Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Victims of Domestic Violence

The objectives of this research were to analyze data from literature based on studies of battered women to determine (a) the correlation of domestic violence and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), (b) the best treatment strategies for PTSD, and (c) the evidence of PTSD treatment effectiveness with battered women. Findings were (a) symptoms of battered women are consistent with PTSD symptoms; (b) certain populations are at higher risk of developing PTSD symptoms; (c) intensity, duration, and perception of the battering experience is a significant factor in the severity of the PTSD symptoms; (d) demographic variables influence PTSD severity; (e) standardized PTSD assessment is needed by professionals working with women experiencing domestic violence; (f) there is a need for greater public health involvement for prevention, identification, and medical treatment of domestic violence and PTSD; and (g) certain treatment strategies are recommended for PTSD but lack rigorous testing of their efficacy.
The role of civil society in European integration

This paper explores the concept of ‘civic society’ in Western political thought, charting the changing understanding of this concept through history and its manifestation in contemporary political and social life. The paper draws out the inferences for our understanding of the role of government, particularly with the European Union and its relationship with citizens and other representative community-based and non-governmental organisations. The paper argues that the fundamental values that are central to civic society underpin the proposed EU Charter on Fundamental Rights and maintains that effective European integration requires responsible participation by Europe's citizens. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications
How generic is cosmic string formation in SUSY GUTs

We study cosmic string formation within supersymmetric grand uniﬁed theories. We consider gauge groups having a rank between 4 and 8. We examine all possible spontaneous symmetry breaking patterns from the GUT down to the standard model gauge group. Assuming standard hybrid inﬂation, we select all the models which can solve the GUT monopole problem, lead to baryogenesis after inﬂation and are consistent with proton lifetime measurements. We conclude that in all acceptable spontaneous symmetry breaking schemes, cosmic string formation is unavoidable. The strings which form at the end of inﬂation have a mass which is proportional to the inﬂationary scale. Sometimes, a second network of strings form at a lower scale. Models based on gauge groups which have rank greater than 6 can lead to more than one inﬂationary era; they all end by cosmic string formation.
Deep subsurface microbiology: a guide to the research topic papers

Deep subsurface microbiology is a rising field in geomicrobiology, environmental microbiology and microbial ecology that focuses on the molecular detection and quantification, cultivation, biogeographic examination, and distribution of bacteria, archaea, and eukarya that permeate the subsurface biosphere. The deep biosphere includes a variety of subsurface habitats, such as terrestrial deep aquifer systems or mines, deeply buried hydrocarbon reservoirs, marine sediments and the basaltic ocean crust. The deep subsurface biosphere abounds with uncultured, only recently discovered and—at best—incompletely understood microbial populations. So far, microbial cells and DNA remain detectable at sediment depths of more than 1 km and life appears limited mostly by heat in the deep subsurface. Severe energy limitation, either as electron acceptor or donor shortage, and scarcity of microbially degradable organic carbon sources are among the evolutionary pressures that may shape the genomic and physiological repertoire of the deep subsurface biosphere. Its biogeochemical importance in long-term carbon sequestration, subsurface elemental cycling and crustal aging, is a major focus of current research at the interface of microbiology, geochemistry, and biosphere/geosphere evolution. The papers of this Frontiers e-volume bear evidence of the rapid advances in deep subsurface microbiology.
Modified Atkins diet is an effective treatment for children with Doose syndrome

Children with myoclonic astatic epilepsy (MAE; Doose syndrome) whose seizures do not respond immediately to standard antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are at high risk of developing an epileptic encephalopathy with cognitive decline. A classic ketogenic diet (KD) is a highly effective alternative to AEDs. To date, there are only limited data on the effectiveness of the modified Atkins diet (MAD), which is less restrictive and more compatible with daily life. We report findings from a retrospective study on 30 MAE patients treated with MAD.
Timing-Driven Nonuniform Depopulation-Based Clustering

