Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A time for learning and a time for sleep: the effect of sleep deprivation on contextual fear conditioning at different times of the day.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Sleep deprivation negatively affects memory consolidation, especially in the case of hippocampus-dependent memories. Studies in rodents have shown that 5 hours of sleep deprivation immediately following footshock exposure selectively impairs the formation of a contextual fear memory. In these studies, both acquisition and subsequent sleep deprivation were performed in the animals' main resting phase. However, in everyday life, subjects most often learn during their active phase. DESIGN Here we examined the effects of sleep deprivation on memory consolidation for contextual fear in rats when the task was performed at different times of the day, particularly, at the beginning of the resting phase or right before the onset of the active phase. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Results show that sleep deprivation immediately following training affects consolidation of contextual fear, independent of time of training. However, in the resting phase memory consolidation was impaired by 6 hours of posttraining sleep deprivation, whereas, in the active phase, the impairment was only seen after 12 hours of sleep deprivation. Since rats sleep at least twice as much during the resting phase compared with the active phase, these data suggest that the effect of sleep deprivation depends on the amount of sleep that was lost. Also, control experiments show that effects of sleep deprivation were not related to the amount of stimulation the animals received and were therefore not likely an indirect effect of the sleep-deprivation method. CONCLUSION These results support the notion that sleep immediately following acquisition, independent of time of day, promotes memory consolidation and that sleep deprivation may disrupt this process depending on the amount of sleep that is lost.
Prognostic subgroups for remission and response in the Coordinated Anxiety Learning and Management (CALM) trial.

OBJECTIVE Most patients with anxiety disorders receive treatment in primary care settings. Limited moderator data are available to inform clinicians of likely prognostic outcomes for individual patients. We identify baseline characteristics associated with outcome in adults seeking treatment for anxiety disorders. METHOD We conducted an exploratory moderator analysis from the Coordinated Anxiety Learning and Management (CALM) trial. In the CALM trial, 1,004 adults who met DSM-IV criteria for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and/or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were randomized to usual care (UC) or a collaborative care intervention (ITV) of cognitive-behavioral therapy and/or pharmacotherapy between June 2006 and April 2008. Logistic regression was used to examine baseline characteristics associated with remission and response overall and by treatment condition. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analyses identified subgroups associated with similar likelihood of response and remission of global anxiety symptoms. Remission was defined as score < 6 on the 12-item Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-12) anxiety and somatization subscales. Response was defined as at least 50% reduction on BSI-12, or meeting remission criteria. RESULTS Randomization to ITV over UC was often the strongest predictor of outcome. Several baseline patient characteristics were associated with poor treatment outcome including comorbid depression, increased severity of underlying anxiety disorder(s) (P < .001), low socioeconomic status (perceived [P < .001] and actual [P < .05]), and limited social support (P < .001). Patient characteristics associated with particular benefit from ITV were being female (P < .05), increased depression (P < .01)/GAD severity (P < .05), and low socioeconomic status (P < .05). ROC analysis demonstrated prognostic subgroups with large differences in response likelihood. CONCLUSIONS Further research should focus on the effectiveness of implementing the ITV intervention of CALM in community treatment centers where patients typically are of low socioeconomic status and may particularly benefit from ITV. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00347269.
Unlocking the clubhouse: women in computing

We recount some of the most significant and colorful findings of our four-year study of gender issues in the undergraduate computer science program at Carnegie Mellon. We also discuss the subsequent dramatic increase in the number of women in the program. We conclude with recommendations for the most generally useful and effective actions departments can take to attract and retain female students.
RNA Viruses in Young Nepalese Children Hospitalized With Severe Pneumonia

Background: Pneumonia is among the leading causes of illness and death in children <5 years of age worldwide. There is little information on the viral etiology of severe pneumonia in low-income countries, where the disease burden is particularly high. Methods: We analyzed nasopharyngeal aspirates from 629 children 2 to 35 months of age meeting World Health Organization criteria for severe pneumonia and presenting at Kanti Children's Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal, from January 2006 through June 2008. We examined one specimen from each child for 7 respiratory viruses using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: We detected one or more respiratory viruses in 188 (30%; confidence interval: 26.4%–33.7%) of the 627 specimens with a valid polymerase chain reaction result, of which 88 (14%) yielded respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), 28 (4.5%) influenza A, 24 (5.8%) parainfluenza virus (PIV) type 3, 23 (3.7%) PIV type 1, 17 (2.7%) influenza B, 9 (1.4%) human metapneumovirus, and 5 (0.8%) PIV type 2. Episodes of severe pneumonia occurred in an epidemic pattern with 2 main annual peaks, the viral infections contributing importantly to these epidemics. The largest peaks of severe pneumonia coincided with peaks of RSV infection, which occurred during the last part of the monsoon season and in winter. Conclusions: RSV was the dominant respiratory viral pathogen detected in young Nepalese children hospitalized with severe pneumonia.
Deletion of the gliP gene of Aspergillus fumigatus results in loss of gliotoxin production but has no effect on virulence of the fungus in a low‐dose mouse infection model

