Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thrombopoietin-induced Polyploidization of Bone Marrow Megakaryocytes Is Due to a Unique Regulatory Mechanism in Late Mitosis

Megakaryocytes undergo a unique differentiation program, becoming polyploid through repeated cycles of DNA synthesis without concomitant cell division. However, the mechanism underlying this polyploidization remains totally unknown. It has been postulated that polyploidization is due to a skipping of mitosis after each round of DNA replication. We carried out immunohistochemical studies on mouse bone marrow megakaryocytes during thrombopoietin- induced polyploidization and found that during this process megakaryocytes indeed enter mitosis and progress through normal prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, and up to anaphase A, but not to anaphase B, telophase, or cytokinesis. It was clearly observed that multiple spindle poles were formed as the polyploid megakaryocytes entered mitosis; the nuclear membrane broke down during prophase; the sister chromatids were aligned on a multifaced plate, and the centrosomes were symmetrically located on either side of each face of the plate at metaphase; and a set of sister chromatids moved into the multiple centrosomes during anaphase A. We further noted that the pair of spindle poles in anaphase were located in close proximity to each other, probably because of the lack of outward movement of spindle poles during anaphase B. Thus, the reassembling nuclear envelope may enclose all the sister chromatids in a single nucleus at anaphase and then skip telophase and cytokinesis. These observations clearly indicate that polyploidization of megakaryocytes is not simply due to a skipping of mitosis, and that the megakaryocytes must have a unique regulatory mechanism in anaphase, e.g., factors regulating anaphase such as microtubule motor proteins might be involved in this polyploidization process.
Are field‐based exergames useful in preventing childhood obesity? A systematic review

Exergames have started to find their way into field‐based settings, such as schools, communities and homes, as a possible solution to curbing physical inactivity and childhood obesity. However, a clear view of the effects of field‐based exergaming on children's obesity‐related outcomes is lacking. Hence, a systematic review on this topic is warranted. This review synthesizes the impact of field‐based exergames on children's physical and psychosocial outcomes. A total of 34 articles conducted in field‐based settings were identified from 104 peer‐reviewed publications that investigated the effects of exergames. Upon screening, these articles met the inclusion criteria and a high inter‐rater agreement for inclusion was reached between the authors. The effects of field‐based exergames on children's habitual physical activity (PA) and obesity‐related outcomes (e.g. weight loss, body composition) remain unclear due to design problems, measurement issues and other methodology concerns. In addition, exergame is appealing to children, although strategies are warranted to sustain their interests. In summary, exergames are desirable as a promising addition to promote PA and health. Professionals may integrate exergames at field settings to promote a physically active lifestyle among children with the goal of curbing childhood obesity.
Top ten challenges for understanding gender and aggression in children: Why can't we all just get along?

This essay identifies ten significant methodological challenges for understanding aggression and gender. In light of the recent explosion of research on indirect/relational/social aggression, it seems important to clarify gaps in our current understanding and to identify promising methods by which better answers might be found. The discussion begins with basic issues of definitions, contexts and subtypes, moves on to points concerning sampling and measures, and addresses whether current evidence warrants deciding that girls are as aggressive as boys. We conclude that although research has shown that the majority of girls’ aggression takes indirect/relational/social forms, it is premature to conclude that boys do not also engage in these behaviors. We caution against assuming that physical and indirect/relational/social aggression are comparable in their developmental origins and consequences, and urge researchers to consider that fully understanding indirect/relational/social aggression might require different conceptual frameworks and research methods.
Sexual offenders’ explanations for their offending

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine how sexual offenders explain their offending. A template of 10 reasons for offending was constructed from content analysis of the accounts of 62 sexual offenders. All 10 categories could be coded reliably. The template was then applied to 100 further sexual offenders (35 rapists and 65 child molesters), who had not yet undertaken any offence-focused interventions. Child molesters most frequently explained their offending in terms of sexual gratification, the desire to alleviate a negative emotional state or a wish to experience intimacy. Rapists attributed their offending most frequently to grievance, impulsivity or sexual need. About one-third of rapists and one-quarter of child molesters did not or could not give any explanation for their offending. Two of the categories identified—grievance and need for respect/control—could be termed cognitive schema, representing underlying views about the self, others and the world. The explanations offered overlapped considerably with known dynamic risk factors for sexual offending. This contrasts with the stereotype that sexual offenders will typically deny or justify their offending when asked to account for it.
ERP Evidence for Ultra-Fast Semantic Processing in the Picture–Word Interference Paradigm

