Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Information, accountability, and political preferences

OF THE DISSERTATION Information, Accountability, and Political Preferences by DOUGLAS ROBERT PIERCE Dissertation Director: Richard R. Lau Political scientists have long endorsed a theory of preference formation based on a model of political expertise. According to this line of thinking, optimal political preferences result from reason, logic, and the appraisal of factual evidence. Accordingly, politically sophisticated citizens are assumed to develop political preferences that are more rational, less biased, and more correct than those of the less informed members of the electorate. In this project, I challenge this orthodox view. I argue that most political preferences are rooted in the personality traits, values, and cultural worldviews of people and are formed on the basis of affective reactions to stimuli rather than through the reasoned consideration of information. The affective nature of political judgments implies that information serves primarily to rationalize rather than form opinions. Since political preferences are an important signifier of group and individual identity, I posit that the social need to be accountable for one’s opinions is a major explanatory factor in the development of political expertise. I develop a conceptualization of political preferences as affective judgments situated in social reality and hypothesize that political information acquisition serves an important social function. Based on this conceptualization, I contend that what separates political experts from non-experts is not the degree of information used to form a preference, but rather the nature of the social incentives that motivate certain individuals to seek
Humanistic Nursing Theory: application to hospice and palliative care.

AIM This article presents a discussion of the relevance of Humanistic Nursing Theory to hospice and palliative care nursing. BACKGROUND The World Health Organization has characterized the need for expert, palliative and end-of-life care as a top priority for global health care. The specialty of hospice and palliative care nursing embraces a humanistic caring and holistic approach to patient care. As this resonates with Paterson and Zderad's Humanistic Nursing Theory, an understanding of hospice nurses' experiences can be investigated by application of relevant constructs in the theory. DATA SOURCES This article is based on Paterson and Zderad's publications and other theoretical and research articles and books focused on Humanistic Nursing Theory (1976-2009), and data from a phenomenological study of the lived experience of Taiwanese hospice nurses conducted in 2007. DISCUSSION Theoretical concepts relevant to hospice and palliative nursing included moreness-choice, call-and-response, intersubjective transaction, uniqueness-otherness, being and doing and community. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING The philosophical perspectives of Humanistic Nursing Theory are relevant to the practice of hospice and palliative care nursing. By 'being with and doing with', hospice and palliative nurses can work with patients to achieve their final goals in the last phase of life. CONCLUSION Use of core concepts from Humanistic Nursing Theory can provide a unifying language for planning care and describing interventions. Future research efforts in hospice and palliative nursing should define and evaluate these concepts for efficacy in practice settings.
Back to a Predominant Party System: The November 2015 Snap Election in Turkey

Abstract Turkey’s snap parliamentary election in November 2015 took place in an environment of growing political violence and terrorism resulting from the renewal of the Kurdish conflict in the southeast and two major suicide bombings carried out by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Presenting the coalition arithmetic, the article first examines the failure to form a government after the previous election five months earlier. It then examines the campaign for the November election, including party strategies, key issues and the role of the media, before analysing the results and the election winners and losers. In restoring a parliamentary majority for the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party – AKP) that has governed Turkey continuously for the past 13 years, the November election marked the basic continuity of Turkey’s predominant party system.
Scar myofibroblasts of the infarcted rat heart express natriuretic peptides

