Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social phobia and the recall of autobiographical memories

Although cognitive theories of anxiety suggest that anxious individuals are characterized by the biased tendency to recall negative experiences with perceived threat, few empirical studies have confirmed this notion. To investigate personal memories associated with threatening experiences, individuals with socio phobia (n=16) and nonanxious individuals (n=17) completed an autobiographical memory‐cueing procedure. Participants were presented with 15 social threat words and 15 neutral words, and they recorded the first specific memory that came to mind. Autobiographical memories were coded for specificity and affective tone. There were no group differences in the extent to which participants retrieved specific memories. A greater number of memories cued by social threat words were characterized by negative affect in the social phobia group than in the nonanxious group. However, examination of the means suggests that this effect was small and most likely not of practical significance. It is suggested that memory biases toward threat are not a prominent part of cognitive symptoms that characterize individuals with social phobia. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Recurring and Generalized Visceroptosis in Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility Type

Visceroptosis is described in several heritable connective tissue disorders, including the hypermobility type of Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (hEDS), a.k. a. joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS). Clinical features of hEDS comprise joint hypermobility, mild skin hyperextensibility, joint instability complications, chronic joint/limb pain, and positive family history. Uterine and rectal prolapse has been reported in nulliparous women. We report on a family with two patients with hEDS. The proposita, a 38‐year‐old woman, present bilateral kidney prolapse requiring three nephropexies, gastric ptosis treated with gastropexy and Billroth I gastrectomy, and liver prolapse treated with a non‐codified hepatopexy procedure. Radiological evaluation also showed ovarian and heart prolapse. To our knowledge this is the first case of multiple visceral ptoses in hEDS. Visceral prolapse may lead to severe morbidity, affecting quality of life and a high rate of relapses after surgical procedures. Further investigations are needed to understand the molecular basis of the disease and retrospective studies on surgical outcomes, presentation of case series can be effective in order to offer a better treatment and prevention for hEDS patients. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A causal analysis of the relationship between teacher job satisfaction and student achievement

xx models and a substantively meaningful interpretation of the literature. The specification and estimation of school, class and individual effects were measured by a multilevel decomposition of variance i.e. the proportion of variation in student outcomes attributable to school, teachers and students. Class effects accounted for approximately 30 per cent of the variance in student achievement, with 10 per cent of this explained by the teacher background and job satisfaction variables. The amount of variance at the class level in both student motivation and achievement paled in comparison with that of the individual level. However, the teacher background and job satisfaction effects accounted for a larger part, 18 to 95 per cent, of the variance in student motivation. The findings suggest that whatever the level of motivation each student brings to the classroom it can be made better or worse by what happens in that class. Of particular interest is that out of all the factors that teachers found satisfying and dissatisfying it was the ‘core business’ of teaching i.e. facilitating student learning and their professional self-growth that made a difference to student achievement. The 28 direct and indirect paths between the teacher job satisfaction and student achievement variables, lends support to the theoretical assumptions grounded in the literature, that teacher job satisfaction may influence student achievement directly and through motivational pathways. Emerging in educational literature has been analogies between quality teaching and student achievement, but with a reductive, almost non-teacher centred perspective that reduces the importance of both teacher well-being and performance. This study reconceptualises teacher job satisfaction as a generative metaphor, for educational research based on improving student outcomes. If teacher educators are to play a role in improving the quality of teaching that is being delivered, they need to address the complexities of the working environment where teachers are called to serve. Regardless of the amount of variance in student achievement teacher job satisfaction accounts for, the important point is that there is a portion of the variance that can be changed through efforts made to improve teacher job satisfaction.
Three disjoint path paradigms in star networks

Star networks have been recently proposed as an attractive choice for interconnection networks. They have sublogarithmic node degree and diameter and, like hypercubes, have a highly recursive structure. Several researchers have endeavored to prove that star networks are as versatile as hypercubes. The paper is an effort in the same direction. It presents optimal algorithms for computing disjoint paths in star graphs for two well known paradigms. It also studies the problem of disjoint connecting paths and presents an efficient algorithm for finding a limited number of such paths in the star network. <<ETX>>
Changing Strategy Processes and Strategy Content in Public Sector Organizations? A Longitudinal Case Study of NPM Reforms’ Influence on Strategic Management