We used the event-related potential (ERP) approach combined with a subtraction technique to explore the timecourse of activation of semantic and phonological representations in the picture–word interference paradigm. Subjects were exposed to to-be-named pictures superimposed on to-be-ignored semantically related, phonologically related, or unrelated words, and distinct ERP waveforms were generated time-locked to these different classes of stimuli. Difference ERP waveforms were generated in the semantic condition and in the phonological condition by subtracting ERP activity associated with unrelated picture–word stimuli from ERP activity associated with related picture–word stimuli. We measured both latency and amplitude of these difference ERP waveforms in a pre-articulatory time-window. The behavioral results showed standard interference effects in the semantic condition, and facilitatory effects in the phonological condition. The ERP results indicated a bimodal distribution of semantic effects, characterized by the extremely rapid onset (at about 100 ms) of a primary component followed by a later, distinct, component. Phonological effects in ERPs were characterized by components with later onsets and distinct scalp topography of ERP sources relative to semantic ERP components. Regression analyses revealed a covariation between semantic and phonological behavioral effect sizes and ERP component amplitudes, and no covariation between the behavioral effects and ERP component latency. The early effect of semantic distractors is thought to reflect very fast access to semantic representations from picture stimuli modulating on-going orthographic processing of distractor words.
Determination of lead(II), cadmium(II) and copper(II) in waste-water and soil extracts on mercury film screen-printed carbon electrodes sensor

A sensor incorporating a three electrodes configuration have been fabricated using low cost screen-printing technology. These electrodes couples with Square Wave Stripping Voltammetry (SWSV) has provided a convenient screening tool for on-site detection of trace levels of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II). Modification of the graphite carbon surface based on in situ deposition of mercury film has been carried out. By appropriate choice of supporting medium and optimized parameters setting such as amount of mercury used the deposition potential, deposition time, frequency and scan rate, well resolved and reproducible response for Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) were obtained. The performance characteristics of the developed mercury film screen printed carbon electrode (MFSPCE) for 120 s deposition time showed that the linear range for Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II) were 10 to 200 μg L-1. The detection limit recorded for Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II) were 2, 1 and 5 μg L-1 with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 6.5%, 6.9% and 7.5%, respectively. Successful applications of the sensing device to waste-water and extracted soil samples were demonstrated.
Impacto de los deterioros neuropsicológicos asociados al consumo de sustancias sobre la práctica clínica con drogodependientes

El consumo cronico de diversas drogas (cannabis, heroina, estimulantes) ha sido consistentemente asociado a la presencia de deterioros neuropsicologicos en un amplio espectro de funciones, principalmente: memoria, aprendizaje, atencion, concentracion y razonamiento. Sin embargo, en los ultimos anos, la investigacion neuropsicologica relacionada con el abuso de sustancias, apoyada en la aparicion de tecnologias de nueva generacion (neuroimagen funcional, analisis de metabolitos) se ha focalizado en el estudio de posibles alteraciones en las funciones ejecutivas de los lobulos prefrontales de la corteza, asi como su influencia sobre la personalidad, cogniciones y conductas del drogodependiente. El objetivo de nuestra revision es, por una parte, repasar los principales deterioros neuropsicologicos constatados por los estudios clasicos, asi como estos nuevos hallazgos en funciones ejecutivas (planificacion, toma de decisiones, control de impulsos), y por otra parte, dado que el estatus neuropsicologico parece tener un papel mediador sobre los resultados del tratamiento, analizar la utilidad e impacto de estos deterioros sobre la practica clinica con sujetos drogodependientes, considerando factores de especial relevancia, como la potencial reversibilidad de los deficits, la comorbilidad con trastornos de la personalidad y del estado de animo y la existencia de anosognosia y deficits especificos de impulsividad. Resaltamos, asimismo, la conveniencia de intervenir especificamente sobre aquellas funciones mas directamente asociadas al funcionamiento diario de los drogodependientes, a su perseveracion en el consumo y al alto riesgo de recaidas, que podrian ser explicados, al menos parcialmente, por la existencia de alteraciones ejecutivas.
Psychiatric symptoms and problem behaviours in people with intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have suggested different patterns of associations between psychiatric symptoms and problem behaviours in people with intellectual disabilities (ID). The aim of this study was to investigate which problem behaviours are associated with specific psychiatric symptoms and the relative strength of these specific associations. METHOD A cross sectional survey using the Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with Developmental Disabilities Checklist and the Disability Assessment Schedule was carried out in a sample of 214 adults with ID. RESULTS Self-injurious and, to a lesser extent, aggressive problem behaviours were most associated with affective type symptoms. Screaming and destructive behaviours tended to be more associated with autism-related social impairment rather than conventional psychiatric symptoms. CONCLUSIONS This study gives further evidence of associations between psychiatric symptoms and specific problem behaviours in people with ID. It may be particularly useful to consider the diagnosis of affective disorders if a person with ID shows self-injurious or aggressive behaviours.
Partidos, eleições e democracia no Brasil pós-1985

