Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Practice makes perfect? The role of participant modeling in sexual abuse prevention programs.

We tested the prediction that a sexual abuse prevention program that included participant modeling (PM) would result in superior skill acquisition compared with a symbolic modeling (SM) program. Twenty-six kindergarten children were assigned to one of the two programs after being matched for initial skill level. The PM program taught self-protective skills through modeling and active rehearsal; the SM program taught the same skills, but the children watched as skills were modeled by the experimenter. Results provided evidence for the greater efficacy of PM relative to SM for the learning of personal safety skills and, thus, support the inclusion of active rehearsal in prevention programs for young children. In response to the high incidence of sexual abuse among children (National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse, 1985), many prevention programs aimed at known-offende r abuse have been developed for implementation in school systems. As a result of their consistent and longitudinal contact with children and families, schools appear to be the most promising institution for the delivery of preventive instruction (Brassard, Tyler, & Kehle, 1983). A number of books, plays, films, small-group discussions, and structured curricula are being promoted for school usage (see reviews by Conte, Rosen, & Saperstein, 1986; Wurtele, in press). Although school-based prevention programs have been widely implemented, little effort has been made to systematicall y evaluate what children learn and which teaching method is most effective or to determine if knowledge and skill gains are retained over time. Recently, we compared the effectiveness of the film "Touch" (Illusion Theater Company & Media Ventures, 1984) with a control presentation (Saslawsky & Wurtele, 1986) and, subsequently, with a multifaceted behavioral skills training (BST) package designed to teach children self-protective skills (Wurtele, Saslawsky, Miller, Marrs, & Britcher, 1986). Results from this latter study indicated that children in the BST group who
EFFECTS OF THE RAT HEPATIC PEROXISOME PROLIFERATOR, WYETH 14,643, ON THE LACTATING GOAT

ABSTRACT Some peroxisome proliferators have been reported to reduce body weight gain in suckling rats, possibly through a lactational effect. Decreases in milk production or nutritional quality, either as a result of peroxisome proliferator-induced reductions in lipid content or alterations in the hormonal milieu necessary for milk production, could result in pup growth retardation. Wyeth-14,643 (WY) is hypolipidemic agent and a potent inducer of hepatic peroxisome proliferation in rats and mice. As is commonly seen with rodent hepatic peroxisome proliferators, WY produces minimal or no peroxisome induction in guinea pigs or non-human primates. Goats are an excellent model for studying lactation, however, their sensitivity to peroxisome proliferating chemicals is not known. The present study was performed to assess the sensitivity of goats to the hypolipidemic and peroxisome proliferator properties of WY and to determine the effects of WY on milk quantity and quality. Six lactating adult female goats were assigned to either control or treated groups. Goats in the treated group were administered WY (40 mg/kg/day) for 14 consecutive days. The goats were milked twice daily in order to maintain lactation and the quantity of milk collected was recorded. Milk quality was evaluated by determining the content of total fat, protein, and carbohydrate in milk samples collected following 7 and 14 days of treatment. WY administration had no effects on final body weight, liver weight or, gross and histopathological findings. Milk quantity and quality were unaffected by treatment. Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were reduced by 25% compared to controls, although only the difference in cholesterol was statistically significant. Hepatic β-oxidation (3 × control) and aromatase (1.5 × control) activities were significantly greater in the treatment group; however, there was no treatment-related effect in the total content of hepatic cytochrome P450. There was no difference in aromatase activity in a pooled ovarian microsome sample. Milk estradiol and prolactin concentrations were not affected by treatment. These findings indicate that goats are weak responders to the hepatic peroxisome proliferator effects of WY. Additionally, the slight serum hypolipidemic effect does not impact milk production or nutritional value.
l-Lysine Catabolism Is Controlled by l-Arginine and ArgR in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