Low-cost FPGAs have comparable number of Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) with respect to resource-rich FPGAs but have much less routing tracks. For CAD tools, this situation increases the difficulty of successfully mapping a circuit into the low-cost FPGAs. Instead of switching to resource-rich FPGAs, the designers could employ depopulation-based clustering techniques which underuse CLBs, hence improve routability by spreading the logic over the architecture. However, all depopulation-based clustering algorithms to this date increase critical path delay. In this paper, we present a timing-driven nonuniform depopulation-based clustering technique, T-NDPack, that targets critical path delay and channel width constraints simultaneously. T-NDPack adjusts the CLB capacity based on the criticality of the Basic Logic Element (BLE). Results show that T-NDPack reduces minimum channel width by 11.07% while increasing the number of CLBs by 13.28% compared to T-VPack. More importantly, T-NDPack decreases critical path delay by 2.89%.
Prevalence of Dental Plaque, Gingival Bleeding and Dental Calculus among Patients Attended Periodontal Department of School of Dentistry at University of Sulaimani

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of plaque, gingival bleeding and amount of calculus in a group of patients attended department of periodontics at University of Sulaimani/ School of Dentistry in 2013. Methodology: data collected from patient’s records, the study sample consisted of 301 patients attended to Department of Periodontics the School of Dentistry at University of Sulaimani, 169 male and 132 female, aging from 15 to 60 years old. The sample was divided into several groups according to age and sex, Plaque index, bleeding index and calculus index were used to determine the periodontal health condition for the sample. Results: majority of patients attended the clinic fell in 15-25 year age group, number of patients declined as patient’s age increased. Data revealed a general reduction in plaque scores and bleeding index as age increased, whereas amount of calculus recorded an increase with increasing age. This study concluded that the prevalence of plaque and gingival inflammation decreased with age. Meanwhile, the amount of calculus deposition is increased.
Effects of ACE inhibition on endothelial progenitor cell mobilization and prognosis after acute myocardial infarction in type 2 diabetic patients

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the chemotactic response of endothelial progenitor cells to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in T2DM patients after acute myocardial infarction, as well as the associated prognosis. METHODS: Sixty-eight T2DM patients with acute myocardial infarction were randomized to either receive or not receive daily oral perindopril 4 mg, and 36 non-diabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction were enrolled as controls. The numbers of circulating CD45−/low+CD34+CD133+KDR+ endothelial progenitor cells, as well as the stromal cell-derived factor-α and high-sensitivity C reactive protein levels, were measured before acute percutaneous coronary intervention and on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, and 28 after percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients were followed up for 6 months. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR-TRC-12002599. RESULTS: T2DM patients had lower circulating endothelial progenitor cell counts, decreased plasma vascular endothelial growth factor and α levels, and higher plasma high-sensitivity C reactive protein levels compared with non-diabetic controls. After receiving perindopril, the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells increased from day 3 to 7, as did the plasma levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and stromal cell-derived factor-α, compared with the levels in T2DM controls. Plasma high-sensitivity C reactive protein levels in the treated group decreased to the same levels as those in non-diabetic controls. Furthermore, compared with T2DM controls, the perindopril-treated T2DM patients had lower cardiovascular mortality and occurrence of heart failure symptoms (p<0.05) and better left ventricle function (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors represents a novel approach for improving cardiovascular repair after acute myocardial infarction in T2DM patients.
Is Stress Worth it? Stress‐Related Health and Wealth Trade‐Offs for Entrepreneurs

Occupational stress is associated with numerous health problems that cost organisations considerable resources. We explore whether the detrimental effects of stress on individual health are accompanied by productive effects on individual performance for self-employed people, thereby making stress somewhat “worth it” for this occupational group. Given that positive affect can serve as a stress-buffering resource, we also examine the potential for positive affect (PA) to moderate these relationships. Our hypotheses are tested using data from the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study (NHEFS) that incorporated extensive demographic, medical history, nutritional, clinical, and laboratory data representative of the non-institutionalised civilian US population. From this dataset we created a longitudinal matched sample of 688 self-employed individuals and 688 employees, incorporating self-reported and physiological measures of stress and health. Our findings indicate that (controlling for past income and prior health) self-employed people experience greater stress than employees, and they experience a positive impact of stress on income despite a negative impact on physical health. These relationships are moderated by positive affectivity, where PA accentuates the positive effect of stress on personal income and mitigates the negative effect of stress on physical health.
Increasing schedulability in distributed hard real-time systems

We present a study of the effects caused in distributed real time systems by jitter in the activation of tasks and messages. We show that although jitter has usually a small impact on the schedulability of single processor systems, in distributed architectures the worst case response times are significantly delayed. Reducing or eliminating jitter in these systems can increase the schedulability of the system up to 50% more than when jitter is permitted. Jitter can be prevented by using a bandwidth preserving scheduling algorithm such as the sporadic server. Since this kind of scheduling policy is not designed for communication networks, we describe how to adapt and implement the sporadic server algorithm for communication networks. Using the sporadic server both in the processors and networks, we can build distributed systems with up to 100% utilization of the CPUs and communication resources, while still guaranteeing that hard real time requirements are met.
Sense of humor and physical health: Theoretical issues, recent findings, and future directions