The article discusses the relationship among parties, elections, and democracy in the Brazilian current context. The main concern is examining how much the democratic and electoral experience has contributed to the consolidation of parties, party system, and democracy in Brazil since 1985. It defines the meanings of "party," "elections," and "democracy" in order to establish analysis parameters. It then analyses the recent electoral experiences highlighting its primordial role in assuring minimal conditions for a democratic polity. It finally discusses the current party experience, as well as its main aspects and problems. It concludes with a brief reflexion on the relationship between both the electoral and party experience and the consolidation of democracy in Brazil.
Depressive Rumination: Investigating Mechanisms to Improve Cognitive Behavioural Treatments

Rumination has been identified as a core process in the development and maintenance of depression. Treatments targeting ruminative processes may, therefore, be particularly helpful for treating chronic and recurrent depression. The development of such treatments requires translational research that marries clinical trials, process–outcome research, and basic experimental research that investigates the mechanisms underpinning pathological rumination. For example, a program of experimental research has demonstrated that there are distinct processing modes during rumination that have distinct functional effects for the consequences of rumination on a range of clinically relevant cognitive and emotional processes: an adaptive style characterized by more concrete, specific processing and a maladaptive style characterized by abstract, overgeneral processing. Based on this experimental work, two new treatments for depression have been developed and evaluated: (a) rumination-focused cognitive therapy, an individual-based face-to-face therapy, which has encouraging results in the treatment of residual depression in an extended case series and a pilot randomized controlled trial; and (b) concreteness training, a facilitated self-help intervention intended to increase specificity of processing in patients with depression, which has beneficial findings in a proof-of-principle study in a dysphoric population. These findings indicate the potential value of process–outcome research (a) explicitly targeting identified vulnerability processes and (b) developing interventions informed by research into basic mechanisms.
Essays on Social Influence in Political Economy: How Expectations and Identity Affect Pro-Social Leading and Following

By social influence I understand the change in an individual’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes or behaviors that results from interactions with another individual or group. Political, commercial and public health campaigns rely at least partly on influence. Without influence, we have a hard time explaining voter turnout, fads or contagious health behaviors. In my research I focus on pro-social behavior and the de-decentralized provision of public goods, and I ask when and why people are influenced by others as well as when and why people attempt to influence others to “do the right thing”. These questions help us understand human motivation in social contexts, and thus may also help us design policies that can nudge behavior towards more socially desirable, welfare enhancing outcomes. Despite the importance of influence, its study is scattered across disciplines. In my research, I seek to bridge the disciplinary gap through a three-pronged approach. First, I incorporate concepts found in psychology into a decision-theoretic framework. Second, I experimentally test for hypotheses that are derived from this formalization. Third, I use game theory to derive novel conclusions about how aggregate behavior changes when these concepts are incorporated and propose policy recommendations. My dissertation follows parts of this procedure and points to next steps for two psychology concepts: social identity adoption and social expectations. In chapter 1, I write down a unifying model of social identity adoption that integrates different strands in the economics and psychology literature. I provide evidence for the main predictions of this model with a large scale field experiment on charitable giving in Mexico.
Book Review: Taming the Vernacular: From Dialect to Written Standard Language

Taming the Vernacular addresses the syntax and morphology of nonstandard varieties of different languages and the relationship between standard and nonstandard varieties. It is interesting, and worthwhile reading because of the range of languages —Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Galician, Italian — and because some of the authors tackle general issues concerning standard and nonstandard varieties. I will summarize the contents and then provide a general critique bearing on the general coherence of such collections of papers as this, on the need to distinguish linguistic and sociolinguistic facts and to take both into account (see Cameron, 1995), and on the concept of different grammatical (linguistic) systems.
'Busy behaviour' in the 'land of the golden M': Going out with learning disabled children in public places

Background Research suggests that the inclusion of learning disabled people is contingent, unsatisfactory and incomplete. This paper will take a step back and look at the experiences of mothers of learning disabled children in public places. Methods Seventeen women have taken part in the small scale qualitative study which used a combination of single and group interviews to explore their experiences in public places. Findings Four areas have been identified as having an impact upon the experiences of the mothers and children in public places: the effects of the childrens' learning impairments, structural constraints, the attitudes of others and the attitudes of the mothers. Conclusion The paper will conclude by asking if there is a role for alternative primary communities for learning disabled people and make suggestions for the development of a more ‘learning disabled child-friendly’ environment.
Oscillatory instability of a three-dimensional lid-driven flow in a cube

