Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Initiating Repair and Beyond: The Use of Two Repeat-Formatted Repair Initiations in Mandarin Conversation

As part of a growing effort to understand the organization of repair across languages, this study examines 2 repeat-formatted other-initiated repair practices in Mandarin conversation. Using the methodology of conversation analysis as a central framework, this study shows that the 2 Mandarin repair initiations under examination, like other-initiation of repair in English, serve not only to initiate repair but also as vehicles for accomplishing additional negatively valenced actions, such as displaying a stance of disbelief or nonalignment. In further explicating the common sequential and activity contexts of these practices, this study shows that the division of labor between these 2 repair initiations in accomplishing additional negative actions is sensitive to 2 intertwining axes: the epistemic stance of the speaker who initiates the repair and the sequential context and positioning of the initiation of repair. It is argued that such a division of labor is consistent with, and is in fact carried over from, the basic meanings they index when serving as straightforward repair initiations.
Experimental investigation of signal distortions induced by cross-phase modulation combined with dispersion

Signal distortions in intensity modulated direct detection WDM systems induced by interaction of cross-phase modulation (XPM) and dispersion are investigated experimentally. The results quantify their reduction with increasing channel separation (walkoff) and are in good agreement with simulations. With the chosen setup it is shown that the limiting influence of XPM in standard single-mode fiber (SMF) systems is reduced efficiently for typical channel spacings (/spl ges/0.8 nm).
XRCC2-Deficient Cells are Highly Sensitive to 5-Fluorouracil in Colorectal Cancer

Background/Aims: Inhibition of the repair of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced DNA lesions may improve the responses of tumors to anticancer agents. XRCC2 is a key factor in DNA repair. However, the role of XRCC2 in the chemoresistance of colorectal cancer (CRC) treated with 5-FU remains unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate whether XRCC2 expression affects the chemosensitivity of colorectal cancer. Methods: XRCC2 expression in CRC tissues was assessed, and the outcomes were analyzed to determine the clinical importance of XRCC2 expression. Following treatment with 5-FU, the effect of XRCC2 on proliferation was evaluated via a CCK-8 assay, the effects on cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were analyzed using flow cytometry, and γH2AX foci formation assays were performed to examine the influence of 5-FU on DNA Double-strand breaks(DSBs) repair in CRC cells. Results: XRCC2 expression in CRC tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissues, and this increased XRCC2 expression was associated with advanced T staging, M staging, TNM staging, Duke’s staging, and greater liver and lymph node metastases. XRCC2 expression might be an independent prognostic indicator for CRC patients. Patients with negative XRCC2 expression exhibit greater sensitivity to treatment with 5-FU-based chemotherapy than those with positive XRCC2 expression. Moreover, our observations revealed that the knockdown of XRCC2 in CRC cells increased the sensitivities to 5-FU in terms of cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. DNA DSBs repair was slower in the XRCC2-deficient cells than in the XRCC2-wild type cells. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that XRCC2 might play an important role in CRC and function as a novel prognostic indicator and that the down-regulation of XRCC2 may be useful for sensitizing CRC cells during 5-FU chemotherapy.
Achilles tendon rupture and our experience with the Achillon device.

BACKGROUND Open repair of the Achilles tendon is still the gold standard for treating rupture. This technique has the disadvantages of a long and problematic operative scar and thickly scarred Achilles tendon. To improve the surgical outcome minimally invasive techniques have been developed. OBJECTIVES To analyze our results of Achilles tendon repair using the Achillon device and compare them with published studies. METHODS We performed surgical repair of the Achilles tendon in 28 patients during a 4 year period (2004-2008): 14 patients were treated with the Achillon device, 12 with the open suture technique and 2 with the percutaneous method. Fourteen patients were available for follow-up: 9 patients with the Achillon device, 3 patients with open suturing and 2 patients with the percutaneous technique. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 4 years. RESULTS The average score of the AOFAS Ankle-Hindfoot Scale for the group treated with the Achillon device was 95.6 points (range 84-100) and for the group treated with the open method, 90 points (range 84-98). The length of the scar in patients operated with a minimally invasive technique was 3.81 cm (range 1-6 cm) as compared to 9.16 cm (range 8-10.5 cm) with the open suture. CONCLUSIONS This is the first review on this procedure in Israel. Excellent functional results were achieved with this technique. Our outcomes were similar to those of two other studies.
The influence of personality dimensions on material and frugal values