The present study examined whether natriuretic peptide expression in the scar of post‐myocardial infarcted (MI) rats was derived at least in part by residing myofibroblasts. ANP and BNP mRNA levels were significantly increased in the non‐infarcted left ventricle and scar of 1‐week post‐MI male rats, as compared to the left ventricle of normal rats. The infarct region contained myofibroblasts and contracted cardiac myocytes residing predominantly in the epicardial border zone. In primary passage scar‐derived myofibroblasts, α‐myosin heavy chain mRNA was undetectable, whereas ANP, BNP, as well as adrenomedullin and corin mRNA expression persisted. In 1–3 day cultured primary passage myofibroblasts, prepro‐ANP, mature ANP, and BNP staining was observed in the cytoplasm/perinuclear region co‐incident with unorganized α‐smooth muscle actin. Following 4–7 days in culture, myofibroblasts expressed organized α‐smooth muscle actin filaments. However, natriuretic peptides were predominantly detected in the nucleus and cytoplasm, and thin filaments occupying the perinuclear region were positive for prepro‐ANP and BNP. Isoproterenol treatment of first passage scar myofibroblasts increased protein synthesis and induced BNP mRNA expression, whereas ANP mRNA levels remained unchanged. By contrast, neither ANP nor BNP mRNAs were induced following exposure to AII despite increased protein synthesis. These data highlight the novel observation that scar myofibroblasts synthesized ANP, BNP, adrenomedullin, and expressed the pro‐convertase corin. Constitutive and sympathetic‐driven natriuretic peptide synthesis by myofibroblasts may in part influence reparative fibrosis. J. Cell. Physiol. 207: 165–173, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Flexible thermoelectric generator for wearable biometric sensors

In this work we proposed design, fabrication and functional characterization of a very low cost energy autonomous, maintenance free, flexible and wearable micro thermoelectric generator (μTEG), finalized to power very low consumption electronics Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications. The prototype, integrating an array of 100 thin films thermocouples of Sb2Te3 and Bi2Te3, generates, at 40 °C, an open circuit output voltage of 430 mV and an electrical output power up to 32 nW with matched load. In real operation conditions of prototype, which are believed to be very close to a thermal gradient of 15°C, the device generates an open circuit output voltage of about 160 mV, with an electrical output power up to 4.18 nW. In this work we proposed design, fabrication and functional characterization of a very low cost energy autonomous, maintenance free, flexible and wearable micro thermoelectric generator (μTEG), finalized to power very low consumption electronics Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications. The prototype, integrating an array of 100 thin films thermocouples of Sb2Te3 and Bi2Te3, generates, at 40 °C, an open circuit output voltage of 430 mV and an electrical output power up to 32 nW with matched load. In real operation conditions of prototype, which are believed to be very close to a thermal gradient of 15°C, the device generates an open circuit output voltage of about 160 mV, with an electrical output power up to 4.18 nW.
Identification of a bone marrow‐derived CD8αα+ dendritic cell‐like population in inflamed autoimmune target tissue with capability of inducing T cell apoptosis

DCs play critical roles in promotion of autoimmunity or immune tolerance as potent APCs. In our anti‐GBM GN model, WKY rats develop severe T cell‐mediated glomerular inflammation followed by fibrosis. A DC‐like cell population (CD8αα+CD11c+MHC‐II+ED1–) was identified in the inflamed glomeruli. Chimera experiments demonstrated that the CD8αα+ cells were derived from BM. The CD8αα+ cells infiltrated glomeruli at a late stage (Days 28–35), coincident with a rapid decline in glomerular inflammation before fibrosis. The CD8αα+ cells isolated from inflamed glomeruli were able to migrate rapidly from the bloodstream into inflamed glomeruli but not into normal glomeruli, suggesting that the migration was triggered by local inflammation. Despite high‐level expression of surface and cellular MHC class II molecules, in vitro experiments showed that this CD8αα+ DC‐like cell induced apoptosis but not proliferation in antigen‐specific CD4+ T cells from T cell lines or freshly isolated from lymph nodes; they were not able to do so in the absence of antigens, suggesting induction of apoptosis was antigen‐specific. Furthermore, apoptotic T cells were detected in a large number in the glomeruli at Day 32, coincident with the infiltration of the cells into glomeruli, suggesting that the cells may also induce T cell apoptosis in vivo. A potential role of this CD8αα+ DC‐like population in peripheral immune tolerance and/or termination of autoimmune inflammation was discussed.
Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinuses: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract Objectives To identify independent predictors of outcome in patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the paranasal sinuses and skull base. Design Meta-analysis of the literature and data from the International ACC Study Group. Setting University-affiliated medical center. Participants The study group consisted of 520 patients, 99 of them from the international cohort. The median follow-up period was 60 months (range, 32 to 100 months). Main Outcome Measures Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). Results The 5-year OS and DSS of the entire cohort were 62% and 67%, respectively. The local recurrence rate was 36.6%, and the regional recurrence rate was 7%. Distant metastasis, most commonly present in the lung, was recorded in 106 patients (29.1%). In the international cohort, positive margins and ACC of the sphenoid or ethmoidal sinuses were significant predictors of outcome (p < 0.001). Perineural invasion and adjuvant treatment (radiotherapy or chemoradiation) were not associated with prognosis. Conclusion Tumor margin status and tumor site are associated with prognosis in ACC of the paranasal sinuses, whereas perineural invasion is not. Adjuvant treatment apparently has no impact on outcome.
Estimates Rural Poverty Line:Measurement Hierarchy of Needs Combined with the Extended Linear Expenditure

