS. There were 156 eligible families, and 99 (63.5%) responded. All completed the Child Behavior Check List, and 82 (52.6%) completed the Youth Self-Report. Very low birth weight boys reported less externalizing and internalizing behaviors and thought and attention problems and higher activity score, whereas very low birth weight girls reported less externalizing behavior and less social, thought, and attention problems and higher activity score compared with normative adolescents. Very low birth weight parents, however, reported more social and attention problems and less social and school competence in boys and more internalizing behavior and social and attention problems and less school competence in girls compared with normative parents. They scored high proportions of both genders within the borderline/clinical range on all of the scales, except for externalizing behavior and social problems in girls. Female very low birth weight adolescents, in contrast to males, reported more problems than parents when compared in pairs, and externalizing problems in particular were not recognized by parents. CONCLUSIONS. From parents' point of view, significant proportions of very low birth weight adolescents experience more emotional and behavioral problems and less competence than normative adolescents. In contrast, very low birth weight adolescents state less problems and similar or higher competence than normative adolescents. Very low birth weight adolescent girls report more emotional and behavioral problems compared with their parents than very low birth weight adolescent boys do. Externalizing problems in very low birth weight adolescent girls are often not recognized by parents. To better understand these seemingly paradoxical findings and to develop adequate intervention programs, there is a need for prospective longitudinal studies.
Copper-binding characteristics of exopolymers from a freshwater-sediment bacterium

Copper-binding activity by exopolymers from adherent cells of a freshwater-sediment bacterium was demonstrated by a combination of equilibrium dialysis and flameless atomic absorption spectrometry. Crude, cell-free exopolymer preparations containing protein and polysaccharide components bound up to 37 nmol of Cu per mg (dry weight). A highly purified exopolysaccharide preparation bound up to 253 nmol of Cu per mg of carbohydrate. The conditional stability constant for the crude exopolymer-Cu complex was 7.3 X 10(8). This value was similar to those obtained for Cu complexes formed with humic acids and xanthan, an exopolysaccharide produced by Xanthomonas campestris. Studies conducted at copper concentrations, pHs, and temperatures found in sediments from which the bacterium was isolated indicated that the exopolymers were capable of binding copper under natural conditions.
Massively Parallel Methods for Deep Reinforcement Learning

We present the first massively distributed architecture for deep reinforcement learning. This architecture uses four main components: parallel actors that generate new behaviour; parallel learners that are trained from stored experience; a distributed neural network to represent the value function or behaviour policy; and a distributed store of experience. We used our architecture to implement the Deep Q-Network algorithm (DQN). Our distributed algorithm was applied to 49 games from Atari 2600 games from the Arcade Learning Environment, using identical hyperparameters. Our performance surpassed non-distributed DQN in 41 of the 49 games and also reduced the wall-time required to achieve these results by an order of magnitude on most games.
An Accurate Noniterative Fault-Location Technique for Low-Voltage DC Microgrid

The least erroneous knowledge on fault location in distribution systems helps the restoration process, expedites maintenance, and reduces power outage duration. A fault-location method using the probe power unit (PPU) in dc microgrid assumes that the natural frequency of the system is equal to the damped resonant frequency of probe current. This assumption leads to prominent error in fault-location calculation. To estimate the location of fault in the low-voltage dc microgrid system, a noniterative fault-location technique using PPU is proposed in this paper. Considering damping frequency and attenuation of the probe current, which is a function of fault distance and damping coefficient, the fault location is obtained. The technique is tested for high-resistance fault as well as radial and looped topologies and is found to be more accurate.
Antioxidant supplementation influences the neutrophil tocopherol associated protein expression, but not the inflammatory response to exercise

Intense exercise induces inflammatory-like changes and oxidative stress in immune cells. Our aim was to study the effects of antioxidant diet supplementation on the neutrophil inflammatory response and on the tocopherol associated protein (TAP) expression after exhaustive exercise. Fourteen male-trained amateur runners were randomly divided in two placebo and supplemented groups. Vitamins C (152 mg/d) and E (50 mg/d) supplementation were administrated to the athletes for a month, using an almond based isotonic and energetic beverage. Non-enriched beverage was given to the placebo group. After one month, the subjects participated in a half-marathon race (21 km-run). Neutrophil TAP mRNA expression and markers of the inflammatory response were determined before, immediately after, and 3 h after finishing the half-marathon race. TAP expression increased after exercise mainly in the neutrophils of the placebo group. Exercise induced an inflammatory response in both placebo and supplemented groups, manifested with neutrophilia, increased creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase serum activities, neutrophil luminol chemiluminescence and myeloperoxidase release. Plasma malondialdehyde only increased in the placebo group after exercise. Diet supplementation with moderate levels of antioxidant vitamins avoids plasma damage in response to exhaustive exercise without the effects on the inflammatory process. Neutrophil degranulation and increased tocopherol associated protein could contribute to the neutrophil protection from the oxidative stress.
CHARACTERISTICS THAT DETERMINE SPEAKER RECOGNITION.

Abstract : Development and evaluation of three types of speaker-discrimination tests are discussed, including effects of various types of signal degradation upon human speaker-recognition performance and comparisons of various techniques for differentiating among speakers. Properties of three tests--a Four-Alternative Forced-Choice Test, an ABX Test, and a Same-Different Test--are described. Using these tests, it was found that effects of signal degradation upon speaker discrimination performance are small in comparison with effects of the same degradation upon intelligibility. It was found that various physical measures and psycho-physical scaling techniques provide information appropriate for discrimination among talkers. However, none of these techniques performed as well as human observers and provided little direct information regarding the characteristics used by human observers in discriminating among talkers. (Author)
Deletion of the Innate Immune NLRP3 Receptor Abolishes Cardiac Ischemic Preconditioning and Is Associated with Decreased Il-6/STAT3 Signaling

Objective Recent studies indicate that the innate immune system is not only triggered by exogenous pathogens and pollutants, but also by endogenous danger signals released during ischemia and necrosis. As triggers for the innate immune NLRP3 inflammasome protein complex appear to overlap with those for cardiac ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) and ischemic preconditioning (IPC), we explored the possibility that the NLRP3 inflammasome is involved in IPC and acute I/R injury of the heart. Principal Findings Baseline cardiac performance and acute I/R injury were investigated in isolated, Langendorff-perfused hearts from wild-type (WT), ASC−/− and NLRP3−/− mice. Deletion of NLRP3 inflammasome components ASC−/− or NLRP3−/− did not affect baseline performance. The deletions exacerbated I/R-induced mechanical dysfunction, but were without effect on I/R-induced cell death. When subjected to IPC, WT and ASC−/− hearts were protected against I/R injury (improved function and less cell death). However, IPC did not protect NLRP3−/− hearts against I/R injury. NLRP3−/− hearts had significantly decreased cardiac IL-6 levels with a trend towards lower IL-1β levels at end reperfusion, suggesting abrogation of IPC through diminished IL-6 and/or IL-1β signaling. Subsequent experiments showed that neutralising IL-6 using an antibody against IL-6 abrogated IPC in WT hearts. However, inhibition of the IL-1r receptor with the IL-1 receptor inhibitor Anakinra (100 mg/L) did not abrogate IPC in WT hearts. Analysis of survival kinases after IPC demonstrated decreased STAT3 expression in NLRP3−/− hearts when compared to WT hearts. Conclusions The data suggest that the innate immune NLRP3 protein, in an NLRP3-inflammasome-independent fashion, is an integral component of IPC in the isolated heart, possibly through an IL-6/STAT3 dependent mechanism.