Two studies were conducted to examine the influence of personality dimensions on material and frugal values and the affective and cognitive consequences of holding these values among college students from Mexico. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires. Structural Equation Modeling ( SEM ) was used to test the hypothesized relations between personality dimensions, material and frugal values, life and financial satisfaction, and positive and negative affect. Results showed that extraversion had a positive influence of materialism and a negative influence of frugality. Similarly, agreeableness was negatively related to materialism and positively related to frugality. Conscientiousness also had a positive effect on frugality. Lastly, our results showed that materialism was negatively related to positive affect and life and financial satisfaction. Our discussion centered on understanding the interplay between core components of each personality dimension and the defining features of material and frugal values.
Epidemiological and Clinical Profile of Male Hypofertility in Consultation at the Urology-Andrology of Yalgado Ouedraogo Teaching Hospital (Burkina Faso)

Objective: To determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of male hypofertility attending at urology for paternity desire. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study conducted from January 1st to December 31 2012 at urology department of teaching hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo. We collated men attending for hypofertility. Only subjects living regularly with their partner were retained. Results: The study concerned 95 men. The average age was 36.9 years (range: 23 years and 53 years) and 28.6 years for their wives (range: 19 years and 40 years). Patients resided in urban areas in 90.5% of cases. Gynecologists and general physicians sent respectively 77.9% (N = 74) and 17.9% (N = 17) of cases. The average consultation delay time was 3 years. The average duration of infertility was 5.8 years (Extreme: 1 year and 20 years). Infertility was primary in 68.4% of cases and secondary in 31.6% of cases. 24.2% of patients admitted for history of genitourinary infection. Varicocele was found in 22.1% of cases. The semen analysis showed that 42 men had azoospermia. The semen culture isolated a germ in 19.1% of cases. Serum FSH was high in 47.3% of cases. Conclusion: Male hypofertility affected men of all age. Urologists are the last resort of the male hypo fertile, gynecologists constituting the first contact. Azoospermia is a problem commonly encountered in urological consultation.
Hydraulic water permeability and transepithelial voltage in the isolated perfused rabbit cortical collecting tubule following acute unilateral ureteral obstruction.

Ureteral obstruction affects the kidney's ability to conserve water and sodium. Using the isolated perfused tubule technique, we studied cortical collecting tubules (CCT) taken from rabbits subjected to a sham operation or to 4 h of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). Tubules were perfused in the presence of an osmotic gradient directed to promote water movement from lumen to bath, and volume flux (Jv), hydraulic water permeability (Lp), and transepithelial voltage (V1) were determined. In tubules from sham-operated and UUO animals, basal (before exposure to vasopressin) J, and Lp were not different from zero. After addition of 200 microU . ml-1 of arginine vasopressin (aVP) to the bath, Jv and Lp increased to 1.64 +/- 0.23 nl . mm-1 . min-1 and 127.9 +/- 19.8 cm . s-1 . atm-1 x 10(7), respectively, in tubules from sham-operated animals, but not only 0.27 +/- 0.09 nl . mm-1 . min-1 an 18.8 +/- 6.2 cm . s-1 . atm-1 . 10(7) in tubules from UUO animals. Pretreatment with desoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) or indomethacin in vivo did not prevent the blunted vasopressin response seen in tubules taken from UUO animals. The Jv and Lp responses to the cyclic AMP (cAMP) analogue, 8-Br-cAMP, were also diminished in tubules taken from UUO animals compared with shams. V1, measured during the basal period, was diminished in tubules from UUO kidneys (-5.0 +/- 2.1 mV) compared with shams (-21.9 +/- 4.1 mV), and pretreatment with DOCA did no prevent the effects of UUO on V1. In contrast, tubules taken from animals that received indomethacin prior to UUO developed voltages not different from voltages in tubules taken from sham-operated animals (-17.3 +/- 1.7 mV). We conclude that, although CCT from UUO animals can maintain osmotic gradients, their ability to respond to vasopressin by increasing Lp is impaired by an intrinsic defect located at a step beyond the generation of cAMP, and that prostaglandin inhibition or DOCA pretreatment do not reverse the decreased responsiveness of Lp to aVP. UUO also diminished V1, and this abnormality was prevented by previous treatment with indomethacin, suggesting that prostaglandins may mediate the effect of UUO on V1.
Career Commitment, Subjective Career Success and Career Satisfaction in the Context of Hazelnut Processing Industry in Giresun/Turkey

