Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A psychometric analysis of a college counseling center intake checklist

A psychometric analysis was conducted on a university counseling center intake problem checklist. Results indicated adequate internal consistency. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 5 factors that were congruent with those in a replication data set: Psychological Disorders, Interpersonal Concerns, Career/ Academic, Family, and Acting Out. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a hierarchical solution with these five lst-order factors and a 2nd-order factor labeled Distress. Cluster analysis suggested 5 client profiles, with implications for treatment planning and outreach efforts. Cluster 1 described a low distress group. Cluster 2 seemed to represent moderate distress. Cluster 3 displayed elevations on all factors except Acting Out. Cluster 4 had elevations on all factors, with extreme elevation on Acting Out. Cluster 5 described clients with a Career/Academic focus.
Mental Simulation and Product Evaluation: The Affective and Cognitive Dimensions of Process versus Outcome Simulation

In this research, the authors examine the role of process versus outcome simulation in product evaluation and demonstrate how manipulating the type of information-processing mode (cognitive vs. affective) leads to unique effects in process and outcome simulation. The article begins with the premise that when consumers do not have well-formed preferences for a product, they tend to focus on the usage process. The authors predict and find that outcome simulation is more effective than process simulation in increasing product evaluation under a cognitive mode, whereas process simulation is more effective than outcome simulation under an affective mode. Establishing boundary conditions, the authors further show the effect of two important moderators that alter consumers' focus on/away from the product's usage process. Specifically, they show a reversal of the effect for each type of mental simulation for hedonic products, for which product benefits are the more salient aspect (vs. the usage process). Furthermore, a distant-future (vs. near-future) evaluation frame shifts people's focus away from the usage process toward product benefits and reverses the effect of each type of simulation. The authors conclude with a discussion of theoretical and managerial implications.
Experience in Developing a Robot Control Software

This article presents an experience report in using the UML-driven development process to develop an object-oriented control software for a Sony AIBO robot. The entire project was a great learning experience for all the team members and we found the methodologies we used very effective in helping us design and develop a high-quality control system. We also feel that other software developers and practitioners, especially those developing robotic and embedded control software, would benefit from the experience and observations reported in this article.
A new predictive equation to calculate resting metabolic rate in athletes.

BACKGROUND The purposes of the present study were: 1) to examine the accuracy and precision of seven published equations for predicting resting metabolic rate (RMR) in male athletes and 2) to develop a population-specific equation. SETTING The study occurred during a non-intensive training period. The measurements were performed at the Human Physiology laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-one male athletes (22 waterpolo, 12 judo, 17 karate) who exercised regularly at least three hours per day. MEASURES RMR was measured (mRMR) using indirect calorimetry (ventilated hood system). Besides, mRMR was compared with values predicted (pRMR) using equations of FAO/WHO/UNU, Harris and Benedict, Mifflin et al., Owen et al., Cunningham, Robertson and Reid, Fleisch. Statistical analyses. mRMR was compared with pRMR by means of Student's paired "t" tests, linear regression analysis and the Bland-Altman test. Relationships between mRMR and the different predictive variables were evaluated by Pearson correlation coefficients. The best subset was used to develop the predictive equation for RMR. RESULTS mRMR was significantly underestimated by six of the seven equations in this sample of athletes. Only the Cunningham equation overestimated (+59 kcal/d) the actual RMR. Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement were wide (+/- 200-300 kcal/d) for all equations. RMR correlated best with body surface area (r = 0.88), body weight (r = 0.84) and height (r = 0.81). The best-fit equation for the entire data included both weight and height and it was given by: RMR (kcal/d) = -857 + 9.0 (Wt in kg) + 11.7 (Ht in cm) (R2 = 0.78; SEE = 91 kcal/d; 95% IC: -226, 228). CONCLUSIONS For an individual resting metabolic rate evaluation, the use of indirect calorimetry is recommended. In conditions where this technique cannot be used, our developed equation can predict the RMR of athletes better than any of the currently available prediction equations.
Enhanced Anti-Inflammation of Inhaled Dexamethasone Palmitate Using Mannosylated Liposomes in an Endotoxin-Induced Lung Inflammation Model

