Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of Progression in Mountain Bike Racing C . SCOTT SHAFER

A major tenet of the recreation specialization framework is that people progress to higher stages of involvement over time. Results from recent studies suggest that involvement may actually be marked by stability or decline. Little is known about the extent to which people progress in outdoor activities where objective standards of performance exist. The purpose of this study was to examine the antecedents of objective and subjective progression among competitive mountain bike racers. Specialization dimensions of behavior, skill, and commitment differentiated among three classes of participants: Category 1, 2, and 3 racers. Specialization dimensions were also used to predict participants’ subjective progression in participation over the past five years and next five years. Relationships between specialization dimensions and subjective measures of progression differed with endurance skill and personal commitment being most significant. This study provides insight into the dynamics of progression, particularly in outdoor activities where objective performance standards exist.
The Impact on Family Scale Revisited: Further Psychometric Data

ABSTRACT. This article presents additional psychometric data and a revised scoring procedure for the widely used Impact on Family Scale. The analyses were conducted with three datasets produced by validation studies conducted at the originating institution with populations drawn from the same inner-city communities as the original sample. The instrument has one robust factor representing overall family impact. In addition, there are two subsidiary sets of items (financial impact and sibling impact) of possible interest to future researchers. The correlation of the previously published and new Total Score is . 97. Data indicate that the Impact on Family Scale is an easily administered, reliable, and valid measure of a family member’s perception of the effect of a child’s chronic condition that can be used across diagnostic groups. The Impact on Family Scale fills a gap in the measurement of the psychological and social consequences of chronic disorders in childhood that can be useful in clinical and health services research.
A Three Year Study of Breast Lesions in Women aged 1570 years in a Tertiary Care Hospital

A retrospective study of 3-years from 31 st December 2012 to 31 st December 2009 was undertaken to determine the histopathological spectrum of breast lesions with detailed study of interesting and uncommon cases, the features of which are helpful in the management of the patients. The objective of the study was to estimate the frequency of breast lesions and to compare the results of study with those of other studies. Clinical features and histopathological findings were studied in 72 cases with emphasis on uncommon cases. Out of the 72 cases, benign lesions constituted 77.7% and malignant 22.2%. The commonest benign tumor was fibro adenoma and the commonest malignant tumor was infiltrating duct carcinoma (NOS). Uncommon cases in benign group were duct ectasia with adenosis, papilloma and lactating adenoma. Metastasis of infiltrating duct carcinoma of breast to the skin was an interesting case. Identification of benign lesions like duct ectasia with adenosis is important as it simulates malignancy. Lactating adenoma is a benign tumor occurring usually during or shortly after pregnancy. Ductal papillomas of the breast are benign neoplasms that often arise in a major lactiferous duct near the nipple. In the malignant group, cancer en cuirasses were described as it is a rare presentation of breast cancer.
Management of post-LASIK corneal ectasia with Intacs inserts: one-year results.

OBJECTIVE To prospectively study the effects of the use of Intacs microthin prescription inserts (Addition Technology Inc, Fremont, Calif) for the postoperative management of corneal ectasia resulting from laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). METHODS In this prospective nonrandomized clinical trial, 10 eyes of 7 patients with post-LASIK corneal ectasia (2 men and 5 women) aged 33 to 46 years (mean +/- SD, 40.67 +/- 5.99 years) were included. The follow-up ranged from 6 to 24 months (mean +/- SD, 15.0 +/- 6.5 months). Two Intacs segments of thickness depending on the residual refraction of the patients were inserted in each eye. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Uncorrected visual acuity, best spectacle-corrected visual acuity, refractive outcome, and topographic findings after Intacs implantation. RESULTS Intacs were successfully implanted in all eyes. Spherical equivalent error was statistically significantly reduced after Intacs implantation (pre-Intacs, mean +/- SD: -4.81 +/- 3.24 Diopters (D) (range, -13.75 to -2.50 D) to -0.96 +/- 2.93 D (range, -8.75 to 2.50 D) (P<.001). Pre-Intacs uncorrected visual acuity was 20/100 or worse in all eyes (range, counting fingers to 20/100) while at the last follow-up examination, 9 (90%) of 10 eyes had uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better (range, counting fingers to 20/20). Three eyes maintained the pre-Intacs best spectacle-corrected visual acuity while the rest of the eyes (7) experienced a gain of 1 to 2 lines. The mean difference between pre-Intacs and last follow-up best spectacle-corrected visual acuity was a gain of 1.00 +/- 0.82 lines. CONCLUSIONS Intracorneal ring segments implantation improved uncorrected visual acuity and best spectacle-corrected visual acuity in patients with post-LASIK ectasia. Even though the results are encouraging, concern still exists regarding the long-term effect of such an approach for the management of post-LASIK ectasia.
Hierarchical Siamese Network for Thermal Infrared Object Tracking

