Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Embodied Self in Trauma and Self-Harm: A Pilot Study of Effects of Flamenco Therapy on Traumatized Inpatients

Abstract Flamenco, the Spanish dance, is about expressing oneself with clarity, beauty, strength, pride, and self-confidence. Trauma survivors have often lost the ability to express themselves authentically, because they feel disconnected from themselves, or from life, often associate strength with violence, and can be flooded by strong emotions when moving. Due to the suitability of Flamenco to produce sensations of strength, pride, and well-being via body feedback, clinical institutions are starting to use Flamenco in the context of dance, music, or body psychotherapy for trauma survivors. In an experimental pilot study, N = 32 traumatized inpatients (n = 16 patients in the experimental group assessed before and after receiving a single Flamenco Therapy intervention, and n = 16 patients in the control group receiving treatment as usual) were tested for change on the following outcomes: well-being, body self-efficacy, interpersonal resonance, plus experienced health, fitness, and pain levels. Results suggest a significant improvement of well-being, improvement of experienced health level, and improvement of experienced physical pain after Flamenco therapy in the experimental group compared to the control group, and a marginal effect for improvement of interpersonal resonance (p < .10 on both measures). Given the fact that the small sample already provided considerable suggestive effects, results are encouraging, but because of the underpowered sample needs further testing. Findings and limitations are discussed with respect to active factors of dance movement therapy.
Subtoxic oxidative stress induces senescence in retinal pigment epithelial cells via TGF-beta release.

PURPOSE The goal of the present study was to determine whether oxidative stress and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta induce cellular senescence in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. METHODS Cultured human RPE cells were exposed to 50 to 150 microM hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) for 1 and 2 hours or treated with 1.0 ng/mL TGF-beta1 or -beta2 for 12, 24, and 48 hours. Senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-Gal) activity was detected by histochemical staining. Expression of senescence-associated genes (apolipoprotein J [Apo J], connective tissue growth factor [CTGF], fibronectin, and SM22) was examined by real-time PCR and induction of signal transduction proteins (p21, p16, and pRb) by Western blot analysis. The effects of TGF-beta blocking on the oxidative stress-induced expression of senescence-associated biomarkers were investigated by simultaneous incubation with neutralizing antibodies against the TGF-beta1, -beta2, and -beta3 isoforms and the TGF-betaII receptor. RESULTS H(2)O(2) markedly increased the number of SA-beta-Gal-positive cells to up to 89% and the expression of Apo J, CTGF, fibronectin, and SM22 by approximately three to fourfold. Treatment with TGF-beta1 and -beta2 showed similar changes. H(2)O(2)and TGF-beta1 and -beta2 markedly enhanced the expression of p21 but downregulated pRb. In contrast, they had no effect on p16 expression. Simultaneous treatment with neutralizing antibodies against the TGF-beta1, -beta2, and -beta3 isoforms and the TGF-betaII receptor prevented the oxidative stress-mediated elevation of senescence-associated biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS Oxidative stress, TGF-beta1, and TGF-beta2 are capable of inducing cellular senescence in cultured human RPE cells. Therefore, reduction of oxidative stress and minimizing TGF-beta may help to prevent senescence-associated changes in the RPE as seen in early age-related macular degeneration.
Teacher Perspectives and the Psychosocial Climate of the Classroom in a Traditional BSN Program

Developing and implementing a positive psychosocial environment should be one of the main responsibilities of educators. As educators influence the climate, learning is enhanced or hindered. Therefore educators need to understand their own teaching perspectives and how they in turn influence the classroom. Data were collected from nurse educators and BSN nursing students. The relationship between faculty teaching perspectives and the students' perceptions of the learning environment was examined. The data collection tool used to measure the educators' perspective was the Instructional Perspective Inventory (IPI), and to measure the students' perspective was the Adult Classroom Environment Scale (ACES). A MANCOVA was used to determine the relationship and significant differences between educators' and students' perspectives. The results indicated that the teachers in the high group of teacher responsiveness had students who reported greater teacher support, time on task, focus, organization, clarity of subject content, involvement, and satisfaction.
Study of neurontin: titrate to effect, profile of safety (STEPS) trial: a narrative account of a gabapentin seeding trial.

