Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
My heart is racing! Psychophysiological dynamics of skilled racecar drivers

Abstract Our purpose was to test the multi-action plan model assumptions in which athletes’ psychophysiological patterns differ among optimal and suboptimal performance experiences. Nine professional drivers competing in premier race categories (e.g. Formula 3, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge) completed the study. Data collection involved monitoring the drivers’ perceived hedonic tone, accuracy on core components of action, posture, skin temperature, respiration rate and heart rate responses during a 40-lap simulated race. Time marks, gathered at three standardised sectors, served as the performance variable. The A1GP racing simulator (Allinsport, Modena) established a realistic race platform. Specifically, the Barcelona track was chosen because of its inherently difficult nature characterised by intermittent deceleration points. Idiosyncratic analyses showed large individual differences in the drivers’ psychophysiological profile, as well as distinct patterns in regards to optimal and suboptimal performance experiences. Limitations and future research avenues are discussed. Action- (e.g. attentional control) and emotion (e.g. biofeedback training)-centred applied sport psychology implications are advanced.
Impact of Nasal Polyposis on Erectile Dysfunction

Background Our male patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (NP) declare a better sexual function after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) with polypectomy. This study was planned to conduct the first prospective, controlled trial evaluating the possible relation between erectile dysfunction (ED) and NP by subjective and objective parameters. Methods Thirty-three male patients with NP and thirty randomly selected male control subjects were evaluated. All subjects underwent assessments of nasal endoscopy, rhinomanometry, body mass index (BMI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale, full in-laboratory polysomnograpy and serum levels of glucose, thyroid hormones, lipid profile, and testosterone. ED was evaluated by the erectile function domain of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-EF) subjectively and nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) objectively. The NP group was reassessed 6 months after FESS. Results The mean age, BMI, and laboratory tests of the patients and the control subjects had no significant difference. The well-recognized risk factors for ED were eliminated. Preoperative evaluation of the patients revealed that ED was present in 34 and 24% of the patients by IIEF-EF and NPT, respectively, which was significantly higher than the control group (p = 0.009 and p = 0.018, respectively). There was a significant improvement of ED in the assessment of IIEF-EF and NPT postoperatively (p = 0.014 and p = 0.037, respectively). Conclusion ED was determined in a high percentage of patients with NP and significantly ameliorated after FESS. NP might present a risk factor in the development of ED.
Analysis of the Pasteurella multocida outer membrane sub‐proteome and its response to the in vivo environment of the natural host

This study describes the identification of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of the bacterial pathogen Pasteurella multocida and an analysis of how the expression of these proteins changes during infection of the natural host. We analysed the sarcosine‐insoluble membrane fractions, which are highly enriched for OMPs, from bacteria grown under a range of conditions. Initially, the OMP‐containing fractions were resolved by 2‐DE and the proteins identified by MALDI‐TOF MS. In addition, the OMP‐containing fractions were separated by 1‐D SDS‐PAGE and protein identifications were made using nano LC MS/MS. Using these two methods a total of 35 proteins was identified from samples obtained from organisms grown in rich culture medium. Six of the proteins were identified only by 2‐DE MALDI‐TOF MS, whilst 17 proteins were identified only by 1‐D LC MS/MS. We then analysed the OMPs from P. multocida which had been isolated from the bloodstream of infected chickens (a natural host) or grown in iron‐depleted medium. Three proteins were found to be significantly up‐regulated during growth in vivo and one of these (Pm0803) was also up‐regulated during growth in iron‐depleted medium. After bioinformatic analysis of the protein matches, it was predicted that over one third of the combined OMPs predicted by the bioinformatics sub‐cellular localisation tools PSORTB and Proteome Analyst, had been identified during this study. This is the first comprehensive proteomic analysis of the P. multocida outer membrane and the first proteomic analysis of how a bacterial pathogen modifies its outer membrane proteome during infection.
Dual T cell receptor T cells have a decreased sensitivity to physiological ligands due to reduced density of each T cell receptor

