Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social Sharing Design

This dissertation studies the effects of sharing mechanisms and content characteristics on social sharing processes. Social sharing describes any exchange of resources available in a social system (news, products, ideas, behaviors, etc.). The dissertation consists of four empirical studies, each addressing a different research question. The first empirical project focuses on the effects of user control over the sharing process, preservation of user’s privacy, and symbolic expressions of self-focus. The results from a laboratory experiment and two field studies reveal that content sharing is negatively affected by sharing mechanisms that allow greater control over the sharing process, aim to preserve the user’s privacy and express a self-focus. The second research project investigates how the sharing mechanisms which allow the non-disclosure of the users’ identity impact social sharing. The results show that content related to controversial topics are less likely to be shared on Facebook, whereas they are actively discussed on discussion boards. The third research project analyzes how the payment of incentives influences the social sharing. The results of three field experiments show that the payment of incentives increases the number of consumer reviews. Moreover, paid customers write less positive reviews and are less willing to make recommendations to their peers. The last study explores whether positive or negative content is shared with peers. The results show that the relationship between content’s positivity and its virality follows an inverted U-shape.
Change in Level of Service Inventory–Ontario Revised (LSI-OR) Risk Scores Over Time: An Examination of Overall Growth Curves and Subscale-Dependent Growth Curves

The dynamic nature of risk to re-offend is an important issue in the management of offenders and has stimulated extensive research into dynamic risk factors that can alter an individual’s overall risk to re-offend if addressed. However, few studies have examined the relative importance of these dynamic risk factors, complicating the task of developing case management and treatment plans that will effect the most change. Using a large, high-risk sample and multi-wave data of a common risk assessment tool, the Level of Service Inventory–Ontario Revised (LSI-OR), the current study investigated the relationship among criminogenic risk factors and their role in influencing the overall risk score. Results indicated a diverse pattern of effects on the eight subscale scores, specifically suggesting that changes on Procriminal Attitude/Orientation, Criminal History, and Leisure/Recreation subscales resulted in a quicker rate of change to the overall risk score over time. These results suggest that some factors may be driving the change in overall risk and could potentially effect the most change if prioritized for intervention. Practical implications and implications for further research are discussed.
The nature of antigens common to both the metacestodes of Taenia crassiceps and its laboratory host

ABSTRACT Metacestodes of Taenia crassiceps were cultured in laboratory rats and mice, washed in glycine/hydrochloric acid (Gly/Hcl) buffer pH 2·4 and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) pH 7·2 and a soluble extract of the metacestodes (SEM) was prepared from larvae washed in both buffers. The SEM and the original washings were examined for host IgG and a common host antigen (CHA). CHA was present in both the SEM and Washings but IgG only in the washings and, in metacestodes from mice only in the Gly/HCl washings). Metacestodes washed in Gly/HCl were not viable. Metacestodes were also maintained in vitro in a peptide nutrient agar and 0·9% saline at 37°C and a SEM was prepared from these; metacestodes from mice had neither host IgG nor CHA but those from rats had CHA but not IgG. SEM prepared from ‘normal’ metacestodes showed that the CHA consisted of at least two entities, only one having a common identity with the IgG. These results suggest that molecules of both host IgG and a common host antigen are present on the tegument of these parasites.
Uncoupling Protein-3 Expression in Rodent Skeletal Muscle Is Modulated by Food Intake but Not by Changes in Environmental Temperature*

A new member of the uncoupling protein (UCP) family called UCP3 has recently been cloned and shown to be highly expressed in skeletal muscle of rodents and humans. In the present study, UCP3 was overexpressed in C2C12myoblasts where it acts as an uncoupling protein. Changes in UCP3 mRNA expression were examined in rodent muscles under conditions known to modulate thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue. In skeletal muscle, UCP3 expression did not change in response to 48 h of cold exposure (6 °C), whereas it was decreased by 81% or increased 5.6-fold by 1 week of 50% food restriction or fasting, respectively. It was also decreased by 36% in soleus muscle of obese (fa/fa) as compared with lean Zucker rats. The unexpected rise of UCP3 mRNA level induced by fasting did not change in vitro muscle basal heat production rate but decreased by 31% the capacity to produce heat in response to the uncoupler carbonylcyanidep-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone. This decrease may reflect underlying uncoupling by UCP3. Up-regulation of UCP3 mRNA after a 24-h fast was still observed in mice exposed at thermoneutrality. These results show that the increase in UCP3 expression induced by fasting is associated with the maintenance of thermogenesis measured in muscle in vitro and is not modulated by environmental temperature. The notion that UCP3 expression is modulated by food intake is of importance to better understand the pathophysiology of obesity in humans.
Follow‐up studies of very low birthweight children in Sweden

