Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why Barack Obama Is Black

We propose that hypodescent—the assignment of mixed-race individuals to a minority group—is an emergent feature of basic cognitive processes of learning and categorization. According to attention theory, minority groups are learned by attending to the features that distinguish them from previously learned majority groups. Selective attention creates a strong association between minority groups and their distinctive features, producing a tendency to see individuals who possess a mixture of majority- and minority-group traits as minority-group members. Two experiments on face categorization, using both naturally occurring and manipulated minority groups, support this view, suggesting that hypodescent need not be the product of racist or political motivations, but can be sufficiently explained by an individual’s learning history.
Distribution of monoamine‐synthesizing neurons in the human medulla oblongata

We have employed immunohistochemical and morphometric procedures to study the distribution of monoamine‐synthesizing neurons in the medulla oblongata of the adult human, utilizing antibodies to tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), phenylethanolamine N‐methyltransferase (PNMT), and phenylalanine hydroxylase (PH8). In the human brain, the antigen with which PH8 reacts occurs within neurons that presumably synthesize serotonin (Haan et al., ′87). Neurons containing these antigens were mapped and counted in successive coronal sections with the aid of a computer‐assisted procedure. The results indicate that monoamine‐synthesizing neurons are distributed in the human brain in patterns broadly similar to those described for other species.
Autonomic Nervous System Activities During Motor Imagery in Elite Athletes

Motor imagery (MI), a mental simulation of voluntary motor actions, has been used as a training method for athletes for many years. It is possible that MI techniques might similarly be useful as part of rehabilitative strategies to help people regain skills lost as a consequence of diseases or stroke. Mental activity and stress induce several different autonomic responses as part of the behavioral response to movement (e.g., motor anticipation) and as part of the central planning and preprogramming of movement. However, the interrelationships between MI, the autonomic responses, and the motor system have not yet been worked out. The authors compare a number of autonomic responses (respiration, heart rate, electro skin resistance) and motoneuron excitability (soleus H-reflex) in elite and nonelite speed skaters during MI. In contrast to the nonelite athletes, MI of elite speed skaters is characterized by larger changes in heart rate and respiration, a greater reliance on an internal perspective for MI, a more vivid MI, a more accurate correspondence between the MI and actual race times, and decreased motoneuron excitability. Two observations suggest that the changes in the autonomic responses and motoneuron excitability for the elite speed skaters are related to the effects of central motor programming: (1) there was no correlation between the autonomic responses for MI and those recorded during mental arithmetic; and (2) mental arithmetic did not significantly alter motoneuron activity. It is suggested that in elite speed skaters, the descending neural mechanisms that reduce motoneuron excitability are activated even when full, vivid MI is performed internally. These inhibitory responses of the motor system may enhance actual motor performance under conditions of remarkably high mental stress, such as that which occurs in the Olympic games.
A Descriptive Study of Bacterial Load of Full‐Thickness Surgical Wounds in Dermatologic Surgery

BACKGROUND Surgical site infections (SSIs) after dermatologic surgery cause pain, prolong healing, result in unaesthetic complications, and lead to excessive use of antibiotics. The pathogenesis of wound infections is complex and is dependent on bacterial load and diversity, among several factors. OBJECTIVE To investigate bacterial dynamics at dermatosurgical sites at different time intervals and assess the correlation with postoperative outcomes and to examine different endo‐ and exogenous factors that may contribute to SSIs. METHODS Eighteen patients undergoing skin grafting of the face were studied. The following SSI‐related factors were registered: age and sex of the patient, ulceration of the lesion, diabetes, immunosuppressive therapy, smoking, anticoagulative therapy, and use of antibiotic prophylaxis. Wounds from each patient were swabbed preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively. The bacterial composition of the swabs was then analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. RESULTS Sixteen of 18 surgical sites contained varying quantities of surface‐associated bacteria. Coagulase‐negative staphylococci and Propionibacterium acnes were the predominant bacteria isolated at all times. Intraoperative analysis was not predictive of SSIs. Use of antibiotic prophylaxis was the only registered SSI‐related factor that showed significant variation in bacterial load between pre‐ and postoperative samples. Postoperative bacterial load was found to be lower than preoperative load in patients who received antibiotics. This was in contrast to patients who did not receive antibiotics, who had significantly higher postoperative levels (p=.02). The presence of high postoperative bacterial loads, regardless of the bacterial species isolated, showed a statistically significant positive correlation with a complicated postoperative outcome (p≤.001). CONCLUSIONS This study provides novel insights into the bacterial dynamics of dermatologic surgery–induced wounds and the variation of this over time. The results highlight the potential relevance of quantifying bacterial loads, as well as determining specific types of bacteria, in dermatologic surgery. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.
Prognosis of left-sided infective endocarditis in patients transferred to a tertiary-care hospital--prospective analysis of referral bias and influence of inadequate antimicrobial treatment.

