Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
"True" schizotypal personality disorder: a study of co-twins and relatives of schizophrenic probands.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to investigate the type and nature of personality disorders among biological relatives of schizophrenic probands. METHOD A total of 176 nonschizophrenic co-twins and other first-degree relatives of schizophrenic probands were compared to 101 co-twins and first-degree relatives of probands with major depression. RESULTS Schizotypal personality disorders were more common and histrionic personality disorders less common among the biological relatives of schizophrenic probands than among relatives of probands with major depression. A further exploration of the schizotypal criteria revealed that the so-called "negative" criteria such as odd speech, inappropriate affect, and odd behavior, as well as excessive social anxiety, were significantly more common among the relatives of schizophrenic probands. The latter criterion seems particularly important. The so-called "positive" schizotypal criteria were partly, although not statistically significantly, more common among the relatives of probands with major depression. There were only minor differences in frequencies of the negative criteria between monozygotic co-twins, dizygotic co-twins, and other first-degree relatives of schizophrenic probands. CONCLUSIONS The present study suggests that DSM-III-R schizotypal disorder is defined by a set of criteria that partly describe a "true" schizophrenia-related personality disorder and partly features that are not specific for relatives of schizophrenic probands. Furthermore, the genetic relationship between schizophrenia and "true" schizotypal personality disorder seems weak. Excessive social anxiety may be a marker of a possible genetic link between the disorders.
Monetary Policy and Inequality

The article provides a literature review of studies of the impact of monetary policy on income and wealth inequality. Based on the analysis and systematization of the articles mainly written over the past 25–30 years as well as articles written by central bank authorities, the main approaches to assessing the extent to which the Fed's actions are responsible for the growth of wealth inequality in the United States, which began in the 1970s, are identified. It was revealed that the relative unanimity of economists on this issue was replaced by significant pluralism of opinions after the crisis of 2007–2009. Among other reasons this was caused by the activity of central banks and their use of non-conventional approaches in conducting the monetary policy. In addition, the channels through which the actions of central banks affect the distribution of wealth in the economy are identified. In total, five such channels were singled out. Thus, changes in the monetary policy affect the debt market and the structure of assets and liabilities of households, while households with fixed incomes and with a high propensity to use cash are more likely to suffer losses during the expansionary monetary policy. And the fifth channel, which is less popular among the economists, the "Cantillon effect", leads to an increase in the wealth of the first recipients of the issued money at the expense of those who are farthest from the center of emission. The article provides empirical evidence of why this effect is significant for the American economy, and theoretical arguments indicating that taking the Cantillon effect into account can add certainty to studies of both monetary policy costs and institutional changes caused by rising inequality.
Effects of tomato paste extracts on cell proliferation, cell‐cycle arrest and apoptosis in LNCaP human prostate cancer cells

Since tomato consumption is associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer, cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis by LNCaP human prostate cancer cells might elucidate action of tomatoes. To discover possible bioactive fractions of tomatoes, whole tomato paste and its water and hexane extract were used and biomarkers of carcinogenesis were measured. After 6, 24 and 48 hr of incubation, cells were harvested and determined cell growth. Tomato paste hexane extract inhibited cell proliferation by 33% compared to the control after 48 hr incubation. Whole tomato paste and its water extract showed only modest growth inhibition. Tomato paste hexane extract at 5 μM lycopene increased G2/M‐phase of the cell cycle from 13 to 28% and decreased S‐phase cells from 45 to 29%. Apoptosis was observed at the 5 μM hexane extract at the late stages during 24 and 48 hr treatment. Tomato, therefore, deserves study as a potential chemopreventive/chemotherapeutic agent.
Positive Impact of Entrepreneurship Training on Entrepreneurial Behavior in a Vocational Training Setting

Unemployment among youths is a serious problem in many African countries. Researchers and politicians alike consider entrepreneurship to be part of the solution to the high unemployment rates. In this study, we present the conceptual basis of an action-oriented entrepreneurship training program and provide evidence for its positive impact on trainees’ entrepreneurial behavior in a vocational training setting. Furthermore, we present a case study that illustrates how a vocational training institute successfully implemented the training. The case study demonstrates the long-lasting effects achieved by a vocational training institute to promote entrepreneurship among its trainees. Our study shows that entrepreneurship training boosts entrepreneurship among youths, creates jobs, and leads to income generating activities. Furthermore, our study indicates that entrepreneurship training can be successfully integrated into vocational training settings when the training institutions take over responsibility, keep the conceptual core of the training (that is the practical and action-oriented approach of the training), and tailor the overarching framework of the training according to their specific needs.
Evidence for intestinal oxidative stress in obstructive jaundice-induced gut barrier dysfunction in rats.