Follow‐up studies are essential to our knowledge of outcome in very low birthweight (VLBW) or extremely preterm (EPT) infants because those children have a greater risk for developing neurosensory disabilities and behavioural and educational problems and have decreased probability for an optimal transition into adulthood compared to term controls. Outcome data are of interest not only to healthcare professionals but also to parents, schoolteachers and society. The aim of this review is to describe the follow‐up studies of seven populations of VLBW or EPT infants performed in Sweden and published between 1995 and 2009.
Exchange Rate and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Implications for Economic Growth in Nigeria

Research reports have shown that foreign direct investment impacts on the growth and economic development of especially the developing countries like Nigeria. But the discourse issue lies in the type of impact – negative or positive. In the bid to find the impacts of FDI on the nation’s economic growth, researchers have reviewed many factors that influence FDI flow and therefore proffered solutions based on their findings. This research in literature review found that the relationship between exchange rate and FDI has been mostly ignored. And Nigeria being a developing economy in need of constant inflow of FDI is attracting little and having problem in retaining the ones attracted. Therefore the study investigates the impact of FDI on GDP, influence of exchange rate on FDI using a descriptive analysis of secondary data on exchange rate and FDI from the CBN Statistics data base. The findings of the study agrees with some other research report that Nigeria have so far attracted little of FDI and have lost much of the few it has attracted, yet there are good developmental resources to be desired which comes with FDI. The study also found a relationship between FDI, Exchange rate and Economic Growth in Nigeria and thus made recommendations for the domestic firms, government and other stakeholders.
Identification of the G protein‐coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) in human prostate: expression site of the estrogen receptor in the benign and neoplastic gland

Estrogens are involved in growth, differentiation and pathogenesis of human prostate through the mediation of the classical estrogen receptors ERα and ERβ. The G protein‐coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) is a ‘novel’ mediator of estrogen signaling which has been recently recognized in some human reproductive tissues, but its expression in the prostate gland is still unknown. Here, we investigated GPER in benign (from 5 patients) and neoplastic prostatic tissues (from 50 patients) by immunohistochemical analysis and Western blotting. Normal areas of benign prostates revealed a strong GPER immunoreactivity in the basal epithelial cells while luminal epithelial cells were unreactive and stromal cells were weakly immunostained. GPER was also immunolocalized in adenocarcinoma samples but the immunoreactivity of tumoral areas decreased from Gleason pattern 2 to Gleason pattern 4. Furthermore, a strong GPER immunostaining was also revealed in cells of pre‐neoplastic lesions (high‐grade prostatic intra‐epithelial neoplasia). Western blot analysis of benign and tumor protein extracts showed the presence of a ~42 kDa band, consistent with the GPER molecular weight. An increase in both pAkt and p cAMP‐response‐binding protein (pCREB) levels was also observed in poorly differentiated PCa samples. Finally, this work identified GPER in the epithelial basal cells of benign human prostate, with a different localization with respect to the classical estrogen receptors. Furthermore, the expression of GPER in prostatic adenocarcinoma cells was also observed but with a modulation of the immunoreactivity according to tumor cell arrangements.
Positive and negative regulatory elements mediating transcription from the Drosophila melanogaster actin 5C distal promoter

The major cytoskeletal actin gene of Drosophila melanogaster, the actin 5C gene, has two promoters, the distal one of which controls synthesis of actin in a tissue- and developmental stage-specific manner. This very strong promoter has widely been used for expression of heterologous genes in cultured cells. To locate functional regulatory elements in this distal promoter, mutants of the promoter were fused to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and assayed for transient expression activity in cultured Drosophila embryonic Schneider line 2 cells. The results showed that the upstream end of the promoter extends to 522 bp from the transcription start site. In addition, there are two remote activating regions about 2 kb upstream. Between -522 and -379 are two regions that exert a strong negative effect. Downstream from these negative regions are at least six positive regions and a TATA element. The strongest positive determinant of the promoter was identified at -320 as AAAATGTG by footprinting and by a replacement experiment. When the relevant region was replaced by a synthetic sequence containing this element in a random context, the transient expression activity was restored. The sequence TGTATG located at -355 was also identified as a positive element by a similar replacement approach. Apparently the very high activity of this promoter is the result of the combined activities of multiple factors.
European protocols for the diagnosis and initial treatment of interstitial lung disease in children