This study aims to study the effect of career commitment on subjective career success with the mediating role ofcareer satisfaction in the context of hazelnut processing industry in Giresun/Turkey. Giresun is one of the citiesthat placed in the Blacksea Region of Turkey. Giresun’s hazelnut quality is the highest quality hazelnut in theworld (Hazelnut Promotion Group (HPG), 2013). Therefore, hazelnut processing industry is vital for Giresun’seconomy. This study was conducted on employees who work in hazelnut processing industry in Giresun, Turkey.This study’s results make a valuable contribution to both career commitment and subjective career successliteratures by presenting findings of the mediating effect of career satisfaction on the relationship between careercommitment and subjective career success in the context of hazelnut processing industry in Giresun. It arguesthat the effects of career commitment on subjective career success can be mediated by career satisfaction in thiscontext.
Visual cortical cells: their developmental properties in normal and dark reared kittens.

582 units were recorded in area 17 in twenty‐one normally reared kittens, and fourteen dark reared ones, aged between 8 and 42 days. 2. Four classes of neurones were defined: (a) non‐activable cells that cannot be excited by any peripheral stimulation; (b) non‐specific cells that are sensitive to a visual stimulus moving in any direction; (c) immature cells that are preferentially excited by a rectilinear stimulus but are unselective for its precise orientation; (d) specific cells that appear to be as selective for orientation as the simple or complex cells of the adult cat. 3. 23% of the cells presenting adult characteristics of specificity in terms of directionality and orientation are present in both the normally reared and in the dark reared kittens as soon as the first visual response (12 days) appears. 4. In normally reared kittens the proportion of specific cells increases with age, while that of the non‐specific cells decreases. 5. Up to 3 weeks of age there is no significant difference in the proportion of the different types of cells in the dark reared from the normal kittens. But thereafter in the dark reared kittens the specific cells tend to disappear while the non‐specific cells increase in number. 6. This confirms the view that cells with some highly specific response properties of the adult visual cortical neurones, especially in relation to orientation specificity, are present in the earliest stages in the absence of all visual experience. However, visual experience is necessary to maintain and develop these specific cells after the third week of post‐natal life.
Subjective Social Status and Well-Being: The Role of Referent Abstraction

ABSTRACT Subjective social status (SSS) has been shown to predict well-being and mental health, above and beyond objective social status (OSS). However, little is known about the factors that moderate this relationship. Two studies explored whether the link between SSS and well-being varied depending upon the referent used for comparison in SSS judgments. Participants judged their well-being and SSS in comparison to referents that varied in abstraction. A confirmatory factor analysis on SSS judgments yielded two factors: (a) SSS perceptions toward global referents and (b) SSS perceptions toward local referents. SSS relative to a global referent was a better predictor of depression (Studies 1 and 2), life satisfaction (Studies 1 and 2), and self-esteem (Study 2) than SSS relative to a local referent. These findings have theoretical implications for understanding how people differentiate between local vs. global referents and practical implications for status-related health disparities.
Phosphatidylinositol 3′-Kinase-dependent Activation of Renal Mesangial Cell Ki-Ras and ERK by Advanced Glycation End Products*