Most thermal infrared (TIR) tracking methods are discriminative, which treat the tracking problem as a classification task. However, the objective of the classifier (label prediction) is not coupled to the objective of the tracker (location estimation). The classification task focuses on the between-class difference of the arbitrary objects, while the tracking task mainly deals with the within-class difference of the same objects. In this paper, we cast the TIR tracking problem as a similarity verification task, which is well coupled to the objective of tracking task. We propose a TIR tracker via a hierarchical Siamese convolutional neural network (CNN), named HSNet. To obtain both spatial and semantic features of the TIR object, we design a Siamese CNN coalescing the multiple hierarchical convolutional layers. Then, we train this network end to end on a large visible video detection dataset to learn the similarity between paired objects before we transfer the network into the TIR domain. Next, this pre-trained Siamese network is used to evaluate the similarity between the target template and target candidates. Finally, we locate the most similar one as the tracked target. Extensive experimental results on the benchmarks: VOT-TIR 2015 and VOT-TIR 2016, show that our proposed method achieves favorable performance against the state-of-the-art methods.
A forward model-based analysis of cardiovascular system identification methods

Cardiovascular system identification is a potentially powerful approach for intelligent patient monitoring of cardiovascular function. Rather than merely recording hemodynamic signals, the signals are mathematically analyzed so as to provide a dynamical characterization of the physiologic mechanisms responsible for generating them. The fundamental aim of this thesis is to develop and evaluate cardiovascular system identification methods based on a test bed of data generated from a forward model of the cardiovascular system whose dynamical properties are known. To this end, we developed a computer model of the human cardiovascular system which includes a lumped parameter model of the heart and circulation and a model of the short-term cardiovascular regulatory system continuously disturbed by resting physiologic perturbations. The short-term regulatory system consists of arterial and cardiopulmonary baroreflex systems and a direct neural coupling mechanism between respiration and heart rate. The resting physiologic perturbations include respiratory activity and stochastic disturbances to total peripheral resistance (TPR) and heart rate representing, for example, autoregulation of local vascular beds and higher brain center activity. We demonstrated that this model emulates experimental data in terms of steady-state pulsatility, limiting static behavior, and low frequency hemodynamic variability. We first evaluated the performance of a previously developed cardiovascular system identification method against the forward model. The method involves the analysis of fluctuations in heart rate, arterial blood pressure (ABP), and instantaneous lung volume in order to characterize quantitatively important physiologic mechanisms including, for example, the heart rate baroreflex. From this analysis, we inferred that the cardiovascular system identification results derived from experimental data are likely to reflect the actual system dynamics of underlying physiologic mechanisms. We then introduced novel identification methods for quantifying TPR baroreflex dynamics from only fluctuations in cardiac output and ABP and for monitoring steadystate changes in TPR from only the ABP waveform. We demonstrated the efficacy
The sharing of eggs by infertile women who are trying to conceive themselves with an egg recipient for financial advantages does not jeopardize the donor's chance of conceiving.

PURPOSE To determine if the sharing of oocytes by an infertile woman with an egg recipient for financial advantages has any negative impact on the success rate for the donor. METHODS A matched controlled study was performed comparing pregnancy outcome of women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) but sharing half of their eggs with a recipient vs women undergoing IVF-ET but not sharing oocytes. RESULTS Even though more women sharing oocytes deferred fresh transfer and cryopreserved the embryos because of a greater likelihood of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, there was no difference in pregnancy rates between the two groups after their first embryo transfer whether it was with fresh or frozen-thawed embryos. CONCLUSIONS Sharing of oocytes by a woman undergoing IVF-ET does not jeopardize her chance of a successful outcome following embryo transfer.
Neuroendocrine responses to an emotional stressor: evidence for involvement of the medial but not the central amygdala

