Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temperament, Emotion, and Childhood Stuttering

Abstract Reactivity refers to arousal of emotions, motor activity, and attention, and self-regulation refers to the ability to moderate those tendencies. In general, temperament is typically thought of as an individual's constitutionally (biologically) based behavioral proclivities. These proclivities often include emotional reactivity and self-regulation. Reactivity refers to arousal of emotions, motor activity, and attention, and self-regulation refers to the ability to moderate those tendencies. The traitlike nature of temperament makes it potentially salient to our understanding of the onset and development of stuttering because temperamental tendencies may result in greater reactivity or difficulty in coping. Emotions, which are more statelike and variable, may influence the variation of stuttering commonly observed both within and between speaking situations. Temperament and emotion may serve as a causal contributor to developmental stuttering, with empirical findings indicating that preschool-aged children who stutter (CWS) exhibit differences in temperament and emotion when compared with children who do not stutter. Given that empirical study of temperament in preschool-aged CWS is nascent, extensive discussion of clinical implications is challenging. With that caution, we present some early possibilities, including matching treatment approaches with the child's temperamental profile and using temperament as a predictor of treatment outcome.
Membrane glycoprotein M-2 protects against Leishmania amazonensis infection

Previous passive antibody transfer experiments have indicated that immunity to a 46-kilodalton membrane glycoprotein (M-2) of Leishmania amazonensis may protect against infection with this parasite. In the studies described in this paper, we investigated the ability of the purified M-2 molecule to elicit a protective immune response in conjunction with Freund incomplete and complete adjuvants, saponin, and Corynebacterium parvum. Both relatively susceptible (BALB/c and CBA) and resistant (C57BL/6) strains of mice were examined. C. parvum appeared to be the most effective adjuvant in the three mouse strains tested. The level of protection varied with the mouse strain, although all animals received identical preparations of antigen and adjuvant. Immunization of CBA mice with the M-2 glycoprotein and C. parvum resulted in complete protection against a challenge infection of 10(4) and 10(6) late log-phase promastigotes of L. amazonensis. In the BALB/c strain, complete protection was observed in some of the immunized animals (28 to 50%); in the rest of the mice the onset of infection was significantly delayed. Protective immunity for C57BL/6 mice was observed only at the low infecting dose (10(4) L. amazonensis organisms). The level of protection observed is reflected by increased antibody response (immunoglobulins G1 and G2) developed to the M-2 molecule. The relationship of pure T-cell (nonantibody) immunity to this protection remains to be elucidated.
Philosophy for NSLS-II design with sub-nanometer horizontal emittance

NSLS-II at Brookhaven National Laboratory is a new third-generation storage ring light source, whose construction is on the verge of being approved by DOE. When completed, NSLS-II with its ability to provide users with a wide range of spectrum, ranging from IR to ultra-high brightness hard X-ray beams will replace the existing two (20+ years old) NSLS light sources. While presenting an overview of the NSLS-II accelerator system, this paper focuses on the strategy and development of a novel <1 nm emittance light source.
Tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibits purinergic calcium signalling in blood–brain barrier endothelial cells

The breaching of the blood–brain barrier is an essential aspect in the pathogenesis of neuroinflammatory diseases, in which tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α) as well as endothelial calcium ions play a key role. We investigated whether TNF‐α could influence the communication of calcium signals between brain endothelial cells (GP8 and RBE4). Intercellular calcium waves triggered by mechanical stimulation or photoliberation of InsP3 in single cells were significantly reduced in size after TNF‐α exposure (1000 U/mL, 2 and 24 h). Calcium signals are communicated between cells by means of gap junctional and paracrine purinergic signalling. TNF‐α significantly inhibited gap junctional coupling, stimulated the basal release of ATP, and dose‐dependently blocked the triggered component of ATP release. The cytokine displayed similar effects on the uptake of a fluorescent reporter dye into the cells. Previous work with connexin mimetic peptides demonstrated that the triggered ATP release in these cells is connexin‐related; these peptides did, however, not influence the elevated basal ATP release caused by TNF‐α. We conclude that TNF‐α depresses calcium signal communication in blood–brain barrier endothelial cells, by reducing gap junctional coupling and by inhibiting triggered ATP release. The cytokine thus inhibits connexin‐related communication pathways like gap junctions and connexin hemichannels.
Septal efferent axon terminals identified by anterograde degeneration show multiple sites for modulation of neuropeptide Y‐containing neurons in the rat dentate gyrus