Interstitial lung disease in children (chILD) is rare, and most centres will only see a few cases/year. There are numerous possible underlying diagnoses, with specific and non-specific treatment possibilities. The chILD-EU collaboration has brought together centres from across Europe to advance understanding of these considerations, and as part of this process, has created standard operating procedures and protocols for the investigation of chILD. Where established consensus documents exist already, for example, for the performance of bronchoalveolar lavage and processing of lung biopsies, these have been adopted. This manuscript reports our proposals for a staged investigation of chILD, starting from when the condition is suspected to defining the diagnosis, using pathways dependent on the clinical condition and the degree of illness of the child. These include the performance of genetic testing, echocardiography, high-resolution CT, bronchoscopy when appropriate and the definitive investigation of lung biopsy, in order to establish a precise diagnosis. Since no randomised controlled trials of treatment have ever been performed, we also report a Delphi consensus process to try to harmonise treatment protocols such as the use of intravenous and oral corticosteroids, and add-on therapies such as hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. The aim is not to dictate to clinicians when a therapeutic trial should be performed, but to offer the possibility to collaborators of having a unified approach when a decision to treat has been made.
Vehicle tax policies and new passenger car CO2 performance in EU member states

ABSTRACT This article explores the causes for differences in the average CO2 emissions intensity of the new passenger car (NPC) fleet in member states (MS) across Europe. Although EU policies mitigating CO2 emissions from NPCs have been in place since 1999, MS strongly diverge in the absolute amount and relative change in emissions over the last decade. The authors employ a qualitative approach to analyse the factors, in particular national vehicle taxes, contributing to this divergence and the relative contribution of national and European policies in reducing national CO2 emissions from NPCs. The analysis shows that there has been a significant reduction in CO2 emissions intensity of NPCs since 2007 across most MS, compared with the six years previous to that date. This would indicate that EU-wide policies, such as the CO2 vehicles regulation, along with the economic recession in 2008, have influenced national NPC CO2 emissions. Generally, countries with CO2-differentiated vehicle taxes are observed as more likely to have achieved greater reductions in CO2 emissions. However, over the same period there have been many confounding factors, such as economic instability in the EU, that also influence NPC emissions. Using more detailed case study analyses of six countries, the authors find that there is scope for well-designed national vehicle tax policies to drive NPC emissions down further than the EU average. In countries with the highest success rate, such as the Netherlands, the design of the vehicle tax, as part of a well-aligned policy package, has been very important in delivering the biggest reductions in CO2 emissions from NPCs. POLICY RELEVANCE The transport sector continues to be an intractable source of CO2 emissions. Governments around the world are seeking effective policies to deal with the increase in passenger car CO2 emissions appropriate to their own circumstances. This article examines the experience of EU MS with CO2-differentiated vehicle taxes in reducing CO2 emissions in the context of other national and international contributing factors. It should therefore both be useful to policy makers and contribute to climate policy research in general.
Neurobiological Plausibility of Prenatal Nutritional Deprivation as a Risk Factor for Schizophrenia

Emerging evidence indicates that schizophrenia may in some cases be a neurodevelopmental disorder, resulting in part from the effects of prenatal exposures. Studies by our group have focused attention on the potential role of prenatal nutritional deficiency as a potential etiological factor. Therefore, we sought to examine the biological plausibility of prenatal nutritional deprivation in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia. We conducted a review of the pertinent literature. Four lines of evidence support prenatal nutritional deficiencies as a plausible set of risk factors for schizophrenia: a) their effects are not incompatible with the epidemiology of schizophrenia; b) they have adverse effects on brain development; c) general malnutrition results in neuropathological anomalies of brain regions implicated in schizophrenia; and d) prenatal malnutrition affects maternal systems critical to the developing fetal nervous system. There is sufficient evidence to warrant further studies of prenatal nutritional deficits as risk factors for schizophrenia. A strategy for testing these hypotheses is outlined.
Pivot‐shift test: Analysis and quantification of knee laxity parameters using a navigation system

Lachman, drawer, and pivot‐shift (PS) tests are important in the assessment of ACL reconstruction. The goal of this work was to analyze the reliability of the PS test using a navigation system, identifying a set of new quantitative parameters and evaluating their clinical relevance. Eighteen patients that underwent anatomic double‐bundle ACL reconstruction were included. The new dynamic parameters were: anteroposterior translation of the medial and lateral compartments and the joint center and internal/external and varus/valgus rotations of the joint. For each parameter we measured the peaks and the areas obtained during the test. Intratester repeatability, comparisons of pre‐ and postoperative laxities, and correlations between the PS peaks and the corresponding peaks obtained with standard static tests were evaluated. Areas, peaks, and static laxity outcomes were compared, grouping patients according to the preoperative International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score. The PS test was reliable in identifying the surgical reconstruction. Correlation analysis showed good coefficients both for pre‐ and postoperative values. Patients with IKDC grade “D” had larger areas during the PS compared to patients with grade “C”. Our analysis is helpful for characterizing patient‐specific laxity and surgical performance, thus highlighting the clinical relevance of the PS test. © 2009 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 28:164–169, 2010
A revised approach to trend employment projections in long-term scenarios