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are produced by the non-enzymatic glycation of proteins and lipids. AGE levels are pathologically elevated in a number of inflammatory diseases and in diabetes mellitus. There is evidence that AGEs, acting through the receptor for AGEs, contribute to diabetic complications. Nephropathy is a major complication of diabetes mellitus. However, the initiating molecular events that trigger diabetic renal disease are unknown. Renal mesangial cells produce excess extracellular matrix in response to treatment with transforming growth factor-β, and excess mesangial cell matrix production, by impairing glomerular filtration, contributes to diabetic nephropathy. AGEs are known to trigger the autocrine production and release of transforming growth factor-β. However, it is unclear how AGEs signal in mesangial cells. Here we show that treatment of mesangial cells with AGEs and with the receptor for AGEs agonist S100 triggers activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase (PI3K) pathways. AGEs trigger the GTP loading of mesangial cell Ras, and AGE activation of ERK requires Ras. We observe that Ki-Ras, but not Ha-Ras, is the target of AGE action. Surprisingly, inhibition of PI3K blocks both ERK and Ki-Ras activation. We also observe that activation of ERK and the PI3K target kinase protein kinase-B is blocked with free radical scavengers, indicating a role for reactive oxygen species in AGE recruitment of PI3K. Thus, AGEs signal to Ki-Ras and ERK through reactive oxygen species-dependent activation of PI3K.
Serial Audiometry in a Clinical Trial of AIED Treatment

Objective: We analyzed pure-tone and speech audiometric results from a prospective trial of anti-inflammatory treatment of subjects with active autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED). We sought to characterize the pattern and size of the treatment effect as reflected in clinical audiometry and to identify audiometric predictors of response to steroid treatment of AIED. Subjects: Adult participants demonstrated clinically established criteria for AIED (n = 116). Eligibility required audiometric evidence of active AIED as indicated by idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss with threshold elevations within 3 months of enrollment. Methods: We evaluated audiometric changes after 4 weeks of treatment with pharmacologic doses (60 mg/day) of prednisone. We examined the relationship between audiometric pure-tone thresholds at baseline and changes in word intelligibility score (WIS) using parametric and nonparametric analyses. Magnitudes of change were assessed using independent or paired t-tests. Separate analyses were performed on subgroups that did or did not show improved WIS score with steroid treatment. Results: Overall mean pure-tone averages improved from baseline to closeout of prednisone treatment in better hearing ears from 52.4 to 48.3 dB (p < .0001). Mean WIS improved in the better ear from 71.4% to 78.1% (p < .0001). Of pure-tone measures, only the six-tone average showed significant correlation with both the absolute improvements in WIS and with the percentage change in WIS after treatment. Individual frequencies at baseline showed no significant relationship with changes in WIS score after treatment. In 69 (59.5%) of 116 subjects, WIS improved (range, 2-80%) in the better ear. In these subjects, the baseline pure-tone thresholds and pure-tone averages correlated significantly and positively with improvement in WIS. Conclusions: Steroid treatment in AIED-mediated hearing loss produce variable but significant hearing gains. Neither a focal, cochleotopic region of greatest vulnerability to AIED nor frequency-specific amenability to treatment were evident. We did observe that analysis of predictors and the degree of treatment effect vary with different approaches to measuring change in the WIS. Depending on the approach adopted, the size of the treatment effect may be greatest across intermediate hearing levels at baseline. These observations offer an audiometric database that may enable greater precision in judging clinically meaningful parameters for future studies of AIED treatment and other interventions for sensorineural hearing loss.
When Good Is Stickier Than Bad: Understanding Gain/Loss Asymmetries in Sequential Framing Effects