Based on the basic theory of social security,the paper combines Hierarchy of Needs Theory and the Extended Linear Expenditure System,to amend the measurements of poverty line through the ELES. It estimates the national average urban and rural poverty line from 2006 to 2010, and urban poverty line among representative of Eastern-middle-western Province in 2010. This paper tends to test and amend the result of ELES,and meanwhile indicates some further improvements in the following five aspects: Comparison of urban and rural poor line,ratio of poverty line and theexpenditure of urban and rural residents,proportion estimation between poverty line and disposable income of urban and rural residents,linkage mechanism between the existing poverty line and the CPI,and the steady decrease of income dependent coefficient during the calculation process.
Heat Shock Protein 72 Is Associated with the Hepatitis C Virus Replicase Complex and Enhances Viral RNA Replication*

The NS5A protein of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an integral component of the viral replicase. It also modulates cellular signaling and perturbs host interferon responses. The multifunctional characteristics of NS5A are mostly attributed to its ability to interact with various cellular proteins. This study aimed to identify the novel cellular factors that interact with NS5A and decipher the significance of this interaction in viral replication. The NS5A-interacting proteins were purified by the tandem affinity purification (TAP) procedure from cells expressing NS5A and identified by mass spectrometry. The chaperone protein Hsp72 was identified herein. In vivo protein-protein interaction was verified by co-immunoprecipitation and an in situ proximity ligation assay. In addition to NS5A, Hsp72 was also associated with other members of the replicase complex, NS3 and NS5B, suggesting that it might be directly involved in the HCV replication complex. Hsp72 plays a positive regulatory role in HCV RNA replication by increasing levels of the replicase complex, which was attributed either to the increased stability of the viral proteins in the replicase complex or to the enhanced translational activity of the internal ribosome entry site of HCV. The fact that the host chaperone protein Hsp72 is involved in HCV RNA replication may represent a therapeutic target for controlling virus production.
Characteristics of the immune response during acute brucellosis in Sprague-Dawley rats.

BACKGROUND Brucella is a facultative, intracellular pathogen that causes severe disease in animals and humans. Immunity against Brucella involves both humoral and cellular responses. To investigate the characteristics of immune response in acute brucellosis in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, IgG and its subclass specific immunoglobulins' (IgG1 and IgG2a) response in sera against B. abortus biotype 1 infection were studied. METHODOLOGY Thirty-six rats were inoculated intraperitoneally with 0.1 ml apyrogenic saline containing 1x10(10) colony forming unit (CFU) of B. abortus biotype 1 Korean bovine isolate. Four rats were used as uninfected controls. The sera were collected from infected rats at 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, and 56 days post infection (DPI) and screened for Brucella specific antibody response by the rose bengal plate test (RBPT). IgG and its subclass specific immunoglobulins' (IgG1 and IgG2a) response in the sera were measured by a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) based indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IELISA). RESULTS Brucella specific IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a responses in the sera of infected rats were detected from 3 DPI by IELISA. IgG and IgG1 concentrations in sera reached the peak level at 35 DPI, and then the concentrations gradually declined to the end of the experiment. IgG2a concentrations in the sera remained almost constant from 7 DPI until the end of this study. CONCLUSION In acute brucellosis, IgG2a response (indicative of a Th1 response) was found to be significantly dominant over IgG1 response (indicative of Th2 response) (P < 0.001).
Differential Arterial/Venous Expression of NG2 Proteoglycan in Perivascular Cells Along Microvessels: Identifying a Venule‐Specific Phenotype