ABSTRACT In comparison to other pseudomonads, Pseudomonas aeruginosa grows poorly in l-lysine as a sole source of nutrient. In this study, the ldcA gene (lysine de c arboxylase A; PA1818), previously identified as a member of the ArgR regulon of l-arginine metabolism, was found essential for l-lysine catabolism in this organism. LdcA was purified to homogeneity from a recombinant strain of Escherichia coli, and the results of enzyme characterization revealed that this pyridoxal-5-phosphate-dependent decarboxylase takes l-lysine, but not l-arginine, as a substrate. At an optimal pH of 8.5, cooperative substrate activation by l-lysine was depicted from kinetics studies, with calculated Km and V max values of 0.73 mM and 2.2 μmole/mg/min, respectively. Contrarily, the ldcA promoter was induced by exogenous l-arginine but not by l-lysine in the wild-type strain PAO1, and the binding of ArgR to this promoter region was demonstrated by electromobility shift assays. This peculiar arginine control on lysine utilization was also noted from uptake experiments in which incorporation of radioactively labeled l-lysine was enhanced in cells grown in the presence of l-arginine but not l-lysine. Rapid growth on l-lysine was detected in a mutant devoid of the main arginine catabolic pathway and with a higher basal level of the intracellular l-arginine pool and hence elevated ArgR-responsive regulons, including ldcA. Growth on l-lysine as a nitrogen source can also be enhanced when the aruH gene encoding an arginine/lysine:pyruvate transaminase was expressed constitutively from plasmids; however, no growth of the ldcA mutant on l-lysine suggests a minor role of this transaminase in l-lysine catabolism. In summary, this study reveals a tight connection of lysine catabolism to the arginine regulatory network, and the lack of lysine-responsive control on lysine uptake and decarboxylation provides an explanation of l-lysine as a poor nutrient for P. aeruginosa.
Monensin and nigericin prevent the inhibition of host translation by poliovirus, without affecting p220 cleavage

Addition of monensin or nigericin after poliovirus entry into HeLa cells prevents the inhibition of host protein synthesis by poliovirus. The infected cells continue to synthesize cellular proteins at control levels for at least 8 h after infection in the presence of the ionophore. Cleavage of p220 (gamma subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 4 [eIF-4 gamma]), a component of the translation initiation factor eIF-4F, occurs to the same extent in poliovirus-infected cells whether or not they are treated with monensin. Two hours after infection there is no detectable intact p220, but the cells continue to translate cellular mRNAs for several hours at levels similar to those in uninfected cells. Nigericin or monensin prevented the arrest of host translation at all the multiplicities of poliovirus infection tested. At high multiplicities of infection, an unprecedented situation was found: cells synthesized poliovirus and cellular proteins simultaneously. Superinfection of vesicular stomatitis virus-infected HeLa cells with poliovirus led to a profound inhibition of vesicular stomatitis virus protein synthesis, while nigericin partially prevented this blockade. Drastic inhibition of translation also took place in influenza virus-infected Vero cells treated with nigericin and infected with poliovirus. These findings suggest that the translation of newly synthesized mRNAs is dependent on the integrity of p220, while ongoing cellular protein synthesis does not require an intact p220. The target of ionophore action during the poliovirus life cycle was also investigated. Addition of nigericin at any time postinfection profoundly blocked the synthesis of virus RNA, whereas viral protein synthesis was not affected if nigericin was added at 4 h postinfection. These results agree well with previous findings indicating that inhibitors of phospholipid synthesis or vesicular traffic interfere with poliovirus genome replication. Therefore, the action of nigericin on the vesicular system may affect poliovirus RNA synthesis. In conclusion, monensin and nigericin are potent inhibitors of poliovirus genome replication that prevent the shutoff of host translation by poliovirus while still permitting cleavage of p220.
Color Texture Image Retrieval Based on Local Extrema Features and Riemannian Distance