Gliotoxin is a secondary metabolite produced by several fungi including the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. As gliotoxin exerts immunosuppressive effects in vitro and in vivo, a role as a virulence determinant in invasive aspergillosis has been discussed for a long time but evidence has not been provided until now. Here, by the use of different selection marker genes A. fumigatus knock‐out strains were generated that are deficient for the non‐ribosomal peptide synthetase GliP, the putative key enzyme of the gliotoxin biosynthesis. Deletion of the gliP gene resulted in loss of gliotoxin production, as analysed by high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. No differences in morphology or growth kinetics between wild‐type and gliP‐deletion strains were observed. In vitro, the culture supernatant of the gliP‐deficient strains showed a reduced cytotoxic effect on both macrophage‐like cells and T cell lines. In a low‐dose murine infection model of invasive aspergillosis, gliotoxin was detected in the lung and absent when mice were infected with the gliP deletion strain. However, gliP deletion strains showed no difference in virulence compared with the corresponding wild‐type strains. Taken together, the non‐ribosomal peptide synthetase GliP is essential for gliotoxin production in A. fumigatus. Gliotoxin is not required for pathogenicity of the fungus in immunocompromised mice, despite the fact that a reduced cytotoxicity of the culture supernatant of gliP deletion strains was demonstrated.
Body size and prostate cancer: a 20-year follow-up study among 135006 Swedish construction workers.

BACKGROUND Obesity is associated with endocrine changes (e.g., increased estrogen and decreased testosterone in the blood) that have been implicated in the cause of prostate cancer and, therefore, an association between body weight and the risk of developing prostate cancer would be expected. However, because of bias or low statistical power in previous epidemiologic studies, associations between anthropometric measurements (height and weight), body mass index (BMI), and the risk of prostate cancer may have been inadvertently overlooked. PURPOSE We performed a large, retrospective cohort study among Swedish construction workers to evaluate possible associations of adult weight, height, BMI, and lean body mass (LBM) by age at entry in the study with the incidence and mortality rate of prostate cancer. METHODS We analyzed data that had been compiled in a computerized central register on a cohort of approximately 135000 male construction workers. Information on height and weight had been collected with the use of a comprehensive questionnaire filled out by nurses at the time of enrollment in the cohort, from 1971 through 1975. Complete follow-up was achieved through 1991 by means of record linkage to the Swedish National Cancer Register, the Death Register, and the Migration Register. A total of 2368 incident cases and 708 deaths from prostate cancer occurred in the cohort during a follow-up period averaging 18 years. We used only information obtained at the index visit from 1971 through 1975 to determine age-adjusted rate ratios (RRs) in a Poisson-based multiplicative multivariate model with age and the relevant exposure variable (e.g., weight, height, BMI, and LBM) as independent variables. RESULTS All anthropometric measurements were positively associated with the risk of prostate cancer and were more strongly related to mortality than to incidence. The excess risk of death from prostate cancer was statistically significant in all BMI categories above the reference category: RR = 1.40 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09-1.81) in the highest category compared with the lowest (P for trend = .04). For height and LBM, the excess risk in the highest compared with the lowest categories was somewhat less pronounced: RR = 1.28 (95% CI = 1.02-1.60) and RR = 1.26 (95% CI = 1.02-1.57), respectively. Statistically significant linear dose-response relationships were also found with the incidence of prostate cancer, with the exception of BMI (P for trend = .10). CONCLUSION Our large cohort study indicates that various aspects of body size are related to the risk of prostate cancer and that future studies are needed to study the role of body size and prostate cancer.
Human sensory stimulation and deprivation: Positron emission tomographic results and strategies

Fluorine‐18‐labeled fluorodeoxyglucose was used to measure local cerebral glucose metabolism by means of positron emission tomography (PET) in patients and in normal subjects. Various states of audiovisual stimulation and deprivation were explored. Our experience in performing neurobehavioral PET studies in over 145 normal right‐handed individuals is described. In normal subjects metabolic left‐right symmetry was found in states of partial sensory deprivation (eyes patched or ears plugged). Metabolic asymmetries (right less than left) were observed in subjects with more complete sensory deprivation (eyes patched and ears plugged). Auditory stimulation studies in normal subjects demonstrated metabolic evidence of cerebral lateralization. No correlation between site of metabolic response and side of stimulation was observed. Both the site and the side (left versus right) of maximal metabolic response correlated with the type (verbal versus nonverbal) and content of the stimulus as well as with the strategy used by the subject to solve the listening task. Visual stimuli of increasing complexity produced symmetrical increases in metabolic rate for the primary and secondary visual cortices. Focal stimulation of the central portion of the retina produced focal responses limited to the occipital poles, while full‐field visual stimulation produced increased metabolic activity throughout the entire extent of the primary visual cortex. Patients with lesions of the visual pathway that spared the visual cortex itself demonstrated abnormalities in visual cortical metabolic rate that correlated with clinical symptoms. The refinement of neurobehavioral PET studies is discussed in terms of the limitations presently induced by spatial resolution, temporal resolution, anatomical localization accuracy, experimental neuropsychological paradigm design, and data analysis techniques. These limitations, as well as future prospects for using PET to study human brain function in both normal and pathological states, are discussed.
The Labour Attributes of Demand in the ASEAN Economic Community