New Public Management reforms have been argued to intensify the use of strategic management in public organizations, but there is a need to understand how reforms influence specific aspects such as strategy processes and strategy content. The NPM reforms are expected to formalize and professionalize strategy processes and strategy content towards greater competitiveness, but this may counter cooperation between organizations, which is essential in many areas for overall service provision. Research has provided little empirical knowledge about the simultaneous competition and cooperation in the public sector. This study offers such knowledge via a panel case study of five Danish upper secondary schools over a ten‐year period during a large NPM reform. The study includes three rounds of interviews with school principals before, during and after the reform, combined with secondary data. The study shows that, during reform implementation, strategy processes become more formalized and professionalized, and that teachers, in particular, lose influence. Regarding strategy content, the authors find an increase in external focus and competition, though schools maintain a focus on cooperation. The results suggest that NPM reforms can significantly change strategic management in public organizations, and that this is not necessarily at the expense of cooperation, at least in the short run.
MONETARY POLICY RESPONSE TO ECONOMIC CRISES FROM AFRICAN ECONOMY PERSPECTIVE: AN EXAMINATION OF KENYA'S EXPERIENCE

Much of the debate on the policy responses undertaken with respect to the global financial crisis has largely focused on advanced economies, leaving out African economies’ perspective. The paper examines the monetary policy responses undertaken in mitigating the economic effects of the early 2008 domestic crisis and the global financial crisis that ensued. Whereas the policy interventions were initially effective in restoring confidence, lowering short term interest rates and maintaining macroeconomic stability, the expansionary monetary policy stance could not be sustained following increased inflationary pressures and unprecedented depreciation of the exchange rate. However, the sudden shift to a tight monetary policy stance partly counteracted the gains that had been achieved. Additionally, an assessment of the effectiveness of monetary policy using VAR analysis indicates weak monetary policy transmission mechanism. Policy insights include the need for a clear exit strategy particularly when adopting a major policy shift, strengthening of the monetary policy transmission mechanisms and holistic approach to addressing structural weaknesses and vulnerability of the economy to shocks. JEL classification: E580, E520, E590.
Placental and Clinical Characteristics of Term Small-for-Gestational-Age Neonates: A Case-Control Study

Numerous conditions, including placental vascular compromise, can lead to small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants. As few studies have investigated primarily term placentas from SGA infants, we compared placentas from 67 SGA infants to placentas from 67 infants with appropriate weights for gestational age (AGA) in this population, matched for gestational age and gender. Placental histology was reviewed and electronic records were queried for maternal and fetal birth data, infant morbidities, and infant follow-up weights. Comparison of these 2 cohorts showed that placentas from SGA infants were more likely to have smaller weights and thinner umbilical cords than those from AGA infants. SGA placentas had a significant increase in another uteroplacental malperfusion feature: single and multiple infarctions. Rates of preeclampsia, infant cardiac anomalies, and infant genetic abnormalities were not statistically different between groups. Fetal and maternal inflammatory responses, nongestational diabetes, and gestational hypertension were more common in the controls, but these are common indications for placental examination. No statistical differences were present for decidual vasculopathy, chronic villitis, intervillous thrombi, or meconium. More SGA neonates had hypoglycemia compared to their AGA counterparts. SGA infants tended to have decreased weights up to 7 months of age; however, the low number of infants with follow-up limited the statistical significance. This study confirms that small placental size and select features of uteroplacental malperfusion are more common in SGA versus AGA term placentas. The lack of other significant differences may be due to the inclusion of only term infants, with more severe pathology leading to preterm delivery.
Skills for work in Bulgaria : the relationship between cognitive and socioemotional skills and labor market outcomes

Bulgaria is undergoing both a rapid demographic transition and a significant structural shift in its economy. Increasing longevity combined with low fertility and emigration have made Bulgaria’s age structure increasingly top-heavy and its dependency ratios higher. At the same time, the economic sectors that absorbed low-skilled workers during the high-growth early 2000s, such as construction and manufacturing, were those that contracted most during the 2008–09 economic crisis and they have not yet recovered. Meanwhile, activities demanding high-skilled labor, such as financial and business services and information, communication, and technology (ICT), have been faring relatively well. This study uses a new dataset with direct measures of cognitive and socio-emotional skills to examine the relationship between skills and labor market outcomes in Bulgaria. For a long time, labor market studies had to rely on formal educational attainment as a measure of an individual’s skills. However, the correlation between formal education and skills is not perfect, and not all diplomas are equal in terms of imparting certain skills to students. Moreover, valuable skills can be acquired without formal diplomas, for example through on-the-job training or learning-by doing. In addition to using educational attainment this study therefore looks at direct measures of two types of skills that employer’s value: cognitive skills, such as functional literacy and numeracy, and socio-emotional skills, such as self-discipline, perseverance, and ability to work well with others. The objective is to assess the extent to which these direct measures shed light on what matters for labor market success, defined as being in the labor force, being employed, and earning more. This analysis relies on original data (the Bulgarian Longitudinal Inclusive Society Survey, BLISS) collected by the World Bank and Open Society Institute–Sofia in the spring of 2013, which for the first time in the country included nationally-representative information on the cognitive and socio-emotional skills of the working-age population.
A Fragile Watermarking Scheme for Medical Image