BACKGROUND Seeding trials, clinical studies conducted by pharmaceutical companies for marketing purposes, have rarely been described in detail. METHODS We examined all documents relating to the clinical trial Study of Neurontin: Titrate to Effect, Profile of Safety (STEPS) produced during the Neurontin marketing, sales practices, and product liability litigation, including company internal and external correspondence, reports, and presentations, as well as depositions elicited in legal proceedings of Harden Manufacturing vs Pfizer and Franklin vs Warner-Lambert, most which were created between 1990 and 2009. Using a systematic search strategy, we identified and reviewed all documents related to the STEPS trial in order to identify key themes related to the trial's conduct and determine the extent of marketing involvement in its planning and implementation. RESULTS Documents demonstrated that STEPS was a seeding trial posing as a legitimate scientific study. Documents consistently described the trial itself, not trial results, to be a marketing tactic in the company's marketing plans. Documents demonstrated that at least 2 external sources questioned the validity of the study before execution, and that data quality during the study was often compromised. Furthermore, documents described company analyses examining the impact of participating as a STEPS investigator on rates and dosages of gabapentin prescribing, finding a positive association. None of these findings were reported in 2 published articles. CONCLUSION The STEPS trial was a seeding trial, used to promote gabapentin and increase prescribing among investigators, and marketing was extensively involved in its planning and implementation.
Filling the gap: open economy considerations for more reliable potential output estimates

This paper argues that the Phillips curve relationship is not sufficient to trace back the output gap, because the effect of excess demand is not symmetric across tradeable and non-tradeable sectors. In the non-tradeable sector, excess demand creates excess employment and inflation via the Phillips curve, while in the tradeable sector much of the excess demand is absorbed by the trade balance. We set up an unobserved-components model including both a Phillips curve and a current account equation to estimate ‘sustainable output’ for 45 countries. Our estimates for many countries differ substantially from the potential output estimates of the European Commission, IMF and OECD. We assemble a comprehensive real-time dataset to estimate our model on data which was available in each year from 2004-15. Our model was able to identify correctly the sign of pre-crisis output gaps using real time data for countries such as the United States, Spain and Ireland, in contrast to the estimates of the three institutions, which estimated negative output gaps real-time, while their current estimates for the pre-crisis period suggest positive gaps. In the past five years the annual output gap estimate revisions of our model, the European Commission, IMF, OECD and the Hodrick-Prescott filter were broadly similar in the range of 0.5-1.0 percent of GDP for advanced countries. Such large revisions are worrisome, because the European fiscal framework can translate the imprecision in output gap estimates into poorly grounded fiscal policymaking in the EU.
The butterfly and the elephant: local social innovation, the welfare state and new poverty dynamics

This paper surveys the literature on localized socially innovative policies and actions aimed at overcoming poverty and social exclusion. The authors show how these local forms of social innovation emerged in the late 1970s against the backdrop of the crisis and transformation of the Western welfare state, the emergence of new social risks and the transition from the Fordist to the knowledge based economy. The paper aims to learn about new or older but as yet too often overlooked poverty and social exclusion dynamics from the locally embedded and collective responses to it by civil society associations, local state institutions and/or social entrepreneurs. The paper first develops a definition of social innovation as it applies to the fight against poverty and social exclusion. In a second part the authors put social innovation in its historical context by discussing three different strands of social innovation research and practice, namely: (1) social innovation as a critique of the territorial innovation model underlying the knowledge-based economy; (2) social innovation as a critique on the bureaucratic nature of the welfare state; and (3) socially innovative forms of neighbourhood development as a response to the urban crisis. The third section of the paper then zooms in on the process dimensions of social innovation for each of the three strands discussed in the second part. The authors propose the metaphor of ‘the elephant and the butterfly’ to think through the relationship between localized forms of socially innovative actions and initiatives on the one hand and the macro-level institutions of the welfare state and dialectical interplay between state institutions and civil society associations on the other. The paper concludes with a preliminary list of social needs, trends in poverty and the reconfiguration of welfare institutions and policies that are revealed by place-based socially innovative practices.
Type I Interferons as Anti-Inflammatory Mediators