Objective: Similar to other vascular pericyte markers, including smooth muscle (SM) α‐actin, desmin, and PDGF‐β‐receptor, NG2 proteoglycan is not pericyte specific. Therefore, the use of NG2 as a pericyte marker, especially in cell lineage studies, in comparison to other nonspecific pericyte markers requires an understanding of how its expression varies spatially within a microvascular network. The objective of this study was to characterize NG2 expression along vessels within rat microvascular networks and compare this to SM α‐actin expression.
Hawthorn Evokes a Potent Anti-Hyperglycemic Capacity in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

The hypoglycaemic effect of an aqueous extract of hawthorn leaves (Crataegus oxyacantha) was investigated in normal and streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats. After a single dose or 9 daily doses, oral administration of the aqueous extract produced a significant and dose-dependent decrease on blood glucose levels in STZ diabetic rats (P < 0.001), but had no effect on blood glucose levels in normal rats. No changes were observed in basal plasma insulin concentrations after treatment in normal or STZ diabetic rats. In addition, the acute toxicity study of the extract was investigated in mice. The results obtained showed that the aqueous extract had a high LD50 value (13.5 g/kg) in mice. We conclude that an aqueous extract of hawthorn leaves exhibits a potent anti-hyperglycemic activity in STZ rats, but not in normal rats, without affecting basal plasma insulin concentrations.
Evidence-based dentistry on laser paediatric dentistry: review and outlook.

AIM The goal of paediatric dentistry is to provide preventive education to parents and patients as well as interception and therapy of dental diseases in a minimally invasive way using a stress-free approach. Different laser wavelengths are used for different applications following these minimally invasive concepts: argon, KTP, diode, Nd:YAG, and CO2 lasers are used for soft tissue applications and the erbium family is used for both soft and hard tissue procedures. This paper offers a revision and a discussion of the international literature, showing also some clinical procedures. related to these scientific studies. Soft tissues laser applications in Pediatric Dentistry include application in oral surgery as well as in periodontics and orthodontics. Laser applications on hard tissues include caries prevention and detection and application for sealing of pits and fissures. Also application for cavity preparation, carious removal and pulp therapy are discussed.
Robust Determinants of the Shadow Economy: An International Comparison

To synthesize the literature on determinants of the shadow economy, this paper uses three cross-national shadow economy measures and employs numerous determinants over hundreds of model combinations to identify robust determinants of the shadow economy and address modeling uncertainty. We find that bureaucratic complexity is more significant than monetary severity in driving shadow activity. The incentives of new shadow entrepreneurs are somewhat different. A one standard deviation increase in tax complexity increases overall shadow economy by over ten percent of the mean. In contrast, a similar increase in business startup costs increases new informal entrepreneurs by almost more than double.
Comparison of technetium-99m-HMPAO and technetium-99m-ECD cerebral SPECT images in Alzheimer's disease.