The infrastructure to deploy security standards is often lacking during modern telemedicine. As a branch of watermarking technique, the fragile watermarking provides us a good solution to the authentication for telemedicine. A fragile watermarking algorithm based on least significant bit (LSB), hash function and chaotic sequence is presented in this paper. To resist counterfeiting attack, the watermark signal is extracted from the original image, so different image has different watermark signal. The watermark signal is then processed by exclusive-OR (XOR) operation with the chaotic sequence in order to increase the security of the watermarking algorithm. Finally, it is embedded in the LSB of the host image. The experimental results show that the watermark is invisible; the watermark algorithm has good ability to resist counterfeiting attacks. Furthermore, after the watermark is extracted from the watermarked image, it is exactly the same as the original one. This kind of watermarking algorithm can be used for real-time diagnosis
Enhancing Stability of Camelid and Shark Single Domain Antibodies: An Overview

Single domain antibodies (sdAbs) are gaining a reputation as superior recognition elements as they combine the advantages of the specificity and affinity found in conventional antibodies with high stability and solubility. Melting temperatures (Tms) of sdAbs cover a wide range from below 50 to over 80°C. Many sdAbs have been engineered to increase their Tm, making them stable until exposed to extreme temperatures. SdAbs derived from the variable heavy chains of camelid and shark heavy chain-only antibodies are termed VHH and VNAR, respectively, and generally exhibit some ability to refold and bind antigen after heat denaturation. This ability to refold varies from 0 to 100% and is a property dependent on both intrinsic factors of the sdAb and extrinsic conditions such as the sample buffer ionic strength, pH, and sdAb concentration. SdAbs have also been engineered to increase their solubility and refolding ability, which enable them to function even after exposure to temperatures that exceed their melting point. In addition, efforts to improve their stability at extreme pH and in the presence of chemical denaturants or proteases have been undertaken. Multiple routes have been employed to engineer sdAbs with these enhanced stabilities. The methods utilized to achieve these goals include grafting complementarity-determining regions onto stable frameworks, introduction of non-canonical disulfide bonds, random mutagenesis combined with stringent selection, point mutations such as inclusion of negative charges, and genetic fusions. Increases of up to 20°C have been realized, pushing the Tm of some sdAbs to over 90°C. Herein, we present an overview of the work done to stabilize sdAbs derived from camelids and sharks. Utilizing these various strategies sdAbs have been stabilized without significantly compromising their affinity, thereby providing superior reagents for detection, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications.
Autoscaling of cores in multicore processors using power and thermal workload signatures

Autoscaling of cloud clusters based on dynamic estimation of workloads is a well-known practice in data center management. However, this practice has not been widely adopted in the multicore processor area due to the lack of a real-time workload classification front end. In this paper, we present a novel methodology for core autoscaling in multicore processors. The methodology is based on the identification of workload signatures at both the core and the thread level. In particular, correlations between thread-based performance counters are used to decide thread migration policies to maximize per-core utilization and reduce the number of active cores. Power, thermal, and performance-aware autoscaling policies are presented, and extensive numerical experiments are used to illustrate the advantages of our algorithm for real-time multicore power and performance management.
Selective Impairments in Dendritic Cell-Associated Function Distinguish Hepatitis C Virus and HIV Infection1

Impaired APC functions may play important roles in chronicity of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV infections. To investigate the separate and combined effects of HCV and HIV infection on immature dendritic cells (DCs), we evaluated myeloid-derived DC (MDC) and plasmacytoid-derived DC (PDC) frequencies and functions, measured by Toll-like receptor ligand-induced IFN-α and IL-12, in healthy controls and subjects with chronic HCV, HIV, and HCV-HIV infection. To evaluate the relation between innate and adaptive immunity, we measured HCV-specific IFN-γ-producing T cell frequency. MDC frequencies tended to be reduced in HIV infection (1.8-fold), while PDC frequencies were minimally reduced in HCV infection (1.4-fold). In contrast, a striking reduction in non-PDC-associated IFN-α production was observed in HIV-infected subjects (17-fold), while PDC-associated IFN-α production was markedly reduced in HCV-infected subjects (20-fold). Both non-PDC and PDC functions were impaired in HCV-HIV coinfection. MDC-associated IL-12 production was markedly reduced in both HCV and HIV-infected subjects (over 10-fold). Functional defects were attenuated with slowly progressive HIV infection. The proportion of subjects with HCV-specific T cell responses, and the number of Ags recognized were reduced in HCV-HIV subjects as compared with HCV singly infected subjects. A positive association was observed between MDC-associated IL-12 production and HCV-specific T cell frequency in HCV-infected subjects. These results indicate that immature DC function is dysregulated in HIV and HCV infections, but differentially, and that these defects are attenuated in slowly progressive HIV infection. These selectively different impairments may contribute to the reduced adaptive immune response to HCV in HCV-HIV coinfection.
Evaluation of hemolysis in microcatheter directed blood infusion at different flow rates for transarterial salvage reperfusion: In-vitro study.