A novel efficient method for content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is developed in this paper using both texture and color features. Our motivation is to represent and characterize an input image by a set of local descriptors extracted from characteristic points (i.e., keypoints) within the image. Then, dissimilarity measure between images is calculated based on the geometric distance between the topological feature spaces (i.e., manifolds) formed by the sets of local descriptors generated from each image of the database. In this work, we propose to extract and use the local extrema pixels as our feature points. Then, the so-called local extrema-based descriptor (LED) is generated for each keypoint by integrating all color, spatial as well as gradient information captured by its nearest local extrema. Hence, each image is encoded by an LED feature point cloud and Riemannian distances between these point clouds enable us to tackle CBIR. Experiments performed on several color texture databases including Vistex, STex, color Brodazt, USPtex and Outex TC-00013 using the proposed approach provide very efficient and competitive results compared to the state-of-the-art methods.
Recurrence Rates After Surgical or Endovascular Treatment of Spinal Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas: A Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND There is an increasing tendency to treat spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (SDAVFs) endovascularly despite the lack of clear evidence favoring embolization over surgery. OBJECTIVE To compare the initial failure and recurrence rates of primary treatment of SDAVFs by surgery and endovascular techniques. METHODS A meta-analysis using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) standard was performed. All the English literature from 2004 onward was evaluated. From each article that compared the 2 treatment modalities, the odds ratio (OR) was calculated. Combined ORs were calculated with Review Manager 5.3 of The Cochrane Collaboration. RESULTS A total of 35 studies harboring 1112 patients were assessed. Initial definitive fistula occlusion was observed in 588 of 609 surgical patients (96.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 94.8-97.8) vs 363 of 503 endovascularly treated patients (72.2%; 95% CI, 68.1-75.9; P < .001). The combined OR from 18 studies that assessed both treatment modalities (730 patients) was 6.15 (95% CI, 3.45-11.0) in favor of surgical treatment. Late recurrence (13 studies, 480 patients) revealed an OR of 3.15 (95% CI, 1.66-5.96; P < .001) in favor of surgery. In a subgroup, recurrence was reported in 10 of 22 patients (45%) treated with Onyx vs 8 of 35 (23%) treated with n-butyle-2-cyanoacrylate (OR, 2.51; 95% CI, 0.75-8.37; P = .13). CONCLUSION Although hampered by inclusion of poor quality studies, this meta-analysis shows a definite advantage of primary surgical treatment of SDAVF over endovascular treatment in initial failure rate and late recurrences. The often-used argument that endovascular techniques have improved and therefore outweigh surgery is not supported by this meta-analysis.
The Effect of Family Business Professionalization as a Multidimensional Construct on Firm Performance

In family business literature, business professionalization is often simplified into a binary characteristic, that is, the presence of a nonfamily manager. We contend that other professionalization features, which may act simultaneously, can influence firm performance. This study addresses professionalization as a multidimensional construct, as intended by general management literature, and assesses the impact on business performance based on these underlying dimensions. Using a representative sample of 523 private elgian family businesses, we identify five different dimensions of the professionalization construct by means of an exploratory factor analysis. Further regression results revealed significant positive effects of increasing nonfamily involvement, implementing human resource control systems, and/or decentralizing authority on firm performance. However, nonfamily involvement only seems to improve firm performance if there is sufficient decentralization of authority and an average or even low amount of formal financial control systems.
Identifying the Most Important Artists in a Historical Context: Methods Used and Initial Results

The authors collect information on visual artists to allow a broad historical ranking of the most prominent artists. Their purpose is to examine the birth and work locations, and the consequential pattern of labor movement, of prominent artists over a number of long time periods. The article indicates that a relatively simple column-inch approach may suffice for the purpose of identifying the thousand or so most prominent artists, but that much more detailed source material is then required to examine the labor mobility experiences of these artists. A significant bias to the home or target market country is posited in the ranking of artists across countries, even in prestigious publications. Some preliminary data are provided on the ranking of artists by country of birth, covering a very broad historical sweep.
Designing an Audiocast Assignment: A Primary-Literature-Based Approach that Promotes Student Learning of Cell and Molecular Biology through Conversations with Scientist Authors†