A considerable fraction of T cells express two distinct T cell receptors (TCR), mainly due to expression of two TCR α chains. It has been suggested that such dual‐TCR cells could have a role in autoimmunity. However, as such cells express less of each TCR, they could be less sensitive to their physiological ligand, i.e. peptide plus major histocompatibility complex molecules (MHC). We tested this hypothesis in a transgenic TCR model in which most T cells express different amounts of the transgene‐encoded TCR, due to expression of endogenous TCR α chains. Five Th1 clones derived from λ2315 immunoglobulin light chain‐specific TCR‐transgenic mice expressed different levels of the transgene‐encoded TCR, ranging from ∼ 10000 to ∼ 50000 TCR per cell. Cytosolic Ca2+ mobilization in single T cells from these clones elicited by λ2315 peptide‐pulsed, I‐Ed‐expressing antigen‐presenting cells, correlated linearly with the relative transgene‐encoded TCR expression. The peptide requirement for half‐maximal T cell proliferation showed a similar correlation, with low TCR levels requiring higher peptide concentration. Corroborative evidence was obtained by deployment of short‐term polyclonal CD4+ lines from TCR‐transgenic mice. Such lines had reduced early (Ca2+ mobilization) and late (lymphokine and proliferation) responses, compared with T cell lines from recombination‐deficient TCR‐transgenic severe combined immunodeficiency mice (which express only a single transgene‐encoded TCR). Taken together, the Ca2+ responses increase gradually with increasing TCR expression per cell, similar to the previously described analog Ca2+ signaling elicited by increasing amounts of peptide/MHC [Røtnes et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 1994. 24: 851]. Surprisingly small reductions in TCR expression per cell reduce T cell responsiveness. This suggests that dual‐TCR T cells are immunologically less effective than single‐TCR T cells.
Assessment of the benefits of introducing a HSDPA carrier at 900MHz

The roll-out of UMTS/HSPA networks in 900MHz band offers the possibility of bringing 3G and mobile broadband services to new areas with fewer base station sites and of improving indoor coverage in existing UMTS coverage areas. This paper presents the benefits in term of savings on site numbers and on network-related costs provided by the roll-out of a mixed-frequency UMTS network (networks with carriers operating at 900 and 2100MHz) instead of a single UMTS2100 network. These results are presented for dense urban, urban, suburban and rural areas and for three demand scenarios. Despite the higher reductions on site number achieved for lower demand scenarios, savings higher than 30% are found even in higher demand scenarios. Regarding costs savings, higher savings are obtained in the green field roll-out scenario. Lower cost savings are achieved in the brown field scenario but the introduction of a UMTS900 layer results in a more cost efficient solution than maintenance of the single frequency UMTS2100 network.
Effects of monoglycerides on rhodamine 123 accumulation, estradiol 17 beta-D-glucuronide bidirectional transport and MRP2 protein expression within Caco-2 cells.

PURPOSE Oral drug development had been hindered by the bioavailability issue despite vast market popularity. Lipid excipients had shown to enhance bioavailability of a number of reformulated hydrophobic oral drugs, yet the underlying mechanisms of action by lipids are still unclear. One proposed mechanism is that lipid excipients could facilitate drug uptake by altering the activities of apical membrane intestinal efflux transporters. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of 1-monopalmitin, 1-monoolein and 1-monostearin on the efflux activity and protein expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) in vitro. METHODS The 24-hour non-cytotoxic ranges of these monoglycerides were first determined using MTS and LDH assays in Caco-2 cells. Then, both accumulation and bidirectional transport studies were conducted using 10 microM rhodamine 123 (Rh123) and 10 nM estradiol 17 beta-D-glucuronide (E(2)17betaG), respectively, to assess the functional activities of MRP2. 50 microM MK-571, a specific MRP1 and MRP2 inhibitor, was used as the positive control in both studies. Western blotting was followed to determine the effect of these monoglycerides on MRP2 protein expression. RESULTS Caco-2 cells were viable when treated with 1-monopalmitin, 1-monostearin and 1-monoolein at concentrations equal or less than 1000 microM, 1000 microM and 500 microM, respectively. Cells treated with 1-monoplamitin, 1-monostearin, 1-monoolein and MK571 resulted in significant increases in Rh123 accumulation and decreases in E(2)17BetaG efflux ratio compared to the control (medium treated only). MRP2 protein expressions in 1-monopalmitin and 1-monoolein treated cells were decreased by 19% and 35% compared to the control; however, there was no change of MRP2 protein expression in 1- monostearin treated cells. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggested that 1-monoolein, 1-monostearin and 1-monopalmitin could attenuate the activity of MRP2 and possibly other efflux transporters in Caco-2 cells. The reduction of efflux activity of MRP2 by 1-monoolein treatment could be partially accounted by the non-specific down-regulation of MRP2 protein expression.
Learning Abroad: A History of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, by Hilary Perraton. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009. vi + 232pp. ISBN 1-4438-0600-5. £39.99.

