Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
X-ray study of structural phase transitions in nanocrystalline LaMnO3+δ perovskite

ABSTRACT The nanocrystalline LaMnO3+δ perovskite was synthesized by the microwave-assisted glycothermal method and calcined at several temperatures up to 1500°C. The prepared samples were examined by the X-ray powder diffraction with the aim to show that LaMnO3+δ exhibits the size-induced structural phase transitions. The as-received nanocrystals of LaMnO3+δ are of tetragonal, pseudo-cubic symmetry not known for bulk material. The samples calcined at temperatures 750–1100°C have trigonal symmetry known from the high-temperature phase of LaMnO3 single crystal. The samples calcined from 1200°C to 1500°C have two phases: trigonal and orthorhombic. Thus, the observed phase sequence is inverted with respect to that of the bulk material, which is the characteristic of the size-induced mechanism of phase transitions in the nanocrystals. The critical crystallite sizes for both structural transitions were evaluated as 20 and 100 nm.
Obese children show increased intimal wall thickness and decreased pulse wave velocity

Objective: Childhood obesity confers an increased risk of vascular changes and adult cardiovascular disease. Using a high‐resolution ultrasound technique that enables separation of intimal and medial layers, we examined the intimal thickness (IT) and intimal–medial thickness (IMT) of radial (RA) and dorsal pedal (DPA) arteries and the pulse wave velocity (PWV) in overweight/obese children and adolescents and in healthy subjects.
Educational leadership growth through dealing with a major crisis event: A phenomenological study

The purpose of this study is to understand the leadership growth and development of principals in the state of Massachusetts who have experienced a major school crisis. Recent research has shown that principals are responsible for much more than curriculum and instruction and that the expectations placed on educational leaders have evolved (Hess, 2002). Research has also shown that principals’ expectations now include a myriad of additional responsibilities. School violence and other unforeseen crises have complicated the role of building administration, and it is critical that principals are prepared to react appropriately in the event of an emergency (Gainey, 2009). This qualitative study created the opportunity for principals to reflect on their decision making under extreme pressure. Participants articulated their perceived growth as a result of managing a school crisis as they discussed the impact of the event on their own leadership. Four principals from the state of Massachusetts are included in this research. The research questions are: 1) How do principals describe the actions they took when faced with a school crisis? 2) What have principals learned about their own leadership as a result of experiencing a school crisis? Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning guides this investigation. Whether responding to school violence, the untimely death of a student or staff member,
A modified laparoscopic ureterolithotomy by pulling ureter with Carter–Thomason fascial closure and ureter incision by broken 15th blade

Background and Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a modified laparoscopic ureterolithotomy for the treatment of upper ureteral stones; this method involved the use of a Carter–Thomason fascial closure device, a broken 15th blade. Material and Methods: From February 2009 to December 2012, 38 patients with unilateral upper ureteral stones were examined and classified into 2 groups: one group underwent conventional laparoscopic ureterolithotomy (n = 21) and the other group underwent modified laparoscopic ureterolithotomy (n = 17). The modified laparoscopic ureterolithotomy consisted of the use of a Carter–Thomason fascial closure to extract the black silk along with the nylon tape. The ureter incision was made with a modified instrument consisting of a needle holder with a broken 15th blade tip. Results and Conclusions: Patient demographics were similar in both groups. No significant differences were detected between the conventional laparoscopic ureterolithotomy and modified laparoscopic ureterolithotomy groups with respect to operating time, estimated blood loss, and stone clearance rates. Drain-indwelling times were significantly shorter in modified laparoscopic ureterolithotomy patients than in conventional laparoscopic ureterolithotomy patients (3.2 ± 1.3 vs 4.7 ± 1.5 days). Hospital stay was significantly lesser in modified laparoscopic ureterolithotomy patients than in conventional laparoscopic ureterolithotomy patients (4.3 ± 1.2 vs 5.2 ± 1.2 days). No differences were detected in the ureteral stent indwelling time for the two groups. The use of the Carter–Thomason fascial closure facilitated ureter handling, and the use of a needle holder with a broken 15th blade tip enabled a sharp and precise ureteral incision. Our method allows early removal of the drain and thus earlier patient discharge.
Anxiety and anxiety sensitivity as predictors of fear of childbirth: different patterns for nulliparous and parous women