UNLABELLED SPECT has shown increasing promise as a diagnostic tool in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, a new SPECT brain perfusion agent, 99mTc-ethyl cysteinate dimer (99mTc-ECD) has emerged with purported advantages in image quality over the established tracer, 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO). This research aimed to compare cerebral images for 99mTc-HMPAO and 99mTc-ECD in discriminating patients with AD from control subjects. METHODS Twenty-four AD patients (mean age +/- s.d. = 68.9 +/- 8.2 yr) and 13 healthy subjects (68.4 +/- 8.0 yr) were scanned sequentially with 20 mCi of each tracer using the CERASPECT system within 1 mo. Scanning began on average 11.5 +/- 2.8 min after 99mTc-HMPAO injection and 41.8 +/- 10.1 min after 99mTc-ECD. A ratio, R, was derived of count densities in "typically affected" brain structures (parietal and temporal association cortices) to "unaffected" structures (cerebellum, basal ganglia, thalamus, occipital cortex, and sensorimotor cortex). RESULTS Analysis of variance revealed significant interaction between diagnostic group and radiopharmaceutical (F = 4.71; df = 1.35; p = 0.04), with 99mTc-ECD demonstrating better separation of R values between AD patients and control subjects than 99mTc-HMPAO. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, revealed no significant difference in the ability of the two tracers to correctly classify AD patients and control subjects. Both tracers showed high diagnostic accuracy (99mTc-ECD: sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 92%; 99mTc-HMPAO: sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 85%). CONCLUSION Technetium-99m-ECD shows greater contrast than 99mTc-HMPAO between affected and unaffected brain structures in AD when patients are compared to age-matched control subjects. Both tracers perform equally well in correctly classifying patients and control subjects.
A Numerical Assessment of the Semiconvergence Behavior in an Inverse-Scattering Approach to Electromagnetic Imaging

In this paper an approach to invert measured data in electromagnetic imaging based on inverse scattering is numerically evaluated. In particular, an inexact Newton approach is adopted and the semiconvergence behavior of the proposed iterative method, due to the ill-posedness of the considered inverse problem, is assessed: Indeed the iteratates of the algorithm first converge towards the exact solution up to a certain iteration number and, after that, the noise starts to dominate the restoration, and the subsequent iterations deviate from the exact one. Basic theoretical results concerning this semi-convergence phenomenon are briefly recalled, whereas a numerical assessment is performed concerning the application of the method to the image reconstruction of dielectric targets by using interrogating waves in a multiview arrangement.
Modeling memory consolidation during posttraining periods in cerebellovestibular learning

Significance An efficient way to form a new declarative memory is to repeat a short-term training many times with a rest between the training sessions, because the learned memory is consolidated after training. This suggests that the brain still keeps actively working even after training, but the synaptic dynamics during posttraining periods has been studied rarely. The posttraining memory consolidation is also observed in cerebellar motor learning. To investigate the mechanism, we formulated a simple theoretical model of the cerebellum with a minimal number of elements and learning-related changes in synaptic efficacy at multiple locations. Computer simulations with this model closely reproduced learning behavior for oculomotor reflexes in wild-type mice and explained peculiar learning behavior in genetically manipulated mice. Long-term depression (LTD) at parallel fiber–Purkinje cell (PF–PC) synapses is thought to underlie memory formation in cerebellar motor learning. Recent experimental results, however, suggest that multiple plasticity mechanisms in the cerebellar cortex and cerebellar/vestibular nuclei participate in memory formation. To examine this possibility, we formulated a simple model of the cerebellum with a minimal number of components based on its known anatomy and physiology, implementing both LTD and long-term potentiation (LTP) at PF–PC synapses and mossy fiber–vestibular nuclear neuron (MF–VN) synapses. With this model, we conducted a simulation study of the gain adaptation of optokinetic response (OKR) eye movement. Our model reproduced several important aspects of previously reported experimental results in wild-type and cerebellum-related gene-manipulated mice. First, each 1-h training led to the formation of short-term memory of learned OKR gain at PF–PC synapses, which diminished throughout the day. Second, daily repetition of the training gradually formed long-term memory that was maintained for days at MF–VN synapses. We reproduced such memory formation under various learning conditions. Third, long-term memory formation occurred after training but not during training, indicating that the memory consolidation occurred during posttraining periods. Fourth, spaced training outperformed massed training in long-term memory formation. Finally, we reproduced OKR gain changes consistent with the changes in the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) previously reported in some gene-manipulated mice.