Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relative age effect and birthplace effect in Division 1 female ballgame players—the relevance of sport-specific factors

An attempt was made in this study to determine the existence of two factors associated with achieving a high level of proficiency in sport—the relative age effect (RAE) and the birthplace effect. Information on these effects was collected from 389 female players playing for various Division 1 (the highest division) ball clubs in Israel: 46 basketball players, 107 handball players, 156 soccer players, and 80 volleyball players. Three main findings emerged from our data analyses: (a) RAE did not exist in the four ball games, (b) the birthplace effect was observed in basketball, handball, and volleyball, but not in soccer, and (c) the birthplace effect was not found to be associated with cities of a similar size. These findings provide support for the sport- and culture-specific explanation that different sports within a country should be carefully considered when analyzing the RAE and the birthplace effect. In addition, the unique developmental systems of sport of a given country should also be taken into consideration.
Design and implementation of fault-tolerant and cost effective crossbar switches for multiprocessor systems

Two general crossbar switch models are proposed: the modified one-sided crossbar switch and the ripple K one-sided crossbar switch. They both balance cost and reliability, where cost is expressed in terms of crosspoint count or area. The two-sided crossbar switch and the one-sided crossbar switch are two cases of these structures. These structures provide choices for compromising structures between the two-sided crossbar switch and the one-sided crossbar switch. The effective bandwidths of these four crossbar switches are simulated. Simulation with VHDL has been performed to verify the functionality of each crossbar system. Synthesis has also been conducted to evaluate delay and area for each crossbar design. Experimental results demonstrate that the two general models of crossbar switches are cost-effective in terms of reliability and crosspoint count (or area) without reducing their effective bandwidths. The work promotes the use of the crossbar switch as an interconnection network for multiprocessor systems to enhance system performance and reliability with low cost.
Integrin-mediated localization of Bordetella pertussis within macrophages: role in pulmonary colonization

The adherence of Bordetella pertussis to human respiratory cilia is critical to the pathogenesis of whooping cough but the significance of bacterial attachment to macrophages has not been determined. Adherence to cilia and macrophages is mediated by two large, nonfimbrial bacterial proteins, filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA), and pertussis toxin (PT). PT and FHA both recognize carbohydrates on cilia and macrophages; FHA also contains an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence which promotes bacterial association with the macrophage integrin complement receptor 3 (CR3). We determined that virulent B. pertussis enter and survive in mammalian macrophages in vitro and that CR3 is important for this uptake process. We then determined the relative contribution of CR3 versus carbohydrate-dependent interactions to in vivo pulmonary colonization using a rabbit model. B. pertussis colonized the lung as two approximately equal populations, one extracellular population attached to ciliary and macrophage surface glycoconjugates and another population within pulmonary macrophages. Loss of the CR3 interaction, either by mutation of FHA or treatment with antibody to CR3, disrupted accumulation of viable intracellular bacteria but did not prevent lung pathology. In contrast, elimination of carbohydrate-bound bacteria, either by a competitive receptor analogue or an anti-receptor antibody, was sufficient to prevent pulmonary edema. We propose that CR3- dependent localization of B. pertussis within macrophages promotes persistence of bacteria in the lung without pulmonary injury. On the other hand, the presence of extracellular bacteria adherent to cilia and macrophages in carbohydrate-dependent interactions is associated with pulmonary pathology.
Sex Work Stigma: Opportunist Migrants in London

The social institution of prostitution or sex work has a long and varied history in the West, during almost all of which women plying their trade within it have been stigmatized. After a brief excursus on contemporary sex work and the concept of stigma itself, this article applies the author's jigsaw model to throw light on the causal role of social structures in shaping sex work stigma, in relation to women migrants from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics working as escorts in central London, typically on a short-term opportunistic basis. Interviews with a small snowball sample of a dozen women inform and illustrate the analysis. The differential causal effects of relations of class, command, gender and ethnicity, as well as those of stigma, are considered. It is argued that stigma relations in a given context or figuration cannot be grasped in isolation, but are always part of a nexus of social structures of varying causal importance.
Keeping the Vimentin Network under Control: Cell–Matrix Adhesion–associated Plectin 1f Affects Cell Shape and Polarity of Fibroblasts

Mature focal adhesions and fibrillar adhesions act as anchorage sites for vimentin filaments, with plectin isoform 1f being the crucial linker protein. Plectin serves as a nucleation and assembly center for the de novo formation of vimentin networks. Anchored vimentin creates a resilient cage-like core structure that affects cell shape.
Epigenetics in asthma and allergy