AIM An important factor that promotes bacterial and endotoxin translocation in obstructive jaundice is intestinal injury that causes increased permeability. However, little is known of the submicroscopic biochemical events leading to defects of the intestinal barrier. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of experimental obstructive jaundice on intestinal lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation and thiol redox state. METHODS Rats were randomly divided into controls, sham operated and bile duct ligated (BDL). After 10 days, intestinal barrier function was assessed by measuring endotoxin in portal and aortic blood. Tissue samples from the terminal ileum were examined histologically and morphometrically, while other samples were homogenized for the determination of lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation and thiol redox state [reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized glutathione (GSSG), total non-protein mixed disulphides (NPSSR), protein thiols (PSH) and protein disulphides (PSSP)]. RESULTS Obstructive jaundice compromised intestinal barrier function leading to significant portal and systemic endotoxaemia. The intestinal mucosa in jaundiced rats was atrophic with significantly decreased villous density and total mucosal thickness. Determination of biochemical parameters of oxidative stress in the intestine showed increased lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in BDL-rats. Thiol redox state revealed the presence of intestinal oxidative stress in jaundiced rats, indicated by a decrease in GSH and increased GSSG, NPSSR and PSSP. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that experimental obstructive jaundice induces intestinal oxidative stress, which may be a key factor contributing to intestinal injury and leading to endotoxin translocation.
The Political Cost of Being Soft on Crime: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

This study analyzes voters’ response to criminal justice policies by exploiting a natural experiment. The 2006 Italian Collective Pardon Bill, designed and promoted by the incumbent center-left (CL) coalition, unexpectedly released about one-third of the prison population, creating idiosyncratic incentives to recidivate across pardoned individuals. Municipalities where resident pardoned individuals had a higher incentive to recidivate experienced a higher recidivism rate. We show that in those municipalities voters “punished” the CL coalition in the 2008 parliamentary elections. A one standard deviation increase in the incentive to recidivate—corresponding to an increase of recidivism of 15.9%—led to a 3.06% increase in the margin of victory of the center-right (CR) coalition in the post-pardon national elections (2008) relative to the last election before the pardon (2006). We also provide evidence of newspapers being more likely to report crime news involving pardoned individuals and of voters hardening their views on the incumbent national government’s ability to control crime. Our findings indicate that voters keep politicians accountable by conditioning their vote on the observed effects of public policies.
Adenoviral gene transfer of GDNF, BDNF and TGFβ2, but not CNTF, cardiotrophin‐1 or IGF1, protects injured adult motoneurons after facial nerve avulsion

We examined neuroprotective effects of recombinant adenoviral vectors encoding glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), cardiotrophin‐1 (CT1), insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF1), and transforming growth factor‐β2 (TGFβ2) on lesioned adult rat facial motoneurons. The right facial nerves of adult Fischer 344 male rats were avulsed and removed from the stylomastoid foramen, and adenoviral vectors were injected into the facial canal. Animals avulsed and treated with adenovirus encoding GDNF, BDNF, CNTF, CT1, IGF1 and TGFβ2 showed intense immunolabeling for these factors in lesioned facial motoneurons, respectively, indicating adenoviral induction of the neurotrophic factors in these neurons. The treatment with adenovirus encoding GDNF, BDNF, or TGFβ2 after avulsion significantly prevented the loss of lesioned facial motoneurons, improved choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity and prevented the induction of nitric oxide synthase activity in these neurons. The treatment with adenovirus encoding CNTF, CT1 or IGF1, however, failed to protect these neurons after avulsion. These results indicate that the gene transfer of GDNF and BDNF and TGFβ2 but not CNTF, CT1 or IGF1 may prevent the degeneration of motoneurons in adult humans with motoneuron injury and motor neuron diseases. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Preservation of Conditionally Nonblocking Switches Under Two-Stage Interconnection

The two-stage interconnection network is conceivably the most compact design for interconnecting small switches into a large switch. Switches so constructed typically can be controlled in the self-routing manner, because the route from an input to an output is unique. Different orderings of network input/output result in different versions of the two-stage interconnection network, two of which are known to preserve various classes of conditionally nonblocking switches. This paper adds Latin-square switches, rotators, reflectors, twisters, and untwisters to this set of classes with applications in load balancing, crosstalk-free optical switching, full connectivity among multiple users, etc. Knowledge of switch preservation under a certain style of multistage interconnection not only allows recursive construction of indefinitely large switches, but also provides insight, generality, and algorithmic flexibility in the construction
The Theory of Practice and the Practice of Theory

As academics who interact with senior and mid-level business managers on a regular basis, both informally and as consultants, the authors often note that ideas of theory and practice are not well developed among people outside of academia. It is posited that this deficit offers the prospect of less than optimal approaches to matters such as solving business problems, understanding the role of management education and nurturing useful interaction between businesses and business schools. This paper attempts to explain the role of theory and its relationship to practice in a business setting so that it can act as a standing reminder for business practitioners.
[Effects of an empowerment program on the adjustment of older adults to nursing home life].