We believe that conversations between students and scientist authors that link recently published research to fundamental concepts taught in undergraduate biology courses can serve to engage students and enhance learning. To explore this hypothesis, we designed an assignment in a 2nd year cell and molecular biology course in which students read a scientific article, conduct an interview with the corresponding author of the publication, and then produce an audiocast (or videocast). The audiocast summarizes the paper’s findings and describes how the research advance links back to fundamental concepts discussed in the course and its implications for the field. Feedback from student surveys has been positive and suggests that students felt they developed important analytical skills and a better understanding of the process of science through participation in this assignment. Students enjoyed the interactions with scientists and reported on how their learning from primary literature was enriched by asking questions of the authors. Importantly, the assignment had a very positive influence on student attitudes towards research; this is increasingly important at a time when public involvement in debates about scientific funding cuts is critical. We hope this assignment will be of interest to other instructors that teach undergraduate foundation courses in the life sciences.
Glass micromodel study of bacterial dispersion in spatially periodic porous networks.

Successful implementation of bioremediation clean-up strategies depends on accurate predictions of the transport of bacteria within the subsurface. In this study, etched flat-plate glass micromodels were used to examine bacterial transport in a homogenous network. These networks were created by acid-etching interconnected channels into a glass plate and then fusing it to an unetched plate forming semi-cylindrical pores. The transparent nature of the micromodel allows for both qualitative observations of the bacteria within the pores and quantitative measurements of their concentration. The micromodels are designed to allow establishment of a well-characterized step change in bacterial concentration (Escherichia coli NR50) within the network. During the experiments, bacteria are dispersed through the network by flow. Light scattering is used to detect the change in turbidity within the pores as the bacteria travel through the network. The change in turbidity is used to construct breakthrough curves and spatial concentration profiles of bacteria within the network. The breakthrough curves are fit to the one-dimensional advection/dispersion equation to determine dispersion coefficients at different interstitial fluid velocities. From the breakthrough curves, dispersion coefficients were reproducible for replicate experiments over a range of velocities in the advection-dominated regime. The dispersivity values for two network designs resembling an interconnecting capillary network and a spatially periodic network of cylinders were 0.28 and 0.33 cm respectively, which are slightly greater than the literature values found for other pore networks. Experiments were also conducted within the diffusion-dominated regime to examine the effects of bacterial motility on dispersion. The accumulation of bacteria on the pore walls became significant at the low flow rates and extended experimental times thereby rendering the use of light scattering to determine concentrations ineffective. Bacterial chemotaxis, created by a self-imposed oxygen gradient, was also observed in the micromodel under stagnant fluid conditions.
Intent, tests, and release dependencies: Pragmatic recipes for source code integration

Continuous integration of source code changes, for example, via pull-request driven contribution channels, has become standard in many software projects. However, the decision to integrate source code changes into a release is complex and has to be taken by a software manager. In this work, we identify a set of three pragmatic recipes plus variations to support the decision making of integrating code contributions into a release. These recipes cover the isolation of source code changes, contribution of test code, and the linking of commits to issues. We analyze the development history of 21 open-source software projects, to evaluate whether, and to what extent, those recipes are followed in open-source projects. The results of our analysis showed that open-source projects largely follow recipes on a compliance level of > 75%. Hence, we conclude that the identified recipes plus variations can be seen as wide-spread relevant best-practices for source code integration.
Tuberculosis in a flock of sheep.