Purpose of reviewEpigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modification and microRNA control the accessibility of the genome and manage gene transcription in response to the environment in a heritable fashion. Recent evidence suggests that these mechanisms play a role in allergy and asthma. Recent findingsHere, we give an overview on recent developments in the field of asthma and allergy epigenetics with a special focus on the role of DNA methylation in these diseases, where finally, first pilot studies investigating differences in methylation pattern in patients have been published. Although these studies have to be interpreted with caution, it seems that methylation is affected by environmental stimuli such as prenatal smoke exposure and farming environments, whereas asthma status is associated with change in methylation in early childhood. SummaryEarly stage data from population studies indicate a role of methylation differences in asthma and allergy, whereas the exact impact of these epigenetic mechanisms on disease development needs to be elucidated further.
Diffusion weighted whole body imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS): technical improvement using free breathing, STIR and high resolution 3D display.

PURPOSE To examine a new way of body diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) using the short TI inversion recovery-echo planar imaging (STIR-EPI) sequence and free breathing scanning (diffusion weighted whole body imaging with background body signal suppression; DWIBS) to obtain three-dimensional displays. MATERIALS AND METHODS 1) Apparent contrast-to-noise ratios (AppCNR) between lymph nodes and surrounding fat tissue were compared in three types of DWI with and without breath-holding, with variable lengths of scan time and slice thickness. 2) The STIR-EPI sequence and spin echo-echo planar imaging (SE-EPI) sequence with chemical shift selective (CHESS) pulse were compared in terms of their degree of fat suppression. 3) Eleven patients with neck, chest, and abdominal malignancy were scanned with DWIBS for evaluation of feasibility. Whole body imaging was done in a later stage of the study using the peripheral vascular coil. RESULTS The AppCNR of 8 mm slice thickness images reconstructed from 4 mm slice thickness source images obtained in a free breathing scan of 430 sec were much better than 9 mm slice thickness breath-hold scans obtained in 25 sec. High resolution multi-planar reformat (MPR) and maximum intensity projection (MIP) images could be made from the data set of 4 mm slice thickness images. Fat suppression was much better in the STIR-EPI sequence than SE-EPI with CHESS pulse. The feasibility of DWIBS was showed in clinical scans of 11 patients. Whole body images were successfully obtained with adequate fat suppression. CONCLUSION Three-dimensional DWIBS can be obtained with this technique, which may allow us to screen for malignancies in the whole body.
Self-managing mental health: The WRAP approach

Despite increasing popularity, the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) has few published efficacy studies. WRAP aims to support participants to take ownership of their mental health and wellbeing through facilitated groups. Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy mechanism framework proposed that a person's belief in their ability to use coping skills is predictive of future behaviour. This project focused on evaluating the effectiveness of WRAP for improving coping self-efficacy, confidence and clinical outcomes for adults with mental health difficulties supported through NHS community mental health teams. 17 participants took part and showed significant mean differences between their pre- and post-scores for coping self-efficacy, mental health confidence, depression and overall distress. These findings suggest that WRAP improves coping self-efficacy and confidence in ability to self-manage, and reduces levels of distress and low mood. Improvements in ability to seek support and cope related to improvements in a.
Using Kintsch's computational model to improve instructional text: Effects of repairing inference calls on recall and cognitive structures.

The goal of this study was to link a computational psychological model to instructional practice. Kintsch's (Kintsch & van Dijk, 1978; Miller & Kintsch, 1980) reading comprehension model was used to identify locations where inferences were called for in a 1000-word expository text. Then each location was repaired to produce a principled revision
Triggering waves in nonlinear lattices: Quest for anharmonic phonons and corresponding mean-free paths

Guided by a stylized experiment we develop a self-consistent anharmonic phonon concept for nonlinear lattices which allows for explicit "visualization. " The idea uses a small external driving force which excites the front particles in a nonlinear lattice slab and subsequently one monitors the excited wave evolution using molecular dynamics simulations. This allows for a simultaneous, direct determination of the existence of the phonon mean free path with its corresponding anharmonic phonon wavenumber as a function of temperature. The concept for the mean free path is very distinct from known prior approaches: the latter evaluate the mean free path only indirectly, via using both, a scale for the phonon relaxation time and yet another one for the phonon velocity. Notably, the concept here is neither limited to small lattice nonlinearities nor to small frequencies. The scheme is tested for three strongly nonlinear lattices of timely current interest which either exhibit normal or anomalous heat transport.
Prevalence of diarrhea viruses in hospitalized children in Hong Kong in 2008