Inhalation of bacterial endotoxin induces pulmonary inflammation by activation of nuclear factor κB (NFκB), production of cytokines and chemokines, and neutrophil activation. Although glucocorticoids are the drugs of choice, administration of free drugs results in adverse effects as a result of a lack of selectivity for the inflammatory effector cells. Because alveolar macrophages play a key role in the inflammatory response in the lung, selective targeting of glucocorticoids to alveolar macrophages offers efficacious pharmacological intervention with minimal side effects. We have demonstrated previously the selective targeting of mannosylated liposomes to alveolar macrophages via mannose receptor-mediated endocytosis after intratracheal administration. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effects of dexamethasone palmitate incorporated in mannosylated liposomes (DPML) at 0.5 mg/kg via intratracheal administration were investigated in lipopolysaccharide-induced lung inflammation in rats. DPML significantly inhibited tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-1β, and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 levels, suppressed neutrophil infiltration and myeloperoxidase activity, and inhibited NFκB and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation in the lung. These results prove the value of inhaled mannosylated liposomes as powerful targeting systems for the delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs to alveolar macrophages to improve their efficacy against lung inflammation.
System Analysis of an Arabidopsis Mutant Altered in de Novo Fatty Acid Synthesis Reveals Diverse Changes in Seed Composition and Metabolism1[W][OA]

Embryo-specific overexpression of biotin carboxyl carrier protein 2 (BCCP2) inhibited plastid acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase), resulting in altered oil, protein, and carbohydrate composition in mature Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seed. To characterize gene and protein regulatory consequences of this mutation, global microarray, two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis, iTRAQ, and quantitative immunoblotting were performed in parallel. These analyses revealed that (1) transgenic overexpression of BCCP2 did not affect the expression of three other ACCase subunits; (2) four subunits to plastid pyruvate dehydrogenase complex were 25% to 70% down-regulated at protein but not transcript levels; (3) key glycolysis and de novo fatty acid/lipid synthesis enzymes were induced; (4) multiple storage proteins, but not cognate transcripts, were up-regulated; and (5) the biotin synthesis pathway was up-regulated at both transcript and protein levels. Biotin production appears closely matched to endogenous BCCP levels, since overexpression of BCCP2 produced mostly apo-BCCP2 and the resulting ACCase-compromised, low-oil phenotype. Differential expression of glycolysis, plastid pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, fatty acid, and lipid synthesis activities indicate multiple, complex regulatory responses including feedback as well as futile “feed-forward” elicitation in the case of fatty acid and lipid biosynthetic enzymes. Induction of storage proteins reveals that oil and protein synthesis share carbon intermediate(s) and that reducing malonyl-coenzyme A flow into fatty acids diverts carbon into amino acid and protein synthesis.
Identification and characterization of metformin on peptidomic profiling in human visceral adipocytes

To gain insight into the effect of metformin on losing weight from peptidomic perspective and to screen potential active peptides for reducing fat lipid deposition. After determining the proper concentration of metformin on human primary visceral adipocytes, we constructed a comparative peptidomic profiling between control and metformin treatment group (n = 3) using a stable isobaric labeling strategy involving tandem mass tag reagents, followed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. We identified and quantified 3065 non‐redundant peptides, 304 of which were differentially expressed after metformin treatment, 206 peptides were up regulated and 98 peptides were down regulated significantly. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment and pathway analysis were performed to study differentially peptides though their precursor proteins. We concluded three peptides located within the functional domains of their precursor proteins could be candidate bioactive peptides for obesity. On one hand, these results confirmed the versatile effects of metformin on adipocyte and advance our current understanding of metformin, on the other hand, these identified peptides might play putative roles in treatment of obesity.
Adjunctive aripiprazole therapy with escitalopram in patients with co-morbid major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence: Clinical and neuroimaging evidence