The ultrastructure and cellular associations of septal efferent terminals identified by anterograde degeneration with neurons containing neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the rat dentate gyrus were examined quantitatively. For this, the septal complex (i. e., medial septal and diagonal band nuclei) of adult male rats was injected with the neurotoxin ibotenic acid (1%; 150 nl) and following a 2–4‐day survival period, the hippocampal formation was processed for the electron microscopic immunocytochemical demonstration of NPY using the avidin‐biotin complex method.
A Method to Simulate In Vivo Cervical Spine Kinematics Using In Vitro Compressive Preload

Study Design. An in vitro flexibility study of C2–T1 specimens under compressive preload. Objective. To determine three-dimensional flexibility test moments needed to obtain spinal kinematics representative of the in vivo spine studies. Summary of Background Data. Most previous three-dimensional in vitro cervical spine studies have used equal moments in all three planes to evaluate spinal flexibilities. Recent advances have made it possible to apply physiologic compressive preload. It is unclear what moments should be applied to these preloaded spine segments to simulate in vivo kinematics. Methods. Six fresh human cadaveric cervical spine specimens (C2–T1) were used. The preload (100 N) was applied by flexible cables, which passed through guides attached to each vertebra. Flexibility tests of flexion–extension and bilateral axial torsion and lateral bending were performed. Two protocols were compared, 1:1:1 with equal pure moments of 1 Nm for each direction and 2:4:2 with pure moments of 2 Nm for flexion–extension and lateral bending and 4 Nm for axial torsion. Ranges of motion were calculated from the flexibility tests. Results. The 2:4:2 protocol resulted in significantly better agreement with in vivo data than did the 1:1:1 protocol. In flexion–extension, the 2 Nm value was within 17% of the average in vivo value. In axial torsion, the 4 Nm value was within 22% of the in vivo average. In lateral bending, the 2 Nm value was within 15% of the in vivo average. Conclusions. To obtain human in vivo-like kinematics using 100 N preload, the 2:4:2 protocol is to be recommended.
The utility of the prehospital electrocardiogram.

OBJECTIVES The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) can capture valuable information in the prehospital setting. By the time patients are assessed by an emergency department (ED) physician, their symptoms and any ECG changes may have resolved. We sought to determine whether the prehospital electrocardiogram (pECG) could influence ED management and how often the pECG was available to and reviewed by the ED physician. METHODS A retrospective medical record review was conducted on a random sample of patients ≥ 18 years who had a prehospital 12-lead ECG and were transported to one of two tertiary care centres. Data were recorded onto a standardized data extraction tool. Three investigators independently compared the pECG to the first ECG obtained in the ED after patient arrival at the hospital. Any abnormalities not present on the ED ECG were adjudicated to ascertain whether they had the potential to change ED management. RESULTS Of 115 ambulance runs selected, 47 had no pECG attached to the ambulance call record (ACR) and another 5 were excluded (one ST elevation myocardial infarction, one cardiac arrest, three ACR missing). Of the 63 pECGs reviewed, 16 (25%) showed changes not apparent on the initial ED ECG (κ = 0.83; 95% CI 0.74-0.93), of which 12 had differences that might influence ED management (κ = 0.76; 95% CI 0.72-0.82). Only one hospital record contained a copy of the pECG, despite the current protocol that paramedics print two copies of the pECG on arrival in the ED (one copy for the ACR and one to be handed to the medical personnel). None of 110 ED charts documented that the pECG was reviewed by the ED physician. CONCLUSION The pECG has the potential to influence ED management. Improvement in paramedic and physician documentation and a formal pECG handover process appear necessary.
Methods Comparison and Bias Estimation of Three Distinct Biochemistry Analytical Systems in One Clinical Laboratory Using Patient Samples.