The type I interferons (IFNs), IFN-α and IFN-β, are cytokines that have antiviral, antiproliferative, and immunomodulatory activities. Data are now emerging that suggest that type I IFNs are also important mediators of anti-inflammatory responses. These findings, largely driven by studies to explain the beneficial effects of IFN-β in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, offer a number of mechanisms for the anti-inflammatory properties of type I IFNs. Type I IFNs, through their ability to induce the immunosuppressive cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10), mediate the inhibition of proinflammatory gene products. In addition, type I IFNs induce other immunosuppressive mediators such as suppressor of cytokine signaling–1 (SOCS-1) and tristetrapolin (TTP), which act by divergent mechanisms to restore homeostasis to the immune system. Furthermore, type I IFNs mediate anti-inflammatory and protective effects in a variety of autoimmune disease models such as experimental colitis, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, experimental arthritis, and neonatal inflammation. Here, we discuss the molecular basis for the anti-inflammatory properties of type I IFNs and their therapeutic potential in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
In most Bradyrhizobium groups sequence comparison of 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer regions corroborates DNA-DNA hybridizations.

In an extension of a previous small-scale test to assess the use of 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences for rapid grouping of bradyrhizobia, we have sequenced the ITS region of 32 isolates of Bradyrhizobium that had previously been studied using AFLP and DNA-DNA hybridizations. We also included representatives of Afipia and Rhodopseudomonas. Our results indicate that ITS sequences are very diverse among bradyrhizobia. Nevertheless, for most of the bradyrhizobia, the grouping of ITS sequences was in line with AFLP results and DNA-DNA hybridization data. Strains that have at least 95.5% ITS sequence similarity belong to the same genospecies, i.e. they have more than 60% DNA-DNA hybridization values. The ITS sequences can therefore provide a relatively fast way to guide strain identification and aid selection of the reference groups that should be included in DNA-DNA hybridization experiments for precise genotypic identification. The Bradyrhizobium strains isolated from Aeschynomene species showed a much larger diversity in ITS sequences than other bradyrhizobia, possibly as a result of lateral exchange. The above ITS sequence similarity criterion for genospecies therefore does not apply to them, but they can easily be distinguished from other Bradyrhizobium genospecies because they have a distinct tRNA(ala) gene.
Synovial Fluid Changes in Induced Infectious Arthritis in Calves

The objective was to develop an experimental model of septic arthritis in calves and to evaluate the effect of treatment on cytologic and bacteriologic variables of synovial fluid. The right tarsus of 7 healthy Holstein bull calves were inoculated with 108 colony‐forming units of viable Escherichia coli of a pap‐positive strain (day 1). On day 2, joint lavage was performed and antibiotic treatment was instituted. Cytologic examinations, bacterial cultures, and pap factor determinations by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed on synovial fluid samples that were collected daily until day 4, then every 4 days until day 24. Results of physical examination, the severity of lameness, and swelling were recorded. Clinical signs of septic arthritis appeared on day 2 and persisted until day 9 for all calves. Bacterial cultures from all calves were positive for E coli on day 2, and remained positive until day 3 for 1 calf and until day 4 for 5 calves. In addition, PCR results were positive for all calves, with 6 positive through day 3 and 1 positive through day 4, after which a positive result was again obtained on day 24. Synovial fluid neutrophil counts and white blood cell counts were significantly increased on days 2–4; however, synovial total protein concentrations were increased (P < .05) throughout the experiment in comparison to day 1. Results of all bacterial cultures were negative on day 8, although clinicopathologic signs of inflammation persisted until day 20. This model successfully induced acute septic arthritis in calves. Rapid recovery occurred within 1 week when an appropriate treatment was instituted early in the course of the disease
Is there a "Trial Effect" on Outcome of Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated with Sunitinib?