The amygdala plays a pivotal role in the generation of appropriate responses to emotional stimuli. In the case of emotional stressors, these responses include activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. This effect is generally held to depend upon the central nucleus of the amygdala, but recent evidence suggests a role for the medial nucleus. In the present study, c‐fos expression, amygdala lesion and retrograde tracing experiments were performed on adult rats in order to re‐evaluate the role of the central as opposed to the medial amygdala in generating neuroendocrine responses to an emotional stressor. Brief restraint (15 min) was used as a representative emotional stressor and was found to elicit c‐fos expression much more strongly in the medial than central nucleus of the amygdala; relatively few Fos‐positive cells were seen in other amygdala nuclei. Subsequent experiments showed that ibotenic acid lesions of the medial amygdala, but not the central amygdala, greatly reduced restraint‐induced activation of cells of the medial paraventricular nucleus, the site of the tuberoinfundibular corticotropin‐releasing factor cells that constitute the apex of the HPA axis. Medial amygdala lesions also reduced the activation of supraoptic and paraventricular nucleus oxytocinergic neurosecretory cells that commonly accompanies stress‐induced HPA axis activation in rodents. To assess whether the role of the medial amygdala in the control of neuroendocrine cell responses to emotional stress might involve a direct projection to such cells, retrograde tracing of amygdala projections to the paraventricular nucleus was performed in combination with Fos immunolabelling. This showed that although some medial amygdala cells activated by exposure to an emotional stressor project directly to the paraventricular nucleus, the number is very small. These findings provide the first direct evidence that it is the medial rather than the central amygdala that is critical to hypothalamic neuroendocrine cell responses during an emotional response, and also provide the first evidence that the amygdala governs oxytocin as well as HPA axis responses to an emotional stressor.
EFFECT OF SALT STRESS ON PROLINE ACCUMULATION, PHOTOSYNTHETIC ABILITY AND GROWTH CHARACTERS IN TWO MAIZE CULTIVARS

Salt stress strongly affects on plant growth and development, especially maize plant, which is reported as a salt sensitive species. The salt tolerant identification in the large genetic resources and breeding population is a profitable research topic for solving the salinity problem. Two maize cultivars, viz., sweet (Zea mays L. cv. Saccharata) and waxy (Z. mays L. cv. Ceratina) seedlings were treated with 0 (control), 100, 200, 300 or 400 mM NaCl. Osmotic potential (ψs) or water availability in the culture media was limited, relating to increase in the NaCl concentrations of the growth medium. The chlorophyll degradation in the salt stressed seedlings was positively related to ψs in the culture media. Chlorophyll a (Chla), chlorophyll b (Chlb) and total chlorophyll (TC) concentrations in the salt stressed leaves significantly dropped, depending on salt treatments except total carotenoids (Cx+c) content which was decreased by the factors of salt concentrations, cultivars and their interaction. Proline in the salt stressed leaves accumulated to 600.9 μmol g -1 FW, especially in sweet maize treated with 400 mM NaCl. The chlorophyll degradation in both cultivars was progressively correlated with maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm) as well as the photon yield of PSII (ΦPSII) was related to net photosynthetic rate (Pn), leading to growth reduction. Chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters, Fv/Fm, ΦPSII and photochemical quenching (qP), in the leaf tissues were reduced, while non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) was exhibited. The biochemical, physiological and morphological changes in salt stressed maize cultivars were subjected to K-Means Cluster in SPSS software and classified the two cultivars as waxy salt tolerant and sweet salt sensitive.
Do transparent government agencies strengthen trust?

Trust in government has been shown to be volatile in recent years and Internet transparency is seen as a solution to strengthen trust. However, critics argue that transparency will only lead to less trust, and sceptics say that it has no effect at all. This debate on transparency is lacking empirical information, and therefore central to this article is to what extent transparency influences trust. Three dimensions of trust are distinguished: the competence, benevolence and honesty of the government agency in question. To examine whether Internet transparency affects these dimensions, an experimental design was used which compared results from three groups of volunteers. The groups were given varying amounts of prior information regarding the government agency, ranging from much to none. Results showed that the relationship between Internet transparency and these dimensions of trust is not unequivocal. Perceptions of benevolence and honesty are affected by the level of transparency, while perceptions of competence remain stable. Hence, a heterogeneous effect of transparency on trust is demonstrated. This calls for a more refined view in the debate on this relationship; this study offers a beginning point for more detailed insight in the various effects of transparency on trust.
Relative age effect and soccer refereeing: A ‘Strategic Adaptation’ of relatively younger children?

Abstract Previous research suggested that the relative age effect (RAE) has a psychological influence on children and their decision to engage in a particular sport. Relatively younger children seem to have lower self-esteem. Indeed, because of the disadvantages of being younger, it is assumed that these players experience more situations of failure and inferiority. Because of these negative performance cues, it is likely that these young players feel less competent, which eventually leads to a higher dropout rate. These children can also decide to participate in sports in which physical attributes are less important. This shift from one sport to another can be interpreted as a ‘strategic adaptation’. The purpose of this study was thus to investigate whether refereeing could be another form of ‘strategic adaptation’. If a child chooses a specific sport but then does not feel competent enough to be a player, refereeing might be an alternate path followed to stay in the environment of a sport they like. Given the minimal age limits for refereeing, two hypotheses were formulated: (1) ‘reversed’ RAE would be observed in district referees younger than 18 years old and (2) no RAE would be observed in district referees older than 18 years old, regional referees and national referees. The birthdates of all official male soccer referees (n=13,952) were collected from the federation database. Results show that the distribution of all district referees was significantly unbalanced (χ2=18.73, df=3, P<0.001) with an over-representation of individuals who were born in the second half of the competitive year. As expected, this imbalance was exclusively located in district referees of 18 years old and less (χ2=8.03, df=3, P<0.05), while the distribution was uniform for adults (χ2=5.17, df=3, P<0.16). Concerning regional referees (χ2=2.09, df=3, P<0.554) and national referees (χ2=3.75, df=3, P<0.290), the results also provide support for our initial hypothesis as uniform distributions were found for both groups. This study brings to light new elements in the potential relationship between relative age and refereeing. Qualitative and/or longitudinal research is needed to confirm our quantitative data.
Morphological Changes in the Sciatic Nerve of Diabetic Rats Treated with Low Molecular Weight Heparin OP 2123/Parnaparin