Learning Abroad: A History of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, by Hilary Perraton. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Pubhshing, 2009. vi + 232pp. ISBN 1-4438-0600-5. £39.99. The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP), has enabled around 27,000 mostly young people to attend universities in other Commonwealth countries since it was launched in 1959. Its origins Ue in a late flowering of the Commonwealth idea, in Canada and the United Kingdom, before the multilateral Commonwealth Secretariat was born in 1965. It has survived, with hiccups, from an era when only a tiny handful had any higher education, into a time of mass higher education, in India as much as in Britain, when learning is often seen as a commercial commodity in a competitive market. Hilary Perraton, who has been close to educational action in the Commonwealth for many years, has done a careful job in tracing the CSFP's history, its ups and downs, and what it has meant for scholars who got awards and the institutions they went to. From its outset the UK has been much the biggest player, with its contribution managed by a Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, but countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Ghana and Malaysia have also been steady, small-scale supporters. The CSFP was born of the enthusiasm for the Commonwealth of John Diefenbaker - "Dief the Chief" - the unexpected Conservative winner of a Canadian election in 1957, most of whose more expensive ideas were shot down by the British Treasury after a Montreal conference in 1958. But the Scholarship Plan, endorsed by an Oxford educational conference the following year, did get established. It is interesting to recall that it was in 1958 that the Commonwealth Institute Act was passed in London, converting the old Imperial Institute into an educational institution. On both sides of the Atlantic, as decolonisation reached Ghana and the Common Market had yet to remake Europe, there was optimism about the Commonwealth. But as Perraton points out, the CSFP was never a properly multilateral project, but a series of donor awards labelled "Commonwealth. " Over the years the idea that it would promote Commonwealth cohesion lost ground to other purposes - to promote the development of poorer states, to attract good students to the universities of richer countries ( though they were aU supposed to go home after graduation ), or to achieve "soft power" or specific manpower objectives. Introduction of full-cost fees in richer countries in the 1980s, and the enormous growth in transnational study in the 21st century, have left the Plan as a prestigious oddity. What has the CSFP meant for Africa? By 2006, for instance, Nigeria had had 1256 scholarships, compared to Australia's 1295, or Ghana's 673. Kenya had had 679, to Uganda's 460 and Tanzania's 496. Relatively speaking, smaUer countries in Africa and elsewhere in the Commonwealth had done weU; Botswana had had 85 scholarships by the same date, Gambia 141 and Lesotho 80. …
Teacher perceived mental and learning problems of children referred to a school mental health service.

OBJECTIVE Delivering mental health services to children and their families through schools has many potential advantages. However, little is known about the characteristics of children referred to such services. This study aimed to determine the pattern of mental health and learning difficulties of children referred to one school mental health service. METHODS An identity stripped administrative database of all new referrals (n=353) to a school mental health program in southern Alberta between September 2006 and June 2009 was used. Teacher Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire responses and questions about learning and other developmental problems were included. RESULTS Hyperactivity-inattention was the most prevalent mental health concern, and spelling was the most common learning concern. Higher rates of hyperactivity-inattention concerns and pro-social deficits were observed for boys and more emotional problems were observed for girls. Hyperactivity-inattention was higher at lower grades. Hyperactivity-inattention and conduct problems were often comorbid as were several learning problems. CONCLUSION Understanding the typical patterns of concerns among referrals to school mental health services may guide the prioritization of assessment and intervention approaches within these programs. Findings suggest assessments and interventions for ADHD and other disruptive behaviours should be prioritized, as well as the provision of cognitive and academic testing.
Salience and Skewness Preferences

Whether people seek or avoid risks on gambling, insurance, asset, or labor markets crucially depends on the skewness of the underlying probability distribution. In fact, people typically seek positively skewed risks and avoid negatively skewed risks. We show that salience theory of choice under risk can explain this preference for positive skewness, because unlikely, but outstanding payoffs attract attention. In contrast to alternative models, however, salience theory predicts that choices under risk not only depend on the absolute skewness of the available options, but also on how skewed these options appear to be relative to each other. We exploit this fact to derive novel, experimentally testable predictions that are unique to the salience model and that we find support for in two laboratory experiments. We thereby argue that skewness preferences—typically attributed to cumulative prospect theory—are more naturally accommodated by salience theory.
Lipoprotein Access to MHC Class I Presentation During Infection of Murine Macrophages with Live Mycobacteria1

Following uptake by macrophages, live mycobacteria initially reside within an immature phagosome that resists acidification and retains access to recycling endosomes. Glycolipids are exported from the mycobacterial phagosome and become available for immune recognition by CD1-restricted T cells. The aim of this study was to explore the possibility that lipoproteins might similarly escape from the phagosome and act as immune targets in cells infected with live mycobacteria. We have focused on a 19-kDa lipoprotein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis that was previously shown to be recognized by CD8+ T cells. The 19-kDa Ag was found to traffic separately from live mycobacteria within infected macrophages by a pathway that was dependent on acylation of the protein. When expressed as a recombinant protein in rapid-growing mycobacteria, the 19-kDa Ag was able to deliver peptides for recognition by MHC class I-restricted T cells by a TAP-independent mechanism. Entry into the class I pathway was rapid, dependent on acylation, and could be blocked by killing the mycobacteria by heating before infection. Although the pattern of 19-kDa trafficking was similar with different mycobacterial species, preliminary experiments suggest that class I presentation is more efficient during infection with rapid-growing mycobacteria than with the slow-growing bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine strain.
Foreign Direct Investment Inflows And Real Sector: A Vector Autoregressive (Var) Approach For The Nigerian Economy