A total of 209 stool samples were collected from pediatric patients admitted for acute gastroenteritis in a hospital in Hong Kong, during an 8‐month period from January to August 2008, and were tested for the presence of rotavirus, norovirus, sapovirus, adenovirus, and astrovirus using a multiplex RT‐PCR assay. The most common virus was rotavirus group A (59 of 209, 28%, mainly serotypes G1, G2, G3, and G9), followed by norovirus group II (48 of 209, 23%), adenovirus (7 of 209, 3%, serotypes 2, 3, and 41), and sapovirus (2 of 209, 1%). Interestingly, none of the specimens in this study were positive for astrovirus. One sample was found to have a dual infection with both norovirus group II and adenovirus. The results support the importance of norovirus as a causative agent of diarrhea in children, which may be underestimated by the current routine diagnostic testing. J. Med. Virol. 81:1903–1911, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Observation-to-Track Pairing Using Electro-Optical(EO) Systems

Electro-optical (EO) detecting devices are widely used for target detection, designation and tracking. For example, an IRST system, as a typical airborne or shipboard detecting device, is often equipped for the remote target detection and tracking. In the problem of multiple target tracking, observation-to-track pairing is very important. In this paper, the algorithm for partitioning the valid matrix is discussed in detail, then the score factor of every observation-to-track correlation is described and a number of sub-algorithms are given. Finally we use the pairing algorithm for tracking multiple targets including several heavily interfering ones; the results demonstrate the new pairing algorithm has a better performance
Nonmusicol Effects of the Kodaly Music Curriculum in Primary Grade Children

This study compares the performances of two matched groups of primary grade children on tasks of temporal and spatial abilities. One group received an intensive exposure to the Kodaly Music Training Program, while the other group did not. The results indicated that the music group performed more effectively on both temporal and spatial tasks than the non-music control group. Sex differences are also reported in which experimental group boys demonstrated a significantly better level of performance than control boys. Comparison with a second control group indicated that children receiving the Kodaly Music Program performed more effectively on reading tests than comparable groups of first graders not receiving this music instruction. This facilitative effect on reading performance was observed beyond the first grade level when the music program was continued.
Career Incentives and “Publish or Perish” in German and U.S. Universities

Increasingly, faculty members are rewarded financially for prestige-maximizing publications. As a result, the balance between publishing and other activities such as teaching or public service may collapse, as argued by Leisyte, Enders, and de Boer (2009). In our paper, we focus on career-related rewards and study their impact on publication productivity to see whether economic incentives do indeed affect faculty behavior, as measured empirically. We compare economic incentives resulting from two different career systems, namely those within the German and the U.S. university systems. We derive three hypotheses regarding expected publication patterns and test them by comparing the lifetime publication patterns of German and U.S. business and economics faculty members.
Predicting Achievement in Mathematics in Adolescent Students

The study examined individual factors and social factors that influence adolescent students’ achievement in mathematics. The predictive model suggested direct positive effects of student intelligence, self-rated openness and parental education on achievement in mathematics, whereas direct effects of extraversion on measures of achievement were negative. Indirect positive effects of intelligence, self-rated conscientiousness, student-perceived mathematics teacher’s press for understanding and mastery goal, and a negative effect of student-rated parental academic pressure on course achievement were mediated through the students’ self-efficacy in mathematics. The findings highlight the important role that individual differences in ability and personality, as well as student perceptions of parent and teacher academically related variables, play in the students’ performance in mathematics.
Actinomyces naeslundii Displays VariantfimP and fimA Fimbrial Subunit Genes Corresponding to Different Types of Acidic Proline-Rich Protein and β-Linked Galactosamine Binding Specificity

ABSTRACT Actinomyces naeslundii genospecies 1 and 2 bind to acidic proline-rich proteins (APRPs) and statherin via type 1 fimbriae and to β-linked galactosamine (GalNAcβ) structures via type 2 fimbriae. In addition, A. naeslundii displays two types of binding specificity for both APRPs-statherin and GalNAcβ, while Actinomyces odontolyticusbinds to unknown structures. To study the molecular basis for these binding specificities, DNA fragments spanning the entire or central portions of fimP (type 1) and fimA (type 2) fimbrial subunit genes were amplified by PCR from strains of genospecies 1 and 2 and hybridized with DNA from two independent collections of oral Actinomyces isolates. Isolates of genospecies 1 and 2 and A. odontolyticus, but no otherActinomyces species, were positive for hybridization withfimP and fimA full-length probes irrespective of binding to APRPs and statherin, GalNAcβ, or unknown structures. Isolates of genospecies 1 and 2, with deviating patterns of GalNAcβ1-3Galα-O-ethyl-inhibitable coaggregation with Streptococcus oralis Ss34 and MPB1, were distinguished by a fimA central probe from genospecies 1 and 2, respectively. Furthermore, isolates of genospecies 1 and 2 displaying preferential binding to APRPs over statherin were positive with a fimP central probe, while a genospecies 2 strain with the opposite binding preference was not. The sequences offimP and fimA central gene segments were highly conserved among isolates with the same, but diversified between those with a variant, binding specificity. In conclusion, A. naeslundii exhibits variant fimP andfimA genes corresponding to diverse APRP and GalNAcβ specificities, respectively, while A. odontolyticus has a genetically related but distinct adhesin binding specificity.
The role of dopamine in Toxoplasma-induced behavioural alterations in mice: an ethological and ethopharmacological study