Abstract Tuberculosis in a flock of sheep in the Buller district of New Zealand was investigated in 1970. Seventy sheep which had given positive responses to an intradermal tuberculin test were necropsied. Lesions were found in 43 (61%). The lesions ranged from encapsulated, mineralised foci in single lymph nodes, to extensive, soft, caseous lesions involving entire thoracic or abdominal nodes and forming confluent tubercles in dorsal parts of the lung. The distribution of gross lesions suggested that infection by ingestion seemed likely in 14 (52%) and by inhalation in 13 (48%) of 27 sheep for which the probable route of infection could be established. Following histological examination it was concluded that the ovine lesions of tuberculosis are similar to those seen in cattle.
Fuzziness and loss of information in statistical problems

Statistical problems in which the available experimental observations are not necessarily exact have been described previously by means of a probabilistic-possibilistic approach based on the concept of the fuzzy information system. When Zadeh's probabilistic definition (1978) is adopted, the gain of information about the state of nature or parameter contained in a fuzzy information system and the uncertainty associated with an inference from it could be quantified in this approach by means of several concepts. The author proves that the fuzziness in the experimental observations entails a loss of information about the state or parameter space, whatever the quantification of the gain of information or the uncertainty may be.
Cancer Dormancy . VII . A Regulatory Role for CD 8 1 T Cells and IFN-g in Establishing and Maintaining the Tumor-Dormant State 1

Dormant tumor cells resistant to ablative cancer therapy represent a significant clinical obstacle due to later relapse. Experimentally, the murine B cell lymphoma (BCL1) is used as a model of tumor dormancy in mice vaccinated with the BCL 1 Ig. Here, we used this model to explore the cellular mechanisms underlying dormancy. Our previous studies have demonstrated that T cell-mediated immunity is an important component in the regulation of tumor dormancy because Id-immune T cells adoptively transferred into passively immunized SCID mice challenged with BCL1 cells significantly increased the incidence and duration of the dormant state. We have extended these observations and demonstrate that CD8 , but not CD4, T cells are required for the maintenance of dormancy in BCL1 Ig-immunized BALB/c mice. In parallel studies, the transfer of Id-immune CD8 1 cells, but not Id-immune CD4 cells, conferred significant protection to SCID mice passively immunized with nonprotective levels of polyclonal anti-Id and then challenged with BCL1 cells. Furthermore, the ability of CD8 1 T cells to induce a state of dormancy in passively immunized SCID mice was completely abrogated by treatment with neutralizinga-IFN-g mAbs in vivo. In vitro studies demonstrated that IFN-g alone or in combination with reagents to cross-link the surface Ig induced both cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in a BCL1 cell line. Collectively, these data demonstrate a role for CD8 1 T cells via endogenous production of IFNg in collaboration with humoral immunity to both induce and maintain a state of tumor dormancy. The Journal of Immunology,1999, 162: 2842–2849.
Role of voltage-dependent calcium channel subtypes in experimental tactile allodynia.

Peripheral nerve lesions can result in exaggerated pain responses to low intensity mechanical stimuli (tactile allodynia). In the present work, the pharmacology of voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs) involved in the transmission of neuropathic pain was characterized by examining the effects of antagonists specific to the N-, L- and P-type VDCCs, as well as an antagonist at a non-L-, non-N-type site. Drugs were administered via chronic lumbar intrathecal, i.v. or regional nerve block catheters implanted in rats with tactile allodynia induced by tight ligation of the left fifth and sixth lumbar spinal nerves. Intrathecally delivered N-type VDCC (omega-conopeptides SNX239, SNX159 and SNX111) produced dose-dependent blockade of tactile allodynia. Intrathecal L-type (diltiazem, verapamil and nimodipine), non-N-, non-L-type (omega-conopeptide SNX230) and P-type (omega-agatoxin IVA) VDCC antagonists had no effect on pain behavior at the highest doses examined. No VDCC antagonist suppressed paw withdrawal when administered i.v. SNX239, although effective when administered intrathecally, was without effect when applied regionally to the injured portion of the nerve. These results emphasize the importance of N-type, but not L- or P- type, VDCCs in the spinal cord on systems mediating persistent tactile allodynia after nerve injury.