The effective treatment of depression has been reported to reduce the severity of alcohol use, potentially reflecting improvements in common brain reward circuits. We hypothesized that augmentation therapy of escitalopram with aripiprazole would improve depressive symptoms as well as reduce craving for alcohol and cue-induced brain activity in patients with co-morbid alcohol dependence and major depressive disorder, compared with treatment with escitalopram alone. Thirty-five subjects with major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence were recruited and randomly assigned into 17 aripiprazole + escitalopram and 18 escitalopram only groups. At baseline and following six weeks of treatment, symptoms of depression, craving for alcohol and brain activity were evaluated. During the six week treatment period, Beck Depression Inventory and clinical global index-severity (CGI-S) scores decreased in both the aripiprazole + escitalopram and escitalopram only groups. In addition, following the treatment period, the Korean alcohol urge questionnaire scores in the aripiprazole + escitalopram group were reduced from 23.3±8.4 to 14.3±4.9, compared with those of the escitalopram group of from 21.6±8.4 to 19.3±7.1 (F=13.1, p<0.01). The activity within the anterior cingulate was increased in response to the presentation of alcohol drinking scenes following treatment in the aripiprazole + escitalopram group. The change of brain activity within the left anterior cingulate gyrus in all patients with co-morbid alcohol dependence and major depressive disorder was negatively correlated with the change in craving for alcohol. These findings suggest that the effects of aripiprazole on anterior cingulate cortex might mediate the successful treatment of alcohol dependence in patients with major depressive disorder.
Assessment of Cardiac Wall Motion and Ejection Fraction With Gated PET Using N-13 Ammonia

Background: Cardiac gating is not routinely used in cardiac positron emission tomography (PET). The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of assessing regional wall motion, ejection fraction (EF), cardiac volumes, and mass with nitrogen-13 ammonia (N-13 ammonia) at the time of PET myocardial perfusion imaging. Methods: We studied 12 healthy volunteers (mean age, 28 ± 8 years) and 53 patients with documented coronary artery disease (CAD) (mean age, 59 ± 11 years). All subjects received a single administration of approximately 600 MBq (16 mCi) of N-13 ammonia intravenously. A 6-minute dynamic scan was performed for quantitative assessment of myocardial perfusion at rest, followed by a separate, 13-minute static scan acquired in the gated mode (8 equal bins). Gated data was imported into the Emory Toolbox. Wall motion was evaluated by dividing the myocardium into 9 anatomic regions graded semiquantitatively. Results: Healthy volunteers had a normal EF (61 ± 6), end systolic volume (ESV) (37 ± 15 mL), end diastolic volume (EDV) (89 ± 25 mL), and cardiac mass (116 ± 18 g). In contrast, patients with CAD showed reduced EF (32 ± 13%) and increased ESV (129 ± 56 mL), EDV (188 ± 68 mL), and cardiac mass (173 ± 45g) (P < 0.001 for each). In patients with CAD, EF measured by gated PET correlated significantly to independent measurements of EF (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Gating of cardiac perfusion images obtained after administration of N-13 ammonia is feasible and appears to be an accurate means of evaluating regional and global cardiac function. Gating can provide important additional diagnostic and prognostic information.
Public Space and the Public Sphere: Political Theory and the Historical Geography of Modernity

This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion of the historical geography of modernity. It is argued that the exclusive focus on social theory has detrimental effects on the appreciation of normative political concerns and that it ignores the resurgence of normative political theory. Habermas's concept of the public sphere, and its place within his theoretical and empirical studies, is, by contrast, commendably concerned with linking the social and historical work with normative political theorising, and its usefulness for geographical investigation is applauded. However, the criticisms directed from, in particular, communitarian political theorists and contextualist social researchers would seem to make his attempt to bring a ‘strong’ theory of public political life back within the remit of a reconstructed social theory less plausible. One set of responses to this criticism comes in the form of the attempt to build geography into this normative political theory, turning public spheres into public spaces; Arcndt's political theory, in conclusion, is thus held to be a significant contribution to the historical geography of modernity.
Map Reconstruction for Driving Scenarios Using Monocular Camera: Map Reconstruction for Driving Scenarios