A series of time-dependent three-dimensional (3D) computations of a lid-driven flow in a cube with no-slip boundaries is performed to find the critical Reynolds number corresponding to the steady-oscillatory transition. The computations are done in a fully coupled pressure-velocity formulation on 1043, 1523, and 2003 stretched grids. Grid-independence of the results is established. It is found that the oscillatory instability of the flow sets in via a subcritical symmetry-breaking Hopf bifurcation at Recr≈1914 with the nondimensional frequency ω=0.575. Three-dimensional patterns in the steady and oscillatory flow regimes are compared with the previously studied two-dimensional configuration and a three-dimensional model with periodic boundary conditions imposed in the spanwise direction.
Minor party and Independent politics beyond the mainstream: Fluctuating fortunes but a permanent presence.

The three main political parties which dominate British politics, at all levels, face a continuing challenge from smaller political parties and independent candidates. Such alternatives to the main three parties, however, have been a long-standing feature of the political landscape at both national and local levels. Yet, little is known of the way in which smaller parties and independent politicians contribute to politics and government and the impact they have on the functioning of democracy and institutions' governance. Moreover there is an absence of a conceptual framework within which to assess and understand the world of small party and independent politics. The article, based on research funded by the Leverhulme Trust (grant F/094/AP), sets out such a framework from within which small party and independent politics can be considered and understood.
Comparisons of Traditionally and Alternatively Trained Teachers

In this article, we present findings from a comparative study of 3 teacher preparation prototypes: traditional, university-district partnership, and district add-on programs. Samples of program graduates were observed during their 1st year of teaching using the Praxis III assessment. A larger sample completed a follow-up questionnaire assessing preparedness and efficacy, and a subset of them had principals submit ratings. On the observational measure, all teachers met minimum standards, but graduates of traditional programs outperformed their counterparts on several instructional criteria. By contrast, principals' ratings favored graduates of alternative programs, particularly partnership programs. These findings are discussed in terms of the distinction between formal and procedural knowledge, whereas differences between the 2 alternative pathways hint at the superiority of partnership programs or other alternatives with equally rigorous content.
Animal Model of Neuropathic Tachycardia Syndrome

Abstract—Clinically relevant autonomic dysfunction can result from either complete or partial loss of sympathetic outflow to effector organs. Reported animal models of autonomic neuropathy have aimed to achieve complete lesions of sympathetic nerves, but incomplete lesions might be more relevant to certain clinical entities. We hypothesized that loss of sympathetic innervation would result in a predicted decrease in arterial pressure and a compensatory increase in heart rate. Increased heart rate due to loss of sympathetic innervation is seemingly paradoxical, but it provides a mechanistic explanation for clinical autonomic syndromes such as neuropathic postural tachycardia syndrome. Partially dysautonomic animals were generated by selectively lesioning postganglionic sympathetic neurons with 150 mg/kg 6-hydroxydopamine hydrobromide in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Blood pressure and heart rate were monitored using radiotelemetry. Systolic blood pressure decreased within hours postlesion (&Dgr;>20 mm Hg). Within 4 days postlesion, heart rate rose and remained elevated above control levels. The severity of the lesion was determined functionally and pharmacologically by spectral analysis and responsiveness to tyramine. Low-frequency spectral power of systolic blood pressure was reduced postlesion and correlated with the diminished tyramine responsiveness (r =0.9572, P =0.0053). The tachycardia was abolished by treatment with the &bgr;-antagonist propranolol, demonstrating that it was mediated by catecholamines acting on cardiac &bgr;-receptors. Partial lesions of the autonomic nervous system have been hypothesized to underlie many disorders, including neuropathic postural tachycardia syndrome. This animal model may help us better understand the pathophysiology of autonomic dysfunction and lead to development of therapeutic interventions.
Racism in Australia: Is Denial Still Plausible?

ustralia continues to have a complex relationship with the notion of racism. The country is still ambivalent about ethnicity. Significant parts of the Australian population are largely, and worryingly, unaware and disconnected from any core understanding of human rights. Australia has experienced public-policy complacency around measures to support cultural diversity, multiculturalism, and intercultural dialogue—the very substance of what shifts us toward a stable and sophisticated democracy with a firmer, more mature national identity. On the other hand, Australia is a free, democratic, and plural society. It has a developed economy largely integrated into processes of globalization. It is also a nation, generally, of peaceful and safe communities where people from multiple cultures, races, and faiths coexist in relative harmony. What does this make contemporary Australia other than a paradox? In this short paper we look at Australia’s history of race relations and attempt to explain the state-of-affairs of racism, cultural diversity, and human rights; we will offer some suggestions as to why Australia has been getting away with moral and political indolence on these issues, as well as sound some warnings about the future.