This article provides an introduction to this special issue on sense of humor and physical health. It begins by discussing several dierent potential mechanisms by which humor and laughter may benefit health. Each of these mechanisms has dierent implications for the conceptualization and mea- surement of humor or laughter, choice of research designs, and potential therapeutic applications. A brief overview of the articles in this special issue is provided, and their contributions are discussed in the context of past research on humor and health. The results of these studies point to some avenues of research that are not likely to be productive, as well as some potentially fruitful directions for future research. Remaining questions are discussed, and suggestions are given for future research in this area.
Ring and coupled ring oscillator in subthreshold region

In this paper, the implementation of oscillators in the subthreshold region is proposed. The ring and coupled ring oscillators are implemented. The technique of swapped body biasing technique has been introduced for coupled ring oscillators to enhance their performance. The functionality of the oscillators in subthreshold region is verified through simulations using 180 nm TSMC CMOS technology parameters. A comparison in performance of the oscillators is carried out. It is found that coupled ring oscillator based on the swapped body biasing shows the best performance with the frequency of oscillation, power and propagation delay as 19.79 MHz, 973 nW and 12.84 ns respectively.
Title Asset allocation under regime-switching models

We discuss an optimal asset allocation problem in a wide class of discrete-time regime-switching models including the hidden Markovian regime-switching (HMRS) model, the interactive hidden Markovian regime-switching (IHMRS) model and the self-exciting threshold autoregressive (SETAR) model. In the optimal asset allocation problem, the object of the investor is to select an optimal portfolio strategy so as to maximize the expected utility of wealth over a finite investment horizon. We solve the optimal portfolio problem using a dynamic programming approach in a discrete-time set up. Numerical results are provided to illustrate the practical implementation of the models and the impacts of different types of regime switching on optimal portfolio strategies. Keywords-Asset Allocation; Regime-Switching Models; IHMM; HMM; SETAR Model; Stochastic Dynamical System.
Role of Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase I in Conferring Viability upon the dnaN159 Mutant Strain

ABSTRACT The Escherichia coli dnaN159 allele encodes a mutant form of the β-sliding clamp (β159) that is impaired for interaction with the replicative DNA polymerase (Pol), Pol III. In addition, strains bearing the dnaN159 allele require functional Pol I for viability. We have utilized a combination of genetic and biochemical approaches to characterize the role(s) played by Pol I in the dnaN159 strain. Our findings indicate that elevated levels of Pol I partially suppress the temperature-sensitive growth phenotype of the dnaN159 strain. In addition, we demonstrate that the β clamp stimulates the processivity of Pol I in vitro and that β159 is impaired for this activity. The reduced ability of β159 to stimulate Pol I in vitro correlates with our finding that single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) gap repair is impaired in the dnaN159 strain. Taken together, these results suggest that (i) the β clamp-Pol I interaction may be important for proper Pol I function in vivo and (ii) in the absence of Pol I, ssDNA gaps may persist in the dnaN159 strain, leading to lethality of the dnaN159 ΔpolA strain.
Further improving geometric fitting

We give a formal definition of geometric fitting in a way that suits computer vision applications. We point out that the performance of geometric fitting should be evaluated in the limit of small noise rather than in the limit of a large number of data as recommended in the statistical literature. Taking the KCR lower bound as an optimality requirement and focusing on the linearized constraint case, we compare the accuracy of Kanatani's renormalization with maximum likelihood (ML) approaches including the FNS of Chojnacki et al. and the HEIV of Leedan and Meer. Our analysis reveals the existence of a method superior to all these.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Mental Health Effects on Residents in Heavily Affected Areas

ABSTRACT Background: Mental health issues are a significant concern after disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. This study was designed to assess the mental health effects on residents of areas of southeastern Louisiana affected by the oil spill. Methods: Telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted with residents (N = 452) assessing concerns and direct impact. Results: The results show that the greatest effect on mental health related to the extent of disruption to participants' lives, work, family, and social engagement, with increased symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress. Given the location of the oil spill affecting communities that had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina, results also revealed that losses from Hurricane Katrina were highly associated with negative mental health outcomes. Conversely, the ability to rebound after adversity and place satisfaction were highly associated with better mental health outcomes. Conclusions: Enhanced understanding of mental health effects after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will help in determining directions for much-needed mental health services after the disaster and in contributing to the knowledge of complex traumatization and the ability to rebound after adversity. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2011;5:280–286)
Restructuring Pre-Service Teacher Education to Respond to Increasing Student Diversity.