This study points out the early alterations that affect the sciatic nerve of rats with experimentally induced diabetes. It emphasizes the advantages deriving from treatment with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) OP 2123/parnaparin and correlates these findings with observations emerging from a review of the relevant literature. In fact, the number and diameter of the capillaries within the sciatic nerve of diabetic rats appear to be increased consistent with a microangiopathy (the main characteristic of which is the fragility of new vessels), that is related to the evolution of diabetes in humans and animals. Our results suggest a possible therapeutic role for OP 2123/parnaparin in both diabetic neuropathy and microangiopathy, frequent complications of diabetes.
Development of mouse embryos derived from oocytes reconstructed by metaphase I spindle transfer

Abnormal oocyte spindle is frequently associated with the infertility of aged women. Directly manipulating the metaphase I (MI) spindle may be a feasible method to overcome this kind of problem. Here, we report that the MI meiotic spindle can be removed from MI mouse oocytes and will autonomously divide into two daughter cells with the same size, morphology and an equal number of chromosomes after culture for 5 h in maturation medium. The division rate of the MI spindle reached 56% after 10-15 h of culture. After transferring the MI meiotic spindle into synchronous ooplasm by electrofusion, about 61% of the reconstructed oocytes continued to complete the first meiosis and extruded a normal first polar body. The matured reconstructed oocytes can also be fertilised. Approximately 50% of the 2-cell embryos developed to the morula stage after in vitro culture.
Myxosporidean infections in Adriatic cage- reared fish

Myxosporidian parasite infestation was monitered in Adriatic cage reared fish. Fish were collected once every three months from offshore netpens in the eastern Adriatic, over a nine month period. Fish samples comprised from 9 to 15 each of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), sea bream (Sparus aurata), sharpsnout bream (Diplodus puntazzo) and black sea bream (Pagellus bogaraveo), all aged 1+. Only four myxosporean species were identified from these cage-reared fish in the Adriatic Sea. There were differing dynamics in their prevalence and intensity.
Interleukins 2, 4, 7, and 15 Stimulate Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Insulin Receptor Substrates 1 and 2 in T Cells POTENTIAL ROLE OF JAK KINASES (*)

The signaling molecules insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 and the newly described IRS-2 (4PS) molecule are major insulin and interleukin 4 (IL-4)-dependent phosphoproteins. We report here that IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15, as well as IL-4, rapidly stimulate the tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and IRS-2 in human peripheral blood T cells, NK cells, and in lymphoid cell lines. In addition, we show that the Janus kinases, JAK1 and JAK3, associate with IRS-1 and IRS-2 in T cells. Coexpression studies demonstrate that these kinases can tyrosine-phosphorylate IRS-2, suggesting a possible mechanism by which cytokine receptors may induce the tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and IRS-2. We further demonstrate that the p85 subunit of phosphoinositol 3-kinase associates with IRS-1 in response to IL-2 and IL-4 in T cells. Therefore, these data indicate that IRS-1 and IRS-2 may have important roles in T lymphocyte activation not only in response to IL-4, but also in response to IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15.
Organizational software piracy: an empirical assessment

Application of Information Technology (IT) has had a significant impact on all aspects of business. Due to technology, the ease with which software can be pirated is increasing and is leading to increased concern for copyright protection. This paper reviews and discusses software piracy issues from a global perspective and reports the findings of a survey concerning the impact of sectors like government, private and academic in Turkey. Although software piracy has long been attracting the interest of academics, no quantitative research has ever been realized in this field in the country. Elsewhere also, most of the software piracy-related studies are from individuals' perspectives and are limited to students, academics, cost, and attitudes. Very few have reported findings related to IT professionals and organizations. The survey was conducted among IT managers of large-scale organizations from different sectors such as the government, private and academic community. Based on the survey of 162 IT managers, the results indicated that sectors have significant impact on software piracy to some extent.