The paper describes revisions to the trend employment component of the production function underpinning long-term economic scenarios. Starting with historical age and sex-specific employment rates, a novel approach is developed to correct for cyclical effects using the country-level employment gap while allowing the different sex and age groups to exhibit different sensitivities to the economic cycle. From the resulting cyclically adjusted age/sex-specific employment rates, trend entry and exit rates into/out of employment are computed using the traditional cohort approach. The different employment propensities of existing cohorts are then used to project future employment rates, with entry and exit rates of new cohorts assumed to mimic the most recent ones. To construct scenarios, the model allows a number of policy settings to influence employment rate projections, notably the legal retirement age, tax wedges, family benefits, etc. The sizes of these effects are sourced from recent OECD work on the quantification of structural reforms, and are also specific to sex and age groups. The trend total employment projection is obtained by aggregating age/sex-specific employment rate projections using external demographic projections.
The Leader Polypeptide of Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus Is Required for the Assembly of Virions in Mouse L Cells

ABSTRACT Deletion of the entire leader polypeptide of the GDVII strain of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) results in the production of an attenuated virus that grows in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells but cannot grow at all in mouse L-929 cells. This study examined the reasons for the failure of dl-L, the GDVII variant that lacks the leader polypeptide, to grow in mouse cells. At low multiplicities of infection, it was difficult to detect any viral proteins in mouse cells. However, levels of positive- and negative-strand RNA molecules were only moderately reduced in these infections. Viral RNA showed no major defect in translatability, as the mutant viral RNA was nearly as efficient as that of the wild-type (WT) virus in directing protein synthesis in vitro in assays using extracts prepared from mouse L cells. Viral protein synthesis was detected indl-L-infected mouse cells as multiplicities of infection were increased and approached the levels observed in WT infections. Despite this, there was a total lack of virus production in high-multiplicity infections, and this was found to correlate with the failure of viral proteins and early virion precursors to assemble into virions in mouse cells. Thus, the inability of dl-L to grow in mouse cells reflects complex effects on various stages of the virus infection but is primarily a defect in virus assembly.
The antinociceptive triterpene β‐amyrin inhibits 2‐arachidonoylglycerol (2‐AG) hydrolysis without directly targeting cannabinoid receptors

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Pharmacological activation of cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors is a therapeutic strategy to treat chronic and inflammatory pain. It was recently reported that a mixture of natural triterpenes α‐ and β‐amyrin bound selectively to CB1 receptors with a subnanomolar Ki value (133 pM). Orally administered α/β‐amyrin inhibited inflammatory and persistent neuropathic pain in mice through both CB1 and CB2 receptors. Here, we investigated effects of amyrins on the major components of the endocannabinoid system.
SEROLOGIC SURVEY FOR ANTIBODIES TO BORRELIA BURGDORFERI IN WHITE-TAILED DEER IN GEORGIA

A serologic survey for antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi utilizing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was conducted on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) serum samples collected in Georgia (USA) from 1979 to 1990. Serologic results from four regions (Barrier Islands, Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Mountain) and three age classes (0.5, 1.5, and ≥2.5 yr) were compared. Antibody prevalence, as determined by positive results at a 1:64 dilution or higher, was 36% in the Barrier Islands, 14% in the Coastal Plain, 8% in the Piedmont, and 4% in the Mountain regions. Statewide antibody prevalence was 19%. Antibody titers generally were low, and if a more conservative cutoff titer of 1:128 were used, the statewide prevalence estimate would have been reduced to 5%. Antibody prevalence as determined at this higher cutoff value, however, still remained highest in the Barrier Islands and lowest in the Mountains. Prevalence estimates were lower in the 0.5-yr age class than in the 1.5-yr or ≥2.5-yr age class (P < 0.05). A more in-depth retrospective study of the Barrier Islands region from 1971 to 1985 revealed a 50% overall antibody prevalence; positive results were found in every year represented except 1990. Based on these results, we propose that B. burgdorferi has been present in Georgia since at least 1971.