Environment reconstruction from a monocular camera has been a popular research topic. This technique can be applied to automatic navigation, environment exploration and automatic obstacle avoidance. This paper proposes stereo matching and aims to match the low gradient area around the high gradient area between two images correctly by using the epipolar geometry. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed regularization algorithm can eliminate most of the noises and reconstruct a more clearly point cloud.
A corpus study of clause combination

We present a corpus-based investigation of cases of clause combination that can be expressed both through coordination or with subordination. We analyse the data with a two-step computational model which first distinguishes subordination from coordination and then determines the direction for cases of subordination. We find that a wide range of features help with the prediction, notably frequency of predicate participants, presence of adjuncts and sharing of participants between the clause predicates.
Conclusion : Vers une «technologie» de la gouvernance territoriale ! Plaidoyer pour un programme de recherche sur les instruments et dispositifs de la gouvernance des territoires

Le titre de ce numero special « Dispositifs et outils de gouvernance territoriale » temoigne de l’interet de la participation de la geographie aux debats et aux controverses sur la gouvernance. Il s’agit en particulier de contribuer a preciser la notion de gouvernance territoriale. Comment participe-t-elle aux dynamiques territoriales ? Quel role joue-t-elle dans les processus de developpement des territoires ? Comment les acteurs s’approprient ou elaborent-ils des instruments ou des disposit.
The Influence of Prior Knowledge on Memory: A Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective

Across ontogenetic development, individuals gather manifold experiences during which they detect regularities in their environment and thereby accumulate knowledge. This knowledge is used to guide behavior, make predictions, and acquire further new knowledge. In this review, we discuss the influence of prior knowledge on memory from both the psychology and the emerging cognitive neuroscience literature and provide a developmental perspective on this topic. Recent neuroscience findings point to a prominent role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and of the hippocampus (HC) in the emergence of prior knowledge and in its application during the processes of successful memory encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. We take the lateral PFC into consideration as well and discuss changes in both medial and lateral PFC and HC across development and postulate how these may be related to the development of the use of prior knowledge for remembering. For future direction, we argue that, to measure age differential effects of prior knowledge on memory, it is necessary to distinguish the availability of prior knowledge from its accessibility and use.
A General Discretization Scheme for the Design of IIR Fractional Filters

In this paper we present a general discretization scheme for digital fractional-order integrators and differentiators. The proposed scheme yields many of the widely classical s rarr z conversion formulas. A least-squares method for the design of IIR fractional filters is proposed. The design of the recursive digital filter only requires the solution of linear equations. An illustrative example is presented showing the effectiveness of the resulting approximations.
Subcellular localization of sphingomyelin revealed by two toxin‐based probes in mammalian cells

Sphingomyelin (SM) is an abundant phospholipid in cell membranes. However, owing to the lack of appropriate probes, the subcellular distribution of SM remains unclear. In this study, we examined the localization of SM in COS‐1 cells (green monkey kidney cells) by using two SM probes, lysenin and equinatoxin‐II (EqtII). Both toxins stained SM in the plasma membrane (PM), and the stains were abolished by sphingomyelin synthase 2 (SMS2) knockdown or sphingomyelinase (SMase) treatment. Simultaneous labeling by the two toxins showed that the PM has heterogeneous SM pools: a SM pool stained by only lysenin, a SM pool stained only by EqtII, and a SM pool stained by both toxins. In permeabilized cells, lysenin exclusively stained late endosomes (LEs) among intracellular organelles, whereas EqtII stained recycling endosomes (REs) in addition to LEs. The intracellular SM stains by EqtII were abolished by sphingomyelin synthase 1 (SMS1) knockdown, but not by SMS2 knockdown. These results indicate that lysenin and EqtII label different SM pools and that SMS2 and SMS1 are responsible for the synthesis of SM in the PM and endomembranes, respectively, in COS‐1 cells. The use of the two SM‐binding probes may provide more insights into various sphingomyelin‐mediated processes in different topological domains.
Deaf and hard of hearing students’ perceptions of campus administrative support