The aims of this study were to compare the characteristics of adult patients with left-sided infective endocarditis (LSIE) diagnosed and treated in a tertiary-care hospital with those of patients referred from a second-level community hospital, and to establish the accuracy of diagnosis and adequacy of treatment in referred patients and the influence of this factor on outcome. A prospective observational cohort study was conducted at Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, a 1000-bed teaching hospital in Barcelona (Spain) and a referral centre for cardiac surgery. One hundred and fourteen of 337 (34%) episodes of LSIE treated in our hospital occurred in transferred patients. As compared with patients diagnosed in our hospital, transferred patients acquired LSIE within the healthcare system less often (16.7% vs. 38.1%, p <0.001), were in better health (Charlson index 3 (interquartile range (IQR)) 1-4) vs. 4 (IQR 2-6), p <0.001), had more complications (94.7% vs. 78.9%, p <0.001), underwent more operations (69.3% vs. 22.1%, p <0.001), and experienced similar mortality (22.8% vs. 31.4%, p 0.100). Only 52 of 114 (45.6%) referred patients received an antimicrobial regimen included in the American, European or Spanish guidelines at the hospital of origin. After adjustment for congestive heart failure and staphylococcal infection in multivariate logistic regression, inadequate or no antimicrobial treatment at origin was a risk factor for in-hospital mortality (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.1-10.0, p 0.030). Errors in the initial antimicrobial treatment prescribed for LSIE are associated with greater mortality.
Disclosure Practices, Enforcement of Accounting Standards, and Analysts' Forecast Accuracy: An International Study

Using a sample from 22 countries, I investigate the relations between the accuracy of analysts’ earnings forecasts and the level of annual report disclosure, and between forecast accuracy and the degree of enforcement of accounting standards. I document that firm-level disclosures are positively related to forecast accuracy, suggesting that such disclosures provide useful information to analysts. I construct a comprehensive measure of enforcement and find that strong enforcement is associated with higher forecast accuracy. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that enforcement encourages managers to follow prescribed accounting rules, which, in turn, reduces analysts’ uncertainty about future earnings. I also find evidence consistent with disclosures being more important when analyst following is low and with enforcement being more important when more choice among accounting methods is allowed. ∗University of Toronto. I appreciate the helpful comments on various versions of this paper by Joel Amernic, Hollis Ashbaugh, Ray Ball (editor), Sudipta Basu, Jeff Callen, Bjørn Jørgensen, Peter Pope (referee), Beverly Walther, and participants at the 2001 EIASM Workshop on Accounting and Regulation, 2002 European Accounting Association Meeting, 2002 Journal of Accounting Research conference, 2002 Canadian Academic Accounting Association meeting, and 2002 American Accounting Association annual meeting. All errors are my own. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. I thank IBES International Inc. for providing earnings forecast data.
Transcriptional read-through is not sufficient to induce an epigenetic switch in the silencing activity of Polycomb response elements

Significance Gene silencing by Polycomb group (PcG) proteins is required to maintain tissue and stage-specific patterns of gene expression. PcG complexes assemble on special elements, Polycomb response elements (PREs), and function to silence gene activity in the surrounding domain. The activity of PREs is subject to regulation and can be epigenetically switched from “on” (silencing) to “off” (permissive for transcription) as development proceeds. Previous studies suggested that a burst of transcription through a PRE displaces PcG complexes, switching the PRE off in a heritable fashion. Here, we directly tested the transcription read-through hypothesis. We show that transcription through a PRE is not sufficient for induce a heritable switch. In fact, continuous transcription through a PRE fails to displace PcG complexes or eliminate repressive chromatin marks. In Drosophila, Polycomb (PcG) and Trithorax (TrxG) group proteins are assembled on Polycomb response elements (PREs) to maintain tissue and stage-specific patterns of gene expression. Critical to coordinating gene expression with the process of differentiation, the activity of PREs can be switched “on” and “off. ” When on, the PRE imposes a silenced state on the genes in the same domain that is stably inherited through multiple rounds of cell division. When the PRE is switched off, the domain is in a state permissive for gene expression that can be stably inherited. Previous studies have suggested that a burst of transcription through a PRE sequence displaces PcG proteins and provides a universal mechanism for inducing a heritable switch in PRE activity from on to off; however, the evidence favoring this model is indirect. Here, we have directly tested the transcriptional read-through mechanism. Contrary to previous suggestions, we show that transcription through the PRE is not sufficient for inducing an epigenetic switch in PRE activity. In fact, even high levels of continuous transcription through a PRE fails to dislodge the PcG proteins, nor does it remove repressive histone marks. Our results indicate that other mechanisms involving adjacent DNA regulatory elements must be implicated in heritable switch of PRE activity.
Variables affecting lipid oxidation in dried microencapsulated oils