BACKGROUND In China, one laboratory usually owns more than one diagnostic device or reagent kit measuring the same analyte and this situation causes great troubles for quality control and traceability. To determine if the different devices yield equivalent results, the correlation coefficients and predicted bias between three distinct bio-chemistry analyzers in our lab were evaluated. METHODS 40 analytes were detected and used to evaluate method performance and comparability of results between different analyzers. The Vitros5600 and Hitachi7170 analyzers were separately compared with the Cobas 8000 analyzer according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline (EP9-A2). Within-day and between-day imprecision of the three analytical systems were calculated in accordance with CLSI guidelines EP15-A2. RESULTS Comparing the Hitachi7170 with Cobas8000 analyzer, except for calcium, magnesium, chloride ion (CL-), and carbon dioxide, the other 36 analytes were closely correlated (R2 > 0.95), while 4 of the 36 analytes' predicted bias exceeded the acceptable criteria. As for the Vitros5600 and Cobas8000, except for albumin, sodium ion (NA+), magnesium, and chloride (CL), the other 13 analytes were closely correlated (R2 > 0.95), while 5 of the 13 analytes' predicted bias exceeded the acceptable criteria. CONCLUSIONS Significant differences for several analytes between distinct analyzers were found; for some analytes the predicted bias between dry chemical analyzer and conventional wet chemical analyzer can reach 30%, which is worthy of our concern. When one analyte was detected on more than one device, a strict method comparison study should be performed regularly. Reference intervals should be validated and transferred from the Cobas 8000 to Vitros5600 when the bias cannot be adjusted.
I Approve This Candidate: The Strategic Use of Ad Endorsements in the 2008 Election

ABSTRACT Contextual and strategic factors that influence the use of endorsements in political advertisements represent an underexplored area of the scholarly literature, resulting in a gap between the art and science of campaigning and the advertising-effects literature. This article uses data from the Wisconsin Ad Project to study endorsements in ads aired during the 2008 election cycle. We show that endorsements are used strategically by campaigns and that four factors—candidate characteristics, campaign characteristics, ad format, and timing—affect whether an ad containing an endorsement is aired. Specifically, endorsements are more likely to appear in positive ads, are primarily used by incumbents and female candidates, are less likely to appear in competitive races, and tend to air less frequently as a campaign progresses.
Enhanced supervised locality preserving projections for face recognition

To address the problem of “curse of dimensionality”, usually dimensionality reduction is used to reduce data's dimensionalities. As a graph-based method for linear dimensionality reduction, Locality Preserving Projections (LPP) searches for an embedding space in which the similarity among the local neighborhoods is preserved. However, LPP has two disadvantages: Firstly, LPP doesn't take the label information into consideration which is crucial for classification tasks; Secondly, like most graph-based methods, graph construction of LPP is sensitive to noise and outliers. To these end, we propose an Enhanced Supervised LPP(ESLPP) that allows both locality and class label information to be incorporated which improves the performance of classification. In the mean time, ESLPP uses similarity based on robust path instead of Gaussian heat kernel similarity such that it can capture the underlying geometric distribution of samples even when there are noise and outliers. Experimental results on face databases confirm its effectiveness.
Cardiometabolic Risk Is Associated With Atherosclerotic Burden and Prognosis: Results From the Partners Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography Registry