Several pressing issues call for institutions charged with the responsibility to educate prospective teachers to rethink their model of teacher preparation to better address the educational needs of English Language Learners (ELLs). It is projected that by 2025 one in four students in the U.S. will be from homes where a language other than English is spoken (NCES, 2006). For at least thirty years, the achievement of ELLs has lagged behind that of native English speakers in science and literacy (Buxton, 2006; Lee & Luyxk, 2006; NCES, 2006). In 2010 report, the National Academy of Science identified improving the preparation of teachers to teach science to ELLs as a national priority that would increase the successful participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM careers and degree programs (NAS, 2010). This paper describe the findings of a research and development project that involved science education faculty at three universities in developing and implementing an experimental science teacher education program to prepare pre-service teachers to use research-based instructional strategies in science teaching to improve the science learning of ELLs. A quasi-experimental study was used to examine the impact of the experimental program on 85 student teachers’ instructional practice and compared with the practice of 50 student teachers who participated in the control “business as usual” program. The results showed that experimental group student teachers implemented significantly more ELL-responsive practices while they taught science during their clinical practices than control group student teachers.
Analysis and expression of the thrC gene of Brevibacterium lactofermentum and characterization of the encoded threonine synthase

The thrC gene of Brevibacterium lactofermentum was cloned by complementation of Escherichia coli thrC auxotrophs. The gene was located by deletion mapping and complementation analysis in a 2.9-kb Sau3AI-HindIII fragment of the genome. This fragment also complemented a B. lactofermentum UL1035 threonine auxotroph that was deficient in threonine synthase. A 1,892-bp DNA fragment of this region was sequenced; this fragment contained a 1,446-bp open reading frame that encoded a 481-amino-acid protein having a deduced M(r) of 52,807. The gene was expressed in E. coli, by using the phage T7 system, as a 53-kDa protein. The promoter region subcloned in promoter-probe plasmids was functional in E. coli. A Northern analysis revealed that the gene was expressed as a monocistronic 1,400-nucleotide transcript. The transcription start point of the thrC gene was located by S1 mapping 6 bp upstream from the translation initiation codon, which indicated that this promoter was one of the leaderless transcription-initiating sequences. The threonine synthase overexpressed in B. lactofermentum UL1035 was purified almost to homogeneity. The active form corresponded to a monomeric 52.8-kDa protein, as shown by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme required pyridoxal phosphate as its only cofactor to convert homoserine phosphate into threonine.
Knowledge and practice in multidisciplinary teams: Struggle, accommodation and privilege

The importance of translating knowledge across occupational boundaries is frequently identified as a means of generating innovation and improving performance. The creation of the multidisciplinary team is an institutional response to enable such translation and synergy, yet few studies examine the processes of knowledge generation and translation in such teams. This article offers a case study that analyses these processes in decisions about the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Polanyi’s concept of tacit integration is used to reveal how meaning is developed and manifest in team decisions and to examine how the discursive resources embedded in tacit knowledge shape clinical practice. We highlight the foundations and dynamics that privilege the knowledge of some team members to be reconstituted as multidisciplinary group practice. Privileged knowledge then becomes embedded in the practices of the group. We conclude that the creation of a multidisciplinary structure may support rather than challenge existing power hierarchies.
Are two views better than one? Investigating three-quarter view facial composites

Purpose – The introduction of a three-quarter-view database in the PRO-fit facial-composite system has enabled an investigation into the effects of image view in face construction. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of constructing full-face and three-quarter-view composites under different encoding conditions. It also examines the potential value of three-quarter-view composites that can be generated automatically from a front-view composite. The authors also investigate whether there is an identification benefit for presenting full-face and three-quarter composites together. Design/methodology/approach – Three experiments examine the impact of encoding conditions on composite construction and presentation of composites at the evaluation stage. Findings – The work revealed that while standard full-face composites perform well when all views of the face have been encoded, care should be taken when a person has only seen one view. When a witness has seen a side view of a suspect, a three-qu.