Dried microencapsulated oils are powdery foods or ingredients, prepared by drying natural or formulated emulsions, wherein the oil globules are dispersed in a matrix of saccharides and/or proteins. The study of lipid oxidation in microencapsulated oils is a very difficult task since, in addition to the numerous variables normally involved in lipid oxidation, mainly unsaturation degree, oxygen, light, temperature, prooxidants and antioxidants, other factors exert an important influence in these heterophasic lipid systems. In this paper, the present state of the art on lipid oxidation in dried microencapsulated oils is reviewed, focused on the variables specifically involved in oxidation of these lipid systems. Such variables include those pertaining to the preparation process (type and concentration of the matrix components and drying procedure) and those related to the physicochemical properties of microencapsulated oils (particle size, oil globule size, lipid distribution, water activity, pH and interactions between matrix components).
Deconstructing the molecular mechanisms of cell cycle control in a mouse adrenocortical cell line: Roles of ACTH

This is a progress report of an attempt to deconstruct the signaling network underlying cell cycle control in the mouse Y1 adrenocortical cell line, aiming to uncover ACTH growth regulatory pathways. Y1 adrenocortical tumor cells possess amplified and overexpressed c‐Ki‐ras proto‐oncogene. Despite this oncogenic lesion, Y1 cells retain tight regulatory mechanisms of cell cycle control typified by the sequential events comprising the mitogenic response triggered by FGF2 in G0/G1‐arrested Y1 cells: 1) activation of ERK1/2 and PI3K, by 5 minutes; 2) induction of c‐Fos and c‐Myc proteins by 2 hours; 3) induction of cyclin D1 protein by 5 hours; 4) phosphorylation of Rb protein between 6 and 8 hours; 5) onset of DNA synthesis by 8–9 hours. In this cell line, ACTH‐receptor (ACTH‐R) activates contradictory pathways of growth regulation. First, ACTH coordinately induces fos and jun gene families via activation of both ERK1/2 and cAMP/PKA pathways, resembling a mitogen. Second, ACTH‐R triggers cAMP/PKA‐mediated antimitogenic mechanisms comprised of Akt/PKB dephosphorylation/deactivation, c‐Myc protein degradation, and p27Kip1 protein induction. Induction of cyclin D1 depends on activation of both ERK1/2 and PI3K, but is not affected by ACTH action. As a consequence, ACTH antagonizes FGF2 mitogenic activity but ectopic expression of the c‐Myc protein (via MycER fusion protein) is sufficient to abrogate this ACTH antagonistic effect over FGF2 mitogenic activity. Ectopic expression of both c‐Myc and cyclin D1 is not sufficient to drive G0/G1‐arrested Y1 cells into S phase, but when the sustained expression of these two proteins is complemented by ACTH treatment it promotes G1 phase progression and DNA synthesis initiation. In conclusion, ACTH‐receptor lacks signaling potential sufficient to initiate a mitogenic response in Y1 adrenocortical cells and, therefore, cannot substitute for bona fide mitogens like FGF2. Microsc. Res. Tech. 61:268–274, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Monetary Shocks at High-Frequency and Their Changing FX Transmission Around the Globe

We show that the impact of monetary policy on exchange rates has been growing significantly in recent years. Our results are established by a high-frequency event study of how key fixed income instruments - Overnight-Index Swaps (OIS) and Bonds - respond jointly with exchange rates to news about monetary policy from seven major central banks. News affecting short-term maturity bonds tend to have the strongest impact, highlighting the relevance of communication regarding the path of future monetary policy for exchange rate movements. Overall, our findings suggest that the external channel of monetary transmission has been alive and well, even though many central banks have hit the effective lower bound in recent years.
The Analysis of Factors Affecting Price Earnings Ratio on the Company Shares Registered in Jakarta Islamic Index

The purpose of this research is to find out and analyze the effect of factors affecting price earning ratio on the shares registered in Jakarta Islamic Index. It is a causal research, a causality research which is based on the observation on the effects and the causing factors through some particular data. The data used were secondary data. This research used 48 observations as the research samples obtained based on certain criteria. The hypothesis was tested by using F-Test (Simultaneous Test), T-Test (Partial Test). The results showed that, partially, the Total Assets and Debt to Equity have significant effects to the Price Earning Ratio on the shares registered in Jakarta Islamic Index. Meanwhile, the Dividend Payout Ratio has no effect to Price Earning Ratio on the shares registered in Jakarta Islamic Index.
Occupational Choice with Endogenous Spillovers