OBJECTIVE Our purpose was to evaluate coronary artery disease (CAD) prevalence and prognosis according to cardiometabolic (CM) risk. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Registry of all patients without prior CAD referred for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Patients were stratified by groups of increasing CM risk factors (hypertension, low HDL, hypertriglyceridemia, obesity, and dysglycemia) as follows: patients without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with fewer than three or with three or more CM risk factors, patients with T2DM not requiring insulin, or those with T2DM requiring insulin. Patients were followed for a primary end point of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) composed of unstable angina, late coronary revascularization, myocardial infarction (MI), and cardiovascular mortality. RESULTS Among 1,118 patients (mean age 57 ± 13 years) followed for a mean 3.1 years, there were 21 (1.9%) cardiovascular deaths and 13 (1.2%) MIs. There was a stepwise increase in the prevalence of obstructive CAD with increasing CM risk, from 15% in those without diabetes and fewer than three CM risk factors to as high as 46% in patients with T2DM requiring insulin (P < 0.001). Insulin exposure was associated with the highest adjusted hazard of MACE (hazard ratio 3.29 [95% CI 1.28–8.45], P = 0.01), whereas both T2DM without insulin (1.35, P = 0.3) and three or more CM risk factors without T2DM (1.48, P = 0.3) were associated with a similar rate of MACE. CONCLUSIONS Patients without diabetes who have multiple metabolic risk factors have a similar prognosis and burden of CAD as those with T2DM not requiring insulin. Among patients with diabetes, the need for insulin therapy is associated with greater burden of CAD as well as worse prognosis.
The Impact of Experiential Avoidance and Event Centrality in Trauma-Related Rumination and Posttraumatic Stress

Cognitive control strategies like rumination often increase posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, extant research has provided equivocal results when attempting to explain why this phenomenon occurs. The current study explored several mechanisms that may clarify such findings. For this study, 193 trauma-exposed community members completed measures of PTSD, rumination, experiential avoidance, and event centrality. Elevated reports of rumination were associated with greater PTSD symptomology, experiential avoidance, and event centrality. Results suggest that rumination indirectly influenced PTSD symptom severity through experiential avoidance. This pattern held true regardless of whether a trauma survivor viewed their reported trauma as central or peripheral to their personal identity. These data suggest that the link between ruminating about a traumatic experience and enhanced PTSD symptomology may be partially explained by increasingly restrictive cognitive patterns and enhanced avoidance of aversive internal stimuli. Furthermore, they provide preliminary evidence to suggest that rumination and experiential avoidance are strongly associated with one another (and subsequent PTSD symptomology) among trauma survivors, regardless of how central a traumatic event is to an individual’s personal narrative. Such findings support clinical interventions like exposure, which progressively support new learning in response to feared or unwanted experiences in service of expanding an individual’s cognitive and behavioral repertoires.
Insulin induces human acyl‐coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase1 gene expression via MAP kinases and CCAAT/enhancer‐binding protein α

Insulin resistance characterized by hyperinsulinemia is associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis. Acyl‐coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is an intracellular enzyme involved in cellular cholesterol homeostasis and in atherosclerotic foam cell formation. To investigate the relationship between hyperinsulinemia and atherosclerosis, we investigated whether insulin induced ACAT1 gene expression and found that insulin up‐regulated ACAT1 mRNA, protein and enzyme activity in human THP‐1 cells and THP‐1–derived macrophages. Moreover, luciferase assays revealed that insulin enhanced the ACAT1 gene P1 promoter activity but not the P7 promoter. To explore the molecular mechanisms involved, deletion analysis of the human ACAT1 P1 promoter revealed an insulin response element (IRE) upstream of the P1 promoter (from −603 to −580), EMSA experiments demonstrated that CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α(C/EBPα) bound to the P1 promoter IRE. Insulin‐induced ACAT1 upregulation was blocked by the presence of PD98059 (an inhibitor of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase, ERK) and SB203580 (an inhibitor of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase, p38MAPK) but not by Wortmannin (an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase, PI3K) or U73122 (an inhibitor of phospholipase C‐γ, PLCγ). These studies demonstrate that insulin promotes ACAT1 gene expression at the transcriptional level. The molecular mechanism of insulin action is mediated via interaction of the functional IRE upstream of the ACAT1 P1 promoter with C/EBPα and is MAPK‐dependent. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 2188–2198, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Specific Modulation of Abscisic Acid Signaling by ROP10 Small GTPase in Arabidopsis1[w]