This article examines the relative importance of attributes that will directly affect labour markets and employment earnings after Thailand participates in the ASEAN Economic Community agreement in 2016. This research paper considers two types of company: (1) companies under ASEAN free movement of labour and (2) companies not under ASEAN free movement of labour in 2016. The conjoint analysis is utilised with an additive model of five variables to generate a parsimonious orthogonal array of 12 profiles. The five variables are presented in full profile form withall possible combinations, which resulted in 12 rank ordered combinations. Two hundred and seventeen individual recruiters participated in this study. Overall, this study finds that the most important attributes for employees in both types of company are ASEAN nationality and having a higher degree of education. Speaking an ASEAN language is found to be crucial for companies under ASEAN free movement of labour, while speaking English is revealed to be critical for companies not under ASEAN free movement of labour. Finally, attributes of workplace and identity skill are not significantly important for both types of company.
Leadership development in Egypt : how indigenous managers construe Western leadership theories

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ACADEMIC REGISTRY iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ix GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Research Aims, Objectives and Research Questions 7 1.3 Research Methodology 8 1.4 Significance 10 1.5 Outline of the thesis 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 14 2.
Event-Related Potential Evidence for Age-Related Differences in Attentional Allocation During a Source Monitoring Task

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while older and younger adults were engaged in a source monitoring task. After studying a list of words, participants were presented with a recognition test during which some of the new words were repeated, rendering them as familiar as the study words. Instructions at test indicated whether the goal was to select the previously studied words or the repeated test items. Behaviorally, the younger adults were less likely to make source monitoring errors. ERPs, averaged only for correct trials, indicated that younger adults produced late positivities of greatest amplitude in response to whichever word type was designated as target irrespective of its familiarity. The ERPs of the older adults were generally less differentiated and their late positivities greater for recently repeated words irrespective of target designation. These results suggest that source monitoring in young adults is facilitated by their ability to allocate and withdraw attention from stimuli on the basis of task relevance rather than familiarity alone, and that this attentional flexibility declines with age.
A prospective study of hearing preservation in untreated vestibular schwannomas.

OBJECT The authors previously published a systematic review of the English language literature regarding the natural history of untreated vestibular schwannomas (VSs). This analysis found that the best predictor of future hearing loss was tumor growth > 2.5 mm/year on serial imaging, a factor that doubled the rate of hearing loss. In this paper the authors present an analysis of prospectively collected outcomes in patients with untreated VS from their institution that confirms their previous findings. METHODS Clinical, radiographic, and audiometric data for all patients evaluated for VS at the authors' institution over a 22-year period were prospectively collected in a database. All patients in this database who had serviceable hearing (American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Grade A or B) on initial presentation were selected, and underwent serial observation. Magnetic resonance imaging and audiometric data were analyzed, and the time from presentation until hearing loss was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS Fifty-nine patients with VS who initially presented with serviceable hearing were treated conservatively over this period. Consistent with the authors' previous findings, patients with a tumor growth rate > 2.5 mm/year at any point during follow-up lost their hearing at a much faster rate than those who had slower growing tumors. The median time to hearing loss was 7.0 years in those patients with tumor growth rate > 2.5 mm/year compared to 14.8 years in the other patients (p < 0.0001). The estimated median time to hearing loss in the 3 initial tumor size groups was 11.6 years in the intracanalicular group, 10.3 years in the group with 0.1-1 cm extension into the CPA cistern, and 9.3 years in the group with > 1 cm extension into the CPA cistern (p value nonsignificant). Initial tumor size, age at diagnosis, and neurofibromatosis Type 2 status did not affect the time to loss of serviceable hearing. Interestingly, many patients who were followed up for more than a decade eventually lost their hearing, regardless of whether the tumor displayed any documented interval growth. CONCLUSION The authors confirmed the findings of their systematic review of the literature using a prospectively followed group of patients with untreated VS. Collectively, these data suggest that the expectation for more rapid hearing loss should be communicated to patients, and the decision for surgical or other intervention should be made in the context of the known risk of continued observation of fast growing tumors.
The conserved Est1 protein stimulates telomerase DNA extension activity