Purpose Studies suggested the existence of a ‘trial effect', in which for a given treatment, participation in a clinical trial is associated with a better outcome. Sunitinib is a standard treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). We aimed to study the effect of clinical trial participation on the outcome of mRCC patients treated with sunitinib, which at present, is poorly defined. Materials and Methods The records of mRCC patients treated with sunitinib between 2004-2013 in 7 centers across 2 countries were reviewed. We compared the response rate (RR), progression free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS), between clinical trial participants (n=49) and a matched cohort of non-participants (n=49) who received standard therapy. Each clinical trial participant was individually matched with a non-participant by clinicopathologic factors. PFS and OS were determined by Cox regression. Results The groups were matched by age (median 64), gender (male 67%), Heng risk (favorable 25%, intermediate 59%, poor 16%), prior nephrectomy (92%), RCC histology (clear cell 86%), pre-treatment NLR (>3 in 55%, n=27), sunitinib induced hypertension (45%), and sunitinib dose reduction/treatment interruption (41%). In clinical trial participants versus non-participants, RR was partial response/stable disease 80% (n=39) versus 74% (n=36), and progressive disease 20% (n=10) versus 26% (n=13) (p=0.63, OR 1.2). The median PFS was 10 versus 11 months (HR=0.96, p=0.84), and the median OS 23 versus 24 months (HR=0.97, p=0.89). Conclusions In mRCC patients treated with sunitinib, the outcome of clinical trial participants was similar to that of non-participants who received standard therapy.
Japanese attitudes toward American business involvement in Japan: an empirical investigation revisited

Generation Xers in Japan continue to draw increasing attention not only because they constitute a promising segment for many products and services but also because they are expected to play a critical role in shaping their country’s political and economic relations with other countries. This paper examines their attitudes toward US products, businesses, and government. It also examines their behavioral intentions and their expectations of their government in terms of managing American business involvement in Japan. Findings and implications are presented.
CD4+ T Cell Epitopes of FliC Conserved between Strains of Burkholderia: Implications for Vaccines against Melioidosis and Cepacia Complex in Cystic Fibrosis

Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis characterized by pneumonia and fatal septicemia and prevalent in Southeast Asia. Related Burkholderia species are strong risk factors of mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF). The B. pseudomallei flagellar protein FliC is strongly seroreactive and vaccination protects challenged mice. We assessed B. pseudomallei FliC peptide binding affinity to multiple HLA class II alleles and then assessed CD4 T cell immunity in HLA class II transgenic mice and in seropositive individuals in Thailand. T cell hybridomas were generated to investigate cross-reactivity between B. pseudomallei and the related Burkholderia species associated with Cepacia Complex CF. B. pseudomallei FliC contained several peptide sequences with ability to bind multiple HLA class II alleles. Several peptides were shown to encompass strong CD4 T cell epitopes in B. pseudomallei–exposed individuals and in HLA transgenic mice. In particular, the p38 epitope is robustly recognized by CD4 T cells of seropositive donors across diverse HLA haplotypes. T cell hybridomas against an immunogenic B. pseudomallei FliC epitope also cross-reacted with orthologous FliC sequences from Burkholderia multivorans and Burkholderia cenocepacia, important pathogens in CF. Epitopes within FliC were accessible for processing and presentation from live or heat-killed bacteria, demonstrating that flagellin enters the HLA class II Ag presentation pathway during infection of macrophages with B. cenocepacia. Collectively, the data support the possibility of incorporating FliC T cell epitopes into vaccination programs targeting both at-risk individuals in B. pseudomallei endemic regions as well as CF patients.
Biocontrol activity and induced resistance as a possible mode of action for Aureobasidium pullulans against grey mould of strawberry fruit