Considerable research has demonstrated the power of the current positive or negative frame to shape people’s current judgments. But humans must often learn about positive and negative information as they encounter that information sequentially over time. It is therefore crucial to consider the potential importance of sequencing when developing an understanding of how humans think about valenced information. Indeed, recent work looking at sequentially encountered frames suggests that some frames can linger outside the context in which they are first encountered, sticking in the mind so that subsequent frames have a muted effect. The present research builds a comprehensive account of sequential framing effects in both the loss and the gain domains. After seeing information about a potential gain or loss framed in positive terms or negative terms, participants saw the same issue reframed in the opposing way. Across 5 studies and 1566 participants, we find accumulating evidence for the notion that in the gain domain, positive frames are stickier than negative frames for novel but not familiar scenarios, whereas in the loss domain, negative frames are always stickier than positive frames. Integrating regulatory focus theory with the literatures on negativity dominance and positivity offset, we develop a new and comprehensive account of sequential framing effects that emphasizes the adaptive value of positivity and negativity biases in specific contexts. Our findings highlight the fact that research conducted solely in the loss domain risks painting an incomplete and oversimplified picture of human bias and suggest new directions for future research.
Thyroid hormone receptor expression in rat placenta.

The expression of c- erbAalpha and -beta encoded thyroid hormone receptors (TR) was investigated in rat placenta between 16 and 21 days of gestation (dg), and in fetal liver and brain at 16 dg, using semi-quantitative RT-PCR and nuclear 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T(3)) binding. TRalpha1, TRbeta1, c- erbAalpha 2 and c- erbAalpha 3 mRNA abundance was unchanged in placenta between 16 and 21 dg, as was the dissociation constant (K(d)) of T(3) binding. The maximal T(3) binding capacity (B(max)) in placenta doubled over this period, suggesting placental TR binding activity is post-transcriptionally regulated. Transcript abundance in tissues at 16 dg can be summarized: TRalpha1, placenta=fetal liver<fetal brain; TRbeta1, placenta=fetal liver>fetal brain; c- erbAalpha 2 and alpha3, placenta=fetal liver<fetal brain; TRbeta2; none detected. T(3)binding in fetal liver and brain exhibited equivalent K(d) and B(max), the K(d) being less than 50 per cent of that in placenta, though B(max) was unchanged. The higher K(d)in placenta may reflect tissue-specific patterns of TR modification. In conclusion, rat placenta expresses significant levels of c- erbAalpha and -beta transcripts and protein, providing a possible mechanism of action for T(3) of maternal and fetal origin in this tissue.
Biomechanical comparison of bending and torsional properties in retrograde intramedullary nailing of humeral shaft fractures.

OBJECTIVE To establish whether the bending and torsional stiffness of an implanted nail are influenced by nail design and nail-bolt interface, this study compared two implanted retrograde nail systems: the AO/ASIF unreamed humeral nail (UHN) and the Russell-Taylor (RT) nail. DESIGN Pair randomization. SETTING Mechanical laboratory testing. SPECIMENS Twelve pairs of freshly harvested cadaveric humeri. METHODS Transverse fractures were simulated with a standardized midshaft osteotomy and a three-millimeter gap. Both nails were proximally and distally interlocked. The RT nail has a single interlock at its base and tip. The UHN has double interlocking both proximally and distally. The screw hole design of the RT nail features slots, whereas the UHN has round screw holes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Anteroposterior and mediolateral bending stiffness and torsional stiffness. RESULTS The RT nail showed higher bending stiffness in anteroposterior and mediolateral bending. Large differences were seen in the torsional characteristics: for the first 30 degrees, the RT nail showed a much lower resistance against torsion than the UHN. Analysis of variance of stiffness at four, six, and eight newton-meters showed statistical significance (p < 0.0001). Torsional stiffness, defined as the slope of a straight line approximated to between 75 and 100 percent of the maximum torque, was very similar in both nails. CONCLUSION The torsional differences between the two nail systems are attributable to the nail-bolt interface of the RT nail. This dynamic system allows a clinically relevant degree of movement. The greater resistance to rotatory forces of the UHN is explained by the fact that the interlocking at its tip and base creates a static rather than a dynamic system.