We study a model that integrates productive and socialising efforts with occupational choice, and endogenous spillovers. We show that more talented individuals work harder and contribute more to externalities, but also have incentives to segregate. Average socialising increases the productivity of the occupation. The size of an occupation grows with its synergies. Individuals underinvest in productive and socialising effort, and sort themselves inefficiently into occupations. We derive the optimal subsidy for sorting into different occupations. Finally, we derive a rule to identify overpopulated sectors and establish the connection between inequality of talents, socialising, productive efforts and occupation size.
Are Youth Offenders Responsive to Changing Sanctions? Evidence from the Canadian Youth Criminal Justice Act of 2003

This paper examines youth offenders responses to changing sanctions, using evidence from the Canadian Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), which replaced the Young Offenders Act on April 1, 2003. Using police reported and court based official statistics and the difference-in-difference strategy, it is found that Canadian youth offenders were less likely to be charged by police and less likely to receive a custodial sentence following the YCJA. These changes were relatively large for less serious crime and small or insignificant for more serious crime. In response to these changes in the certainty of sanctions, less serious youth crime increased while the direction of change for more serious youth crime was less clear. Empirical analysis on youth self-reported crime corroborates the findings on youth crime reported to police, particularly for boys.
Professional Development for International Teachers: Examining TPACK and Technology Integration Decision Making

Abstract This mixed-methods study explored the impacts of a semester-long technology professional development for secondary school international teachers from developing nations around the world. We used (a) a survey approach to examine international teachers' perceived technology integration abilities using the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework and (b) a design task to understand their rationale behind technology integration decisions. As a group (N = 16), international teachers reported increased abilities in all TPACK domains. Qualitative analysis of their rationales revealed that though teachers learned to consider the affordances of technology, technology access issues were pivotal in their choice and use of technology in instruction planning. With education becoming increasingly global, the study has implications for the motivation and design of technology professional development programs for international teachers.
Functional Interaction of Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen with MSH2-MSH6 and MSH2-MSH3 Complexes*

Eukaryotic DNA mismatch repair requires the concerted action of several proteins, including proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and heterodimers of MSH2 complexed with either MSH3 or MSH6. Here we report that MSH3 and MSH6, but not MSH2, contain N-terminal sequence motifs characteristic of proteins that bind to PCNA. MSH3 and MSH6 peptides containing these motifs bound PCNA, as did the intact Msh2-Msh6 complex. This binding was strongly reduced when alanine was substituted for conserved residues in the motif. Yeast strains containing alanine substitutions in the PCNA binding motif of Msh6 or Msh3 had elevated mutation rates, indicating that these interactions are important for genome stability. When human MSH3 or MSH6 peptides containing the PCNA binding motif were added to a human cell extract, mismatch repair activity was inhibited at a step preceding DNA resynthesis. Thus, MSH3 and MSH6 interactions with PCNA may facilitate early steps in DNA mismatch repair and may also be important for other roles of these eukaryotic MutS homologs.
Metronomic Capecitabine in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Unresponsive to or Ineligible for Sorafenib Treatment: Report of Two Cases

Introduction Sorafenib, an oral multikinase inhibitor, is the only systemic agent proven to be effective in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). There are no approved second line systemic therapies in patients who have had disease progression on or are not eligible to sorafenib. Case Presentation We describe two cases of unresectable HCC that were treated with low, "metronomic" doses of capecitabine. In the first patient, capecitabine was used after sorafenib failure. In the second case, treatment with capecitabine was attempted since the patient was considered not eligible for sorafenib due to spontaneous hepatic bleeding of a large HCC lesion. Treatment was effective and well tolerated in both patients with long-lasting objective responses. Conclusions Lacking established second-line therapy, metronomic capecitabine may be a valid alternative in the treatment of HCC patients who are judged not eligible for sorafenib or those having progression disease on sorafenib.
Black Entrepreneurs on the Rise: The Success Model

Black entrepreneurs have several barriers in which prevent them from achieving the standard level of success entrepreneurs, in general, receive. This senior thesis will analyze the different methods that black entrepreneurs must take in order remain competitive and innovative as a minority within the marketplace. This thesis acknowledges and examines the different forms of “glass ceilings” that exist for Black entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it will provide an in-depth analysis on how best to overcome these challenges; this will be done through introducing a success model tailored specifically to Black entrepreneurs. Additionally, this thesis will gather research from primary sources (Black entrepreneurs) on their experiences as minority business owners. My hypothesis is that Black entrepreneurs must adhere to a unique success model that addresses the barriers limiting their ability to achieve success. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, Donnell and Denise, my family and friends who have provided major support throughout this process. Would also like to dedicate this thesis to my mentor and role model, my grandfather, Bishop Willard Payton. Without his guidance, support, and wisdom, this project would not have been possible.