Abstract Objective: The demographic characteristics, maternal parity and personal traits of pregnant women have been frequently studied predictors of fear of childbirth (FOC). The aim of this study was to examine the role of demographic variables, expected pain level, trait anxiety and anxiety sensitivity in FOC among nulliparous and multiparous women in the last trimester of pregnancy. Method: Two-hundred pregnant women completed a booklet with questionnaires including the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ), Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), The State – Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and questions on expected labor pain and demographics. Results: Results showed that FOC was higher amongst nulliparous women, but FOC level was not associated with other demographic variables. Different predictors were established in nulliparous and multiparous women. While higher intensity of expected labor pain and anxiety sensitivity (dimension physical concern) were significant predictors in both groups, trait anxiety was significant for the first-time mothers only. Conclusion: Amongst all women, anxiety sensitivity (physical concerns dimension) was identified as an important vulnerability factor for FOC. As such, the level of anxiety sensitivity, and any resulting fear or expectations of pain, should be assessed in expectant mothers by clinicians in prenatal settings. Furthermore, anxiety sensitivity should be an important target for psychological interventions aimed at managing FOC.
How Important Are Dividend Signals in Assessing Earnings Persistence?

We build and test a Bayesian model that shows how investors revise their earnings persistence expectations after dividend announcements. When dividend changes confirm preceding earnings changes, our model predicts inverse u-shaped investor revisions for noisy dividend signals. As the dividend signal becomes more informative our model predicts that investor revisions will become more skewed converging to a monotonically decreasing relation for perfect dividend signals. When dividend changes contradict preceding earnings changes, our model predicts u-shaped investor revisions. In empirical tests, we find results generally consistent with our model predictions. To validate our proxy for the informativeness of confirming dividend changes (the ratio between dividend changes and earnings changes), we first demonstrate that it can be derived from a model suggested by prior literature and second we show that compared to several alternative proxies together with one other proxy it is most consistent with investor reactions and best predicts future earnings persistence. Our findings are important because they explain conflicting results in the literature and can support hypotheses development and model specification in empirical research.
Comparative Study of Thirteen Television Systems Political Information Opportunities in Europe : A Longitudinal and

This study examines the supply of political information programming across thirteen European broadcast systems over three decades. The cross-national and crosstemporal design traces the composition and development of political information environments with regard to the amount and placement of news and current affairs programs on the largest public and private television channels. It finds that the televisual information environments of Israel and Norway offer the most advantageous opportunity structure for informed citizenship because of their high levels of airtime and a diverse scheduling strategy. The study contributes to political communication Research Article at Universiteit Antwerpen on May 30, 2012 hij.sagepub. com Downloaded from 248 The International Journal of Press/Politics 17(3) research by establishing “political information environments” as a theoretically and empirically grounded concept that informs and supplements the comparison of “media systems. ” If developed further, it could provide an information-rich, easy-tomeasure macro-unit for future comparative research.
BRD4 is a novel therapeutic target for liver fibrosis

Significance Liver fibrosis and cirrhosis are chronic liver diseases, resulting in life-threatening conditions with no FDA-approved therapy. Here, we identify bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) as a critical regulator for enhancer-mediated profibrotic gene expression in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). In support of this notion, we find BRD4-loaded enhancers are associated with multiple profibrotic pathways in HSCs and that pharmacological inhibition of BRD4 blocks HSC activation into myofibroblasts. Furthermore, small molecule inhibitors of BRD4 are not only protective against, but can limit the fibrotic response in CCl4-induced fibrosis in a mouse model. Thus, our studies implicate BRD4 as a global genomic regulator of the fibrotic gene regulatory network and suggest bromodomains as potential therapeutic targets to treat fibrotic complications in patients. Liver fibrosis is characterized by the persistent deposition of extracellular matrix components by hepatic stellate cell (HSC)-derived myofibroblasts. It is the histological manifestation of progressive, but reversible wound-healing processes. An unabated fibrotic response results in chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, a pathological precursor of hepatocellular carcinoma. We report here that JQ1, a small molecule inhibitor of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4), a member of bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) proteins, abrogate cytokine-induced activation of HSCs. Cistromic analyses reveal that BRD4 is highly enriched at enhancers associated with genes involved in multiple profibrotic pathways, where BRD4 is colocalized with profibrotic transcription factors. Furthermore, we show that JQ1 is not only protective, but can reverse the fibrotic response in carbon tetrachloride-induced fibrosis in mouse models. Our results implicate that BRD4 can act as a global genomic regulator to direct the fibrotic response through its coordinated regulation of myofibroblast transcription. This suggests BRD4 as a potential therapeutic target for patients with fibrotic complications.
Efficacy and safety of lamivudine treatment in late pregnancy with high HBV DNA: a perspective for mother and infants.