Efficacy and mode of action were investigated fox Aureobasidium pullulans, a potential biocontrol agent for grey mould on strawberry fruit. Wound inoculation of detached green strawberry cv. Elsanta fruit with Aureobasidium pullulans prevented grey mould rot on fruit inoculated 2 days later with Botrytis cinerea. Treatment of white, pink and red-ripe fruit did not, however, control grey mould. Treatment of wound sites on green fruit with both live and heat-killed A. pullulans cells reduced B. cinerea infection compared to controls. Dip-inoculation of unwounded green strawberry fruit with A pullulans when still attached to the plant delayed the development of grey mould after harvest at the fully ripe stage. The (i) efficacy of A. pullulans on green but not on ripening fruit, (ii) partial inhibitory effect of both live and heat-killed A. pullulans cells and (iii) absence of evidence for antibiotic production from in vitro competition tests suggest that control of grey mould on green fruit is at least partly due to a mechanism other than antagonism and / or competition. Bioassays showed that skin tissue from green fruit treated with A. pullulans had greater antifungal activity than control tissue. Thus, enhanced natural disease resistance in green strawberry fruit contributed to grey mould rot suppression by A. pullulans.
Dioxin-induced adseverin expression in the mouse thymus is strictly regulated and dependent on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), a ligand for the ubiquitous, intracellular aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), up-regulates the actin-modulating protein adseverin in mouse lymphoid tissues, a response that may be correlated to the immunotoxicity of TCDD. Here, by using chimeric mice with TCDD-responsive (AhR(+/+)) hematopoietic cells and TCDD-unresponsive (AhR(minus sign/minus sign)) thymic stroma, or the reverse, we show that TCDD-induced expression of adseverin in thymus is dependent on AhR expression in hematopoietic cells but not in stroma. The use of fetal thymic organ cultures also indicates that TCDD-induced expression of adseverin is confined to the thymocytes. The thymic stroma showed no induction of adseverin expression after TCDD exposure, although TCDD clearly activated the AhR in these cells, as indicated by the induction of CYP1A1. Adseverin was not induced in the thymus of normal adult C57BL/6 mice exposed to beta-estradiol or dexamethasone, two other agents, which also cause thymic atrophy. This further supports that adseverin induction is a specific gene regulatory effect by TCDD on thymocytes.
Pattern of homicidal deaths in Faisalabad.

BACKGROUND Homicide is a reflection of extreme aggression. Many factors influence such a behavior. Family environment, urbanization and the presence of weapons. We conducted this study on autopsies conducted at the department of forensic medicine, Punjab Medical College Faisalabad to know the dimensions of homicide in terms of age, sex, weapons involved and seasonal variation if any. METHODS The study encompasses all 188 cases of homicide reporting for autopsy at the department of forensic medicine, Punjab Medical College Faisalabad from July 2001 to June 2002. The cases were categorized on the basis of police inquest and autopsy findings. RESULTS The homicide rate in Faisalabad was 8.3/100,000 population/year. The age of predilection was the third decade of life and males outnumbered females by a ratio of 3.47:1. A firearm was used in almost 50% of the cases. A surge in the summer months was noticed. CONCLUSION Homicide rate is high in Faisalabad. Firearms are the major weapon used for committing homicide.
Oxygen saturation in adult cystic fibrosis patients during exercise at high altitude

The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and severity of decreased arterial oxy‐hemoglobin saturation during exercise in adults with cystic fibrosis at 1,500 m above sea level. A convenience sample of 50 adults with cystic fibrosis who did not have hypoxemia (oxygen saturation, < 90%) at rest were evaluated. Spirometry was performed according to American Thoracic Society standards, and maximal exercise tests were performed on an electronically braked cycle ergometer using a ramp protocol individualized for each patient. Pulse oximetry was measured every 2 min.