PURPOSE This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the empowerment intervention on the levels of self-esteem, interpersonal relationships and adjustment to nursing home life of the Korean nursing home residents. METHODS Participants (n=47) whose period of stay was less than one year were purposefully selected from 3 nursing homes in Korea. The experimental group (n=21) attended 10 weekly hour-long empowerment sessions. The empowerment program comprised two components; group education and group discussion. The control group (n=26) received a two-hour education about health management. RESULTS Compared with the control group, the experimental group showed significantly higher mean scores of self-esteem (t=5.51, p<.001), interpersonal relationships (t=2.73, p=.009) and adjustment to nursing home life (t=2.10, p=.041). CONCLUSION Findings of this study suggest that empowerment interventions may be effective in enhancing nursing home residents' self-esteem, interpersonal relationships and adjustment to nursing home life. Future research is needed to determine if such an empowerment program could be used with newly institutionalized elders to speed as well as enhance their adjustment to nursing home life.
Food deprivation and nicotine correct akinesia and freezing in Na+‐leak current channel (NALCN)‐deficient strains of Caenorhabditis elegans

Mutations in various genes adversely affect locomotion in model organisms, and thus provide valuable clues about the complex processes that control movement. In Caenorhabditis elegans, loss‐of‐function mutations in the Na+ leak current channel (NALCN) and associated proteins (UNC‐79 and UNC‐80) cause akinesia and fainting (abrupt freezing of movement during escape from touch). It is not known how defects in the NALCN induce these phenotypes or if they are chronic and irreversible. Here, we report that akinesia and freezing are state‐dependent and reversible in NALCN‐deficient mutants (nca‐1;nca‐2, unc‐79 and unc‐80) when additional cation channels substitute for this protein. Two main measures of locomotion were evaluated: spontaneous movement (traversal of >2 head lengths during a 5 second observation period) and the touch‐freeze response (movement greater than three body bends in response to tail touch). Food deprivation for as little as 3 min stimulated spontaneous movement and corrected the touch‐freeze response. Conversely, food‐deprived animals that moved normally in the absence of bacteria rapidly reverted to uncoordinated movement when re‐exposed to food. The effects of food deprivation were mimicked by nicotine, which suggested that acetylcholine mediated the response. Nicotine appeared to act on interneurons or motor neurons rather than directly at the neuromuscular junction because levamisole, which stimulates muscle contraction, did not correct movement. Neural circuits have been proposed to account for the effects of food deprivation and nicotine on spontaneous movement and freezing. The NALCN may play an unrecognized role in human movement disorders characterized by akinesia and freezing gait.
DEVICE‐BASED BRAIN STIMULATION TO AUGMENT FEAR EXTINCTION: IMPLICATIONS FOR PTSD TREATMENT AND BEYOND

Conditioned fear acquisition and extinction paradigms have been widely used both in animals and humans to examine the neurobiology of emotional memory. Studies have also shown that patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exhibit deficient extinction recall along with dysfunctional activation of the fear extinction network, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. A great deal of overlap exists between this fear extinction network and brain regions associated with symptom severity in PTSD. This suggests that the neural nodes of fear extinction could be targeted to reduce behavioral deficits that may subsequently translate into symptom improvement. In this article, we discuss potential applications of brain stimulation and neuromodulation methods, which, combined with a mechanistic understanding of the neurobiology of fear extinction, could be used to further our understanding of the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders and develop novel therapeutic tools. To this end, we discuss the following stimulation approaches: deep‐brain stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. We propose new translational research avenues that, from a systems neuroscience perspective, aim to expand our understanding of circuit dynamics and fear processing toward the practical development of clinical tools, to be used alone or in combination with behavioral therapies.
Gender inequalities in the association between demands of family and domestic life and health in Spanish workers.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to analyse gender inequalities in the relationship between family demands and health in working and cohabiting population. METHODS A total of 9108 men and women aged 25 to 64 years who were employed and cohabiting were selected from the 2006 National Health Survey of Spain. Outcome variables were self-perceived health status, mental health, daily sleeping hours and leisure time sedentarism. Explanatory variables were household size, living with children <15 years, living with adults between 65 and 74 years, living with adults >74 years and having a hired person for housework. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted, stratified by gender and social class and adjusted for age. RESULTS Household size was related to poor self-perceived health status, poor mental health and leisure time sedentarism in both men and women manual workers. Moreover, it was also related to sleeping 6 h or less a day amog manual worker women. Having a hired person for housework was protective for self-perceived health status in both men and women. CONCLUSION Family demands are mainly related to manual workers' health, among both men and women. Whereas the association between family demands and poor health status among women could be explained by their greater housework and caregiver demands compared with men, among men, given their role as the main breadwinner in the home, it could be due to financial problems. The relationship between family demands and health should be studied in a combined framework of gender and social class.
Partisan Technocratic Cycles in Latin America