ABSTRACT:The flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) to developing economies have been considered important for sustainable growth as they enhance job creation and the transfer of technology and management expertise. As a result, the attention of scholars has been drawn to examining the relationship between FDI and growth resulting in several studies in this area. Notwithstanding, few studies have been carried out on the impact of FDI on real sector growth, particularly in the Nigerian economy. Hence, this study examines the effect of FDI on the real sector in Nigeria between the periods 1981–2016 using the impulse response function (IRF) and variance decomposition (VDC) of VAR. The study found that agricultural sector output responded positively to shocks in FDI inflows but it was statistically insignificant. The IRF also revealed that industrial sector output responded positively to shocks in FDI and it was statistically significant. This presupposes that the inflows of foreign direct investment have positive effects on the growth of the industrial sector in Nigeria. The VDC showed that FDI inflows exert influence on both the agricultural sector output and industrial output. However, FDI inflows influence the industrial sector output in a greater proportion than the agricultural sector. Using the VAR Granger causality, the study also found that while FDI inflows cause growth in industrial sector output, they, however, do not cause growth in agricultural sector output. The implication of the study is hinged on the fact that FDI inflows have not been driving the growth of the agricultural sector in Nigeria. This could be adduced to some structural bottlenecks besetting the growth and competitiveness of the sector, which have made the sector unattractive to foreign investors. The study, therefore, recommends that the government should greatly invest in rural infrastructure development that will encourage foreign investment. Also, the government should intensify research and development institutions in order to seek new knowledge and enhance innovation in the agricultural sector.
External quality assurance with dried tube specimens (DTS) for point-of-care syphilis and HIV tests: experience in an indigenous populations screening programme in the Brazilian Amazon

Objectives The availability of point-of-care (POC) tests for infectious diseases has revolutionised the provision of healthcare for remote rural populations without access to laboratories. However, quality assurance for POC tests has been largely overlooked. We have evaluated the use and stability of dry tube specimens (DTS) for External Quality Assurance (EQA) for HIV and syphilis screening in remote indigenous populations in the Amazon region of Brazil. Methods All healthcare workers (HCWs) participating in the community-screening were trained. We used HIV and syphilis DTS panels developed by the reference laboratory, containing samples with negative and positive results at different antibody concentrations, for both infections. DTS panels were distributed to HCWs in the communities for reconstitution and testing using POC HIV and syphilis tests. The results of testing were sent to the reference laboratory for marking and remedial action taken where necessary. Results In total 268 HCWs tested 1607 samples for syphilis and 1608 samples for HIV. Results from HCWs showed a concordance rate of 90% for syphilis and 93% for HIV (κ coefficients of 0.74 and 0.78, respectively) with reference laboratories. Most false negatives were in samples of very low antibody concentration. DTS syphilis specimens produced the expected results after storage at 2–8°C or at 18–24°C for up to 3 weeks. Conclusions The results show that POC tests for syphilis and HIV give valid results in environments where traditional tests do not work, but errors in the interpretation of POC test results were identified by the EQA programme using DTS. EQA using DTS can help to improve the quality of screening programmes using POC tests in remote regions.
Association of Daytime Sleepiness and the Morningness/Eveningness Dimension in Young Adult Subjects in Brazil

Sleepiness is a major public health problem associated with motor vehicle crashes, occupational accidents, decreased productivity, and interpersonal problems. It can be influenced by many factors, including the individual's circadian rhythm. The objective of this study is to assess the correlation between the morningness/eveningness dimension and daytime sleepiness in medical school students. This is a cross-sectional study; 310 subjects (123 women and 187 men, M age 20.5 ± 1.9 yr.) completed a questionnaire on use of drugs, diagnostic diseases, sleeping habits, the Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. The only variable related to daytime sleepiness was the morningness/eveningness dimension (r = –.18, p = .002). Questions with higher coefficients of discrimination between the morning and the evening chronotype were “Lying down to rest in the afternoon when circumstances permit” (.61), “Sitting and reading” (.53), and “As a passenger in a car for an hour without a break” (.53). The implications of the findings are discussed.