ABSTRACT Most students with hearing loss attend community college, yet very little research on this population of students exists in higher education. This research was conducted in order to gain a better understanding of how students who are d/Deaf navigate the mainstream postsecondary environment. Purposeful sampling was used to gather data from 19 individuals who attended postsecondary institutions not designed specifically for d/Deaf students. These participants were enrolled in an urban community college district in the southwestern United States and were receiving accommodations from their campus accessibility office. Participants shared their perceptions of the campus accessibility office, the individuals within it, and campus administrative support. The results from this study help shed light on the experience of d/Deaf students in community college and provide insight on how to facilitate their success in postsecondary education. The author provides recommended practices for campus accessibility offices to adopt in order to effectively serve this student population, including specialized orientation for students and instructors, specialized advising, utilization of student feedback, and increasing campus and community awareness of services offered.
SiGe power HBTs and MMIC medium power amplifiers operated at 8-10 GHz

In this paper, we report the first performance characteristics of SiGe power HBTs and medium power MMIC power amplifiers operating at 8-10 GHz. SiGe power HBTs have been demonstrated using properly designed device structure and employing a proper operation configuration. It is illustrated that a box-type Ge profile with high Ge content can allow a high base doping level while still maintaining high breakdown voltages and without using submicron emitter stripes. The high doping level dramatically improves the power gain values of SiGe HBTs and makes the CB configuration more favorable for power amplification than CE configuration. High power performance has thus been achieved from SiGe HBTs at 8 and 10 GHz. Single-stage medium power amplifiers operating at 8 GHz has also been demonstrated using these SiGe HBTs.
Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Efficacy of CPX-1 Liposome Injection in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors

Purpose: CPX-1 is a novel, liposome-encapsulated formulation of irinotecan and floxuridine designed to prolong in vitro optimized synergistic molar ratios of both drugs postinfusion. This open-label, single-arm, dose-escalating phase I study was designed to determine the maximum tolerated dose and pharmacokinetics of CPX-1 in patients with advanced solid tumors. Experimental Design: Patients received CPX-1 at 30, 60, 100, 150, 210, or 270 units/m2 (1 unit = 1 mg irinotecan + 0.36 mg floxuridine) infused over 90 minutes every 14 days in 28-day cycles. Pharmacokinetic samples were collected on days 1 and 15 of cycle 1. Results: Thirty-three patients were enrolled, treated, and evaluated for safety; 30 patients were evaluated for response. A 1:1 plasma irinotecan to floxuridine molar ratio was maintained for 8 to 12 hours. Grade 3/4 toxicities included diarrhea (24.2%), neutropenia (12.1%), and hypokalemia (12.1%); 1 patient (270 units/m2) died of persistent diarrhea, which led to dehydration and renal failure (grade 5). Partial response occurred in 3 (12%) of the 25 subjects evaluated through Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Progression-free survival lasting >6 months occurred in 9 patients, 6 with colorectal cancer. Among 15 colorectal cancer patients (10 with prior irinotecan), the calculated median progression-free survival was 5.4 months; 11 patients (72.7%) achieved disease control and 2 patients (13%) had partial response. Conclusions: Outpatient CPX-1 was well tolerated and antitumor activity was shown in patients with advanced solid tumors. The recommended dose for future studies is 210 units/m2. This is the first clinical evaluation of fixed drug ratio dosing designed to maintain synergistic molar ratios for enhanced therapeutic benefit.