INTRODUCTION Perinatal transmission - from mother to fetus - is one of the main transmission routes of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. Lamivudine therapy has been reported to prevent the replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in pregnant women with a high viral load that can lead to perinatal transmission. METHODOLOGY This study sought to evaluate retrospectively the efficacy and safety of lamivudine treatment in pregnant women with CHB and a high viral load. Biochemical parameters, and virological and serological responses at the 32nd and 36th week of gestation and after labor were recorded. The complications of CHB and the adverse effects of lamivudine treatment were also recorded. RESULTS Following 8 weeks of lamivudine treatment, HBV viral load decreased to levels ≤ 10,000 copies/ml in five of the seven patients (71%) and in three patients (43%), HBV DNA was found to be completely negative after labor. Neither adverse effects caused by lamivudine treatment nor complications due to CHB infection were experienced by mothers or infants. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that lamivudine therapy in highly viremic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive pregnant women could decrease perinatal transmission rates of HBV, and can lower the HBV viral load during labor.
Specialized Zones of Development in Roots

The authors propose using the term "distal elongation zone" (DEZ) rather than "postmitotic isodiametric growth zone" to refer to the group of cells between the apical meristem and the elongation zone in plant roots. Reasons presented for the change are that the proposed DEZ includes many cells that are still dividing, most cells in the region are not isodiametric, and the pattern of cell expansion in this region varies with position in the region. Cells in the DEZ respond to gravistimulation, mechanical impedance, electrotropic stimulation, water stress, and auxin. Differences in gene expression patterns between DEZ cells and cells in the main elongation zone are noted.
Measurement of Individual Loudness Functions by Trisection of Loudness Ranges

Objectives: Loudness-balance measurements with monaurally impaired subjects have shown that the shape of the loudness versus sound-pressure curve among hearing-impaired persons varies significantly. But the effectiveness of adjusting the compression characteristics of wide-dynamic-range compression hearing aids—the compression ratios, the variation of compression ratio with level, and the threshold of compression—to restore normal loudness growth for the individual patient has never been properly tested; individual loudness measurements have been too uncertain to permit meaningful individual adjustments. Recent investigators have reported standard deviations of such measurements in normal-hearing subjects of 6.4 dB and 7.8 dB. This investigation describes a method of measuring loudness function with a standard deviation in normal-hearing subjects of the order of 1 dB, both significantly lower than that of previous methods and sufficiently accurate for individual-subject adjustments. Design: Each of nine normal-hearing subjects—seven of them inexperienced and one a 9-year-old was asked to make three successive loudness trisections within an amplitude range of 40 to 80 dB SPL, providing six points from which to plot a loudness-function curve between these limits. The individual and average curves were validated as accurate loudness functions by comparing them to the curve defined by the equation of loudness versus amplitude in current Standards. In a second validation experiment, the loudness functions of masked ears measured by trisection were compared to the loudness function of those ears measured by loudness balance between masked and unmasked ears. Results: The difference between a loudness function based on the average of subject trisections and the loudness function defined by the ANSI Standard loudness equation was −1.92 dB at the lowest trisection level and +0.05 dB at the highest level. The standard deviations of subject responses were 1.63 dB for the lowest trisection level and 0.68 dB for the highest level, with an average of 1.1 dB. The across-subject standard deviation of the test-retest differences for three subjects was less than 1.7 dB for the first three lower level responses and less than 0.8 dB for the remaining three responses. Conclusions: A trisection procedure for measuring loudness function showed validity and significantly less variation than previous loudness-measurement procedures. Such a procedure, once it has been validated for hearing-impaired subjects, makes it possible to test hearing aid design and fitting strategies that are based on individual-patient loudness functions.
Mitigating control plane attacks on TDMA-based MAC protocols in mobile wireless networks

The broadcast nature of mobile wireless networks makes these types of networks more vulnerable to attacks by compromised or malicious nodes in the neighborhood of other nodes. In particular, a control plane attack against MAC layers can disrupt a node's association with its neighbor nodes and thereby cause the node to become isolated from the rest of the network. We focus on three potential MAC layer threat models for a TDMA-based wireless ad-hoc network. To cope with these threat models, two distributed mitigation schemes are proposed and evaluated under practical military network scenarios in terms of network outage, packet drop rate, and throughput. The results show that these mitigation schemes enable the network performance under attack to recover close to the normal operation. The recovery is achieved by filtering out control messages responsible for the MAC attacks with minimal overhead.
Combined measurement of preoperative α‐fetoprotein and des‐γ‐carboxy prothrombin predicts recurrence after curative resection in patients with hepatitis‐B‐related hepatocellular carcinoma

Alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) and des‐γ‐carboxy prothrombin (DCP) are widely used complementary tumor markers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we investigated whether preoperative AFP and DCP levels predict recurrence after curative resection in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐related HCC. Records for 267 patients who were diagnosed with HBV‐related HCC and who underwent curative resection for HCC were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into two preoperative groups: pre‐op I (AFP ≥20 ng/dL and DCP ≥40 mAU/mL) and pre‐op II (AFP ≥20 ng/dL and DCP <40 mAU/mL; AFP <20 ng/dL and DCP ≥40 mAU/mL; or AFP <20 ng/dL and DCP <40 mAU/mL). Among 267 patients, 102 (38.2%) patients were classified as pre‐op I, whereas the other 165 (61.8%) belonged to pre‐op II. During the post‐resection follow‐up [69.0 (3.0–136.0) months] period, 154 (57.7%) patients developed recurrences [68 (66.7%) patients in pre‐op I vs. 86 (52.1%) in pre‐op II, p = 0.029]. A multivariate analysis revealed that multiple tumors [hazard ratio (HR), 2.210; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.185–4.121] and pre‐op I (HR: 1.890; 95% CI; 1.080–3.289) were significant predictors for recurrence. Disease‐free survival (DFS) was significantly shorter in pre‐op I compared to that in pre‐op II (20.0 vs. 46.8 months, p = 0.006). Elevated preoperative AFP and DCP levels were associated with a higher recurrence rate and shorter DFS in patients with HBV‐related HCC after curative resection. The combined measurement of preoperative AFP and DCP may be a prognostic factor for future recurrence.
An Estimation of the Money Demand Function in Cambodia

In this paper, the money demand function in Cambodia is estimated. The function that incorporates the exchange rate is adopted as the estimation equation, taking into account the phenomenon of currency substitution. The autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration is used as the methodology, and data from the quarterly sample period between 2002Q1 and 2007Q4 are used for the estimation. The results indicate the existence of a long-run relationship among the variables considered in the money demand function. The cumulative sum as well as the cumulative sum of squares tests on the recursive residuals support the stability of the estimated function. Moreover, the long-run estimation results show that income and inflation are significant determinants of money demand in Cambodia; however, although the estimated coefficient of the exchange rate is negative, it is not statistically significant. This statistical insignificance may be due to the coexistence of the currency substitution effect and the wealth effect on domestic money demand in Cambodia when the exchange rate fluctuates. This study provides important information on the structure of money demand function in Cambodia and can serve as a foundation for further research.
Habitat and introduced predators influence the occupancy of small threatened macropods in subtropical Australia

Abstract Australia has had the highest rate of mammal extinctions in the past two centuries when compared to other continents. Frequently cited threats include habitat loss and fragmentation, changed fire regimes and the impact of introduced predators, namely the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the feral cat (Felis catus). Recent studies suggest that Australia's top predator, the dingo (Canis dingo), may have a suppressive effect on fox populations but not on cat populations. The landscape of fear hypothesis proposes that habitat used by prey species comprises high to low risk patches for foraging as determined by the presence and ubiquity of predators within the ecosystem. This results in a landscape of risky versus safe areas for prey species. We investigated the influence of habitat and its interaction with predatory mammals on the occupancy of medium‐sized mammals with a focus on threatened macropodid marsupials (the long‐nosed potoroo [Potorous tridactylous] and red‐legged pademelon [Thylogale stigmatica]). We assumed that differential use of habitats would reflect trade‐offs between food and safety. We predicted that medium‐sized mammals would prefer habitats for foraging that reduce the risk of predation but that predators would have a positive relationship with medium‐sized mammals. We variously used data from 298 camera trap sites across nine conservation reserves in subtropical Australia. Both dingoes and feral cats were broadly distributed, whilst the red fox was rare. Long‐nosed potoroos had a strong positive association with dense ground cover, consistent with using habitat complexity to escape predation. Red‐legged pademelons showed a preference for open ground cover, consistent with a reliance on rapid bounding to escape predation. Dingoes preferred areas of open ground cover whereas feral cats showed no specific habitat preference. Dingoes were positively associated with long‐nosed potoroos whilst feral cats were positively associated with red‐legged pademelons. Our study highlights the importance of habitat structure to these threatened mammals and also the need for more detailed study of their interactions with their predators.
ORGANIZATION OF AMNIOCENTESIS FOR ANTENATAL GENETIC DIAGNOSIS

Abstract. In spite of the rapid development of amniocentesis for genetic diagnosis, it is still only a small fraction of the mothers at risk who are having the procedure performed. The medical and public health problems associated with genetic amniocentesis are discussed on the basis of the experience gathered in a major medical center.