The first telomerase cofactor identified was the budding yeast protein Est1, which is conserved through humans. While it is evident that Est1 is required for telomere DNA maintenance, understanding its mechanistic contributions to telomerase regulation has been limited. In vitro, the primary effect of Est1 is to activate telomerase-mediated DNA extension. Although Est1 displayed specific DNA and RNA binding, neither activity contributed significantly to telomerase stimulation. Rather Est1 mediated telomerase upregulation through direct contacts with the reverse transcriptase subunit. In addition to intrinsic Est1 functions, we found that Est1 cooperatively activated telomerase in conjunction with Cdc13 and that the combinatorial effect was dependent upon a known salt-bridge interaction between Est1 (K444) and Cdc13 (E252). Our studies provide insights into the molecular events used to control the enzymatic activity of the telomerase holoenzyme.
Foreign Partner Assignment Policy and Trust in IJVs.

working papers are produced by the Bradford University School of Management and are to be circulated for discussion purposes only. Their contents should be considered to be preliminary. The papers are expected to be published in due course, in a revised form. ABSTRACT This paper investigates the assignment policy of MNEs when managing IJVs with host country companies and its importance for the development of trust between the JV partners. Hypotheses are developed on the basis of extant research on inter-firm and inter-personal relationships and by analyzing interviews carried out with JV managers. These hypotheses are then tested against data gathered through a questionnaire survey of 110 managers of German-Chinese Joint Ventures (GCJV) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Surprisingly, the variables reflecting the assignment policy of the foreign partner, such as the age of the representative or the length of his/her assignment, do not have a discernible effect on IJV trust. Rather, the findings show that the long-term performance of IJVs, which was included as a control variable, is the only variable that seems to have a major impact on the development of trust between JV partners. This raises interesting questions for future research on the role of trust in IJVs.
Dynamic and Steady-State Responses of Inorganic Nitrogen Pools and NH3 Exchange in Leaves of Lolium perenne and Bromus erectus to Changes in Root Nitrogen Supply1

Short- and long-term responses of inorganic N pools and plant-atmosphere NH3 exchange to changes in external N supply were investigated in 11-week-old plants of two grass species,Lolium perenne and Bromus erectus, characteristic of N-rich and N-poor grassland ecosystems, respectively. A switch of root N source from NO3 − to NH4 + caused within 3 h a 3- to 6-fold increase in leaf apoplastic NH4 + concentration and a simultaneous decrease in apoplastic pH of about 0.4 pH units in both species. The concentration of total extractable leaf tissue NH4 + also increased two to three times within 3 h after the switch. Removal of exogenous NH4 + caused the apoplastic NH4 + concentration to decline back to the original level within 24 h, whereas the leaf tissue NH4 +concentration decreased more slowly and did not reach the original level in 48 h. After growing for 5 weeks with a steady-state supply of NO3 − or NH4 +, L. perenne were in all cases larger, contained more N, and utilized the absorbed N more efficiently for growth than B. erectus, whereas the two species behaved oppositely with respect to tissue concentrations of NO3 −, NH4 +, and total N. Ammonia compensation points were higher for B. erectus than for L. perenne and were in both species higher for NH4 +- than for NO3 −-grown plants. Steady-state levels of apoplastic NH4 +, tissue NH4 +, and NH3 emission were significantly correlated. It is concluded that leaf apoplastic NH4 + is a highly dynamic pool, closely reflecting changes in the external N supply. This rapid response may constitute a signaling system coordinating leaf N metabolism with the actual N uptake by the roots and the external N availability.
Laparoscopic Nephrectomy for Infected, Obstructed and Non-functioning Kidneys

Since laparoscopic nephrectomy was introduced by Clayman et al,1 it has been doubted whether it should be employed in patients with extensive perirenal fibrosis. In this series, 20 consecutive patients underwent laparoscopic nephrectomy for obstructed, infected, non-functioning kidneys. Preoperative assessment included urine cultures, abdominal sonography, intravenous pyelography, computerized tomography and a renal scan. Laparoscopic nephretomies were performed using either the transperitoneal or the retroperitoneal approach. Patients' mean age was 52 years (range 20-77, SD = 15.2). Three patients underwent previous open surgery on the same kidney and 15 had percutaneous nephrostomies. The etiology of obstruction was stone disease in 15 cases, uretero-pelvic junction obstruction (3), iatrogenic ureteral injury (1), and infected multicystic kidney (1). Mean operative time was 224 minutes (range 140-325, SD = 57). Conversion to open surgery was necessary in one patient due to splenic injury. Mean hospital stay was 3 days (range 2-6, SD = 1). Laparoscopic nephrectomy was feasible in cases of severe perirenal fibrosis, with an acceptable rate of complications, and may be considered in patients with obstructed, infected, and non-functioning kidneys.