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a hormone that modulates a variety of agronomically important growth and developmental processes and various stresses responses, but its signal transduction pathways remain poorly understood. ROP10, a member of ROP small GTPases in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), is a plasma membrane-associated protein specifically involved in negative regulation of ABA responses. To dissect the ROP10-mediated ABA signaling, we carried out transcriptome analysis using the Arabidopsis full-genome chip. Our analysis revealed a total of 262 and 125 genes that were, respectively, up- and down-regulated (≥2-fold cutoff) by 1 μm ABA in wild type (Wassilewskija [Ws]); 42 up-regulated and 38 down-regulated genes have not been identified in other studies. Consistent with the nonpleiotropic phenotypes of rop10-1, only three genes were altered in rop10-1 in the absence of ABA treatment. In response to 1 μm ABA, 341 and 127 genes were, respectively, activated and repressed in rop10-1. Interestingly, a particular subset of 21 genes that were not altered by 1 μm ABA in Ws but only activated in rop10-1 was identified. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed the existence of three distinct categories of ABA dose-response patterns. One novel category is characterized by their ABA unresponsiveness in Ws and activation in rop10-1 at 1 μm but not 10 and 100 μm of ABA. This indicates that ROP10 gates the expression of genes that are specific to low concentrations of ABA. Furthermore, almost all of these 21 genes are known to be highly induced by various biotic and abiotic stresses. Consequently, we found that rop10-1 enhanced the sensitivity of seed germination inhibition to mannitol and sodium chloride. Our results suggest that ROP10 negatively regulates ABA responses by specifically and differentially modulating the ABA sensitivity of a subset of genes including protein kinases and zinc-finger family proteins.
Evaluation of a sustainable remediation option: Beneficial reuse of petroleum-contaminated sediment as an energy source

The characteristics of petroleum-contaminated sediment (PCS) have been evaluated to assess whether the practice of its beneficial reuse as a sole or supplemental energy source is sustainable relative to other sediment remediation options such as monitored natural recovery (MNR), capping, or off-site disposal. Some of these remediation options for PCS are energy-intensive and/or require land utilization. The energy and compositional analysis results indicate a low carbon content (15–17%(wt)) and corresponding low energy values of 5,200 kJ/kg (2,200 Btu/lb) to 5,600 kJ/kg (2,400 Btu/lb). However, given other decision-making criteria, the sediment may contain enough value to be added as a supplemental fuel given that it is normally considered a waste product and is readily available. The thermogravimetric profiles obtained under both combustion and pyrolytic conditions showed that the sulfur contents were comparable to typical low sulfur bituminous or lignite coals found in the United States, and most of the volatiles could be vaporized below 750°C. The heavy metal concentrations determined before and after combustion of the PCS indicated that further engineering controls may be required for mercury, arsenic, and lead. Due to the potential for reduction of public health and environmental threats, potential economic savings, and conservation of natural resources (petroleum and land), removal of PCS by dredging and beneficial reuse as a supplemental fuel clearly has merit to be considered as a sustainable remediation option. Implications: This study will provide a logical evaluation process to determine whether petroleum-contaminated sediment can be reused as an energy source. The energy and emissions values were determined and evaluated whether the sediment could be combusted for viable and sustainable use, considering several factors pertinent to evaluate in the remediation decision process. Various analysis methods were employed to determine elemental compositions, heating values, thermal and emission characteristics. This evaluation process may be used as a general methodology for the determination of petroleum-contaminated sediment as a supplemental fuel that may have merit to be considered as a sustainable remediation option.