BACKGROUND Microcatheter directed blood reperfusion is an endovascular salvage option for acute cerebral artery occlusions. It has not been investigated whether this technique may be associated with hemolysis. OBJECTIVE Analysis of hemolysis during blood infusion through different microcatheters and infusion rates to assess related risks. METHODS Four microcatheters with different inner diameters were perfused with blood samples at three infusion rates. Hemolytic markers including lactate-dehydrogenase (LDH) and haptoglobin were analyzed. Samples before and after blood infusion were compared using Student's t-test. Flow-related degree of hemolysis was analyzed with regression analysis. Resulting shear stress was calculated and correlated with LDH and haptoglobin. RESULTS Significant increase of LDH and decrease of haptoglobin was found after blood reperfusion through small microcatheters at progressive flow rates (p<0.05). No hemolysis was found with larger diameter microcatheters at all flow rates (p>0.05). Correlation between shear stress, LDH and haptoglobin was r=0.86 and r=0.75, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Progressive hemolysis occurs during blood perfusion of small lumen microcatheters at increasing flow rates. This phenomenon may be related to turbulent flow, exposure time and increased shear stress. Larger microcatheters did not induce hemolysis and may be the preferred choice for stroke reperfusion.
Prognostic stratification using dobutamine stress 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion SPECT in elderly patients unable to perform exercise testing.

UNLABELLED Information on the prognostic value of noninvasive stress imaging techniques in the elderly is relatively scarce. This study assessed the prognostic value of dobutamine stress (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin SPECT for the prediction of mortality and cardiac events in elderly patients. METHODS Clinical information and SPECT results were analyzed for 272 consecutive patients > or = 65 y old (mean age, 71 +/- 5 y; range, 65-87 y) with limited exercise capacity. Follow-up was complete in 270 patients (99.3%); 23 underwent revascularization within 60 d of the scintigraphy and were excluded. Abnormal findings were defined as the presence of a fixed or reversible perfusion defect. A summed stress score was obtained to estimate the extent and severity of perfusion defects. The incremental prognostic value of SPECT over clinical data was evaluated according to 3 multivariate models, which included any SPECT abnormality, the presence of a fixed or reversible defect, and the summed stress score. RESULTS During the follow-up (3.3 +/- 1.4 y), 59 patients died (29 cardiac deaths), 16 had a nonfatal infarction, and 49 underwent late revascularization. Abnormal scan findings were present for 140 patients (57%). The annual event rates for total mortality, cardiac death, and cardiac death or nonfatal infarction were, respectively, 3.2%, 0.2%, and 0.7% when scan findings were normal and, respectively, 9.5%, 4.3%, and 8% when scan findings were abnormal (all P < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that abnormal scan findings, the presence of a fixed or reversible defect, and the summed stress score provided incremental prognostic information over clinical data. The presence of abnormal scan findings was independently associated with an increased risk for total mortality, cardiac death, and cardiac death or nonfatal infarction (respectively, hazard ratio 3.4 [95% CI, 1.8-6.5], 12.1 [95% CI, 2.9-51.5], and 9.0 [95% CI, 2.8-29.6]). CONCLUSION Dobutamine stress (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin SPECT provides incremental prognostic information for the prediction of total mortality and cardiac events in elderly patients.
Antho‐RFamide‐containing neurons in the primitive nervous system of the anthozoan Renilla koellikeri

The neuropeptide Antho‐RFamide is extremely abundant in Renilla koellikeri (sea pansy), a representative of the cnidarians (octocorallians) considered to be closest to the stem ancestors of metazoans with nervous systems. Therefore, a knowledge of the distribution of Antho‐RFamide‐containing neurons in this species would contribute to our understanding of the early evolution of nervous systems. Using antisera raised against RFamide and FMRFamide, we detected immunostaining in numerous neurons throughout the nervous system of the sea pansy. The antisera revealed ectodermal nerve‐nets on the upper and lower sides of the colony and on the oral side of tentacles, in the oral disk, and in the pharynx of feeding polyps. Neurons were immunostained also in the mesogleal nerve‐net of feeding polyps and in the through‐conducting mesogleal nerve‐net of the colonial mass. Varying densities of stained neurons were observed in the different compartments of the endoderm: muscular walls of the feeding and water circulation polyps, mesenteric filaments and their derived follicles containing either ovocytes or spermatophores, in the endodermal channels connecting the different compartments of the colony, and in circular muscle of the peduncle. The distribution of immunostained neurons suggests that they play important roles in feeding, reproduction, neuromuscular transmission, and in neuro‐neuronal transmission coordinating the different parts of the colony. J. Comp. Neurol. 472:208–220, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.