Given their powerful positions in presidential cabinets, technocrats are an important transmission mechanism for explaining economic policy choices, but have received less attention compared to other well-established channels such as elections or democratic tenure. I incorporate the role of technocratic advisors into a domestic policymaking framework. Specifically, I contend that left governments tend to appoint technocrats, or ministers with mainstream economics training, to signal their commitment to sound governance to the electorate. This partisan technocratic pattern, however, is conditioned by a country's place in its business cycle. During periods of high growth, left governments are more likely to align with their partisan preferences and appoint heterodox advisors that drift from fiscal discipline. Employing an originally constructed data index, the Index of Economic Advisors, I conduct a statistical test of 16 Latin American countries from 1960 to 2011, finding partisan shifts in technocratic appointments and fiscal governance that are conditioned by national business cycles.
The Cognitive Demands of Standardized Patients: Understanding Limitations in Attention and Working Memory With the Decoding of Nonverbal Behavior During Improvisations

Introduction This study was designed to look at the challenges of standardized patients while in role and to use the findings to enhance training methods. The study investigated the effect of improvisations and multiple-task performance on the ability of standardized patients to observe and evaluate another’s communication behaviors and its associated mental workload. Method Twenty standardized patients participated in a 2 types of interview (with and without improvisations)–by–2 types of observation (passive and active) within-groups design. Results The results indicated that both active observations and improvisations had a negative effect on the standardized patients’ ability to observe the learner, missing more than 75% of nonverbal behaviors during active improvisational encounters. Moreover, standardized patients experienced the highest mental demand during active improvisational encounters. Conclusions The findings suggest that the need to simultaneously portray a character and assess a learner may negatively affect the ability of standardized patients to provide accurate evaluations of a learner, particularly when they are required to improvise responses, underscoring the need for specific and targeted training.
New bioreactor-coupled rapid stopped-flow sampling technique for measurements of metabolite dynamics on a subsecond time scale.

Knowledge of concentrations of intracellular metabolites is important for quantitative analysis of metabolic networks. As far as the very fast response of intracellular metabolites in the millisecond range is concerned, the frequently used pulse technique shows an inherent limitation. The time span between the disturbance and the first sample is constrained by the time necessary to obtain a homogeneous distribution of the pertubation within the bioreactor. For determination of rapid changes, a novel sampling technique based on the stopped-flow method has been developed. A continuous stream of biosuspension leaving the bioreactor is being mixed with a glucose solution in a turbulent mixing chamber. Through computer-aided activation of sequentially positioned three-way valves, different residence times and thus reaction times can be verified. The application of this new sampling method is illustrated with examples including measurements of adenine nucleotides and glucose-6-phosphate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as well as measurements related to the PTS system in Escherichia coli.
High‐dose intravenous methylprednisolone for acute childhood idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura

49 children with acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) were divided into non‐treatment, oral prednisone (2 mg/kg), and high‐dose intravenous methylprednisolone (HIVMP) treatment groups which consisted of 17, 16 and 16 children respectively. Platelet counts rose above 150000/μl over a 2‐week period in 5 (29.4%) children in the first group, 5 (31.2%) in the second group and 15 (93.7%) children in the third group. Platelet counts reached the normal level in only 3 days in 11 (68.7%) children treated with HIVMP. Initially, antiplatelet antibodies (APA) were shown by the Handin and Stossel method in every patient. With normalization of platelet counts, the antibodies decreased but could still be detected in every case; antibody decrease was greater in the HIVMP group. With the exception of mild cushingoid appearance, none of the major corticosteroid side effects was observed in the treated children.