Toxoplasma gondii, a cosmopolitan protozoan parasite, is known to induce behavioural alterations in rodents and may exert an effect on human personality and behaviour. The mechanism of parasite-induced alterations in host behaviour has not been described, but it was hypothesized that development of Toxoplasma tissue cysts in the brain could affect the dopaminergic neuromodulatory system. In this study, we tested the effect of latent Toxoplasma infection on mouse behaviour associated with activity of the dopaminergic system, i.e. locomotion in a novel environment and exploration test. Additionally, we examined the behavioural response of Toxoplasma-infected mice to a selective dopamine uptake inhibitor, GBR 12909. In both genders, Toxoplasma infection decreased locomotion in the open field. Infected females displayed an increased level of exploration in the holeboard test. GBR 12909 induced suppression in holeboard-exploration in the infected males, but had an opposite effect on the controls. These results suggest an association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and changes in the dopaminergic neuromodulatory system.
Kinetics Model for Initiation and Promotion for Describing Tumor Prevalence From HZE Radiation

A kinetics model for cellular repair and misrepair for multiple radiation-induced lesions (mutation-inactivation) is coupled to a two-mutation model of initiation and promotion in tissue to provide a parametric description of tumor prevalence in the Harderian gland in a mouse. Dose-response curves are described for gamma-rays and relativistic ions. The effects of nuclear fragmentation are also considered for high-energy proton and alpha-particle exposures. The model described provides a parametric description of age-dependent cancer induction for a wide range of radiation fields. We also consider the two hypotheses that radiation acts either solely as an initiator or as both initiator and promoter and make model calculations for fractionation exposures from gamma-rays and relativistic Fe ions. For fractionated Fe exposures, an inverse dose-rate effect is provided by a promotion hypothesis using a mutation rate for promotion typical of single-gene mutations.
Effect of Endoscopic Sinus Surgery on Pulmonary Status of Adults with Cystic Fibrosis

Objective Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) provides symptomatic relief of sinus disease in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), but it is unclear whether it has beneficial effects on lung disease in this population. This study assessed the effect of FESS on the respiratory status of adult patients with CF. Study Design Retrospective chart review. Setting Tertiary medical center. Subjects Thirty-two adult patients with CF who underwent 45 operative cases. Methods Clinical information retrieved for the 12-month periods preceding and following to determine the effect of FESS on the rate of decline in lung function, as well as intravenous antibiotic use and hospitalization for pulmonary exacerbation. Results The rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second and forced vital capacity was not significantly different in the 12 months before and after FESS. Functional endoscopic sinus surgery did not reduce days hospitalized or days on intravenous antibiotics for a respiratory exacerbation in the pre- vs postoperative period. Limiting the analysis to the 30 surgeries that were performed in patients with concomitant respiratory symptoms (ie, excluding the 15 surgeries performed for sinus symptoms alone) did not significantly alter the results. Covariates of importance in CF, including CFTR genotype, gender, or microbiology, did not affect the study results. Conclusion These results did not demonstrate an effect of FESS on progression of lung disease in patients with CF, but further research is needed because low statistical power has made some of the negative findings inconclusive.
Mindfulness skills are associated with female orgasm?

Mindfulness was studied in relation to sexual distress and the ability to achieve orgasm. The initial hypotheses were that mindfulness abilities would predict women's level of sexual distress and that orgasmic women would possess greater mindfulness skills. In total, 251 women (176 orgasmic women and 75 anorgasmic women) responded to several questionnaires online: the Female Sexual Distress Scale – Revised (FSDS-R), the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Sexual Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-S). According to our results, mindfulness during dyadic sexual activities (FFMQ-S) explained 54% of the variability in sexual distress (FSDS-R). Overall, orgasmic women reported more mindfulness than anorgasmic women, both in daily life (FFMQ) and significantly more during dyadic sexual activities (FFMQ-S). In conclusion, our results support the evaluation of women's level of mindfulness during dyadic sexual activities and the integration of mindfulness training in future sex therapy treatments.
Client Side Personalization

We describe an approach to personalization that emphasizes the "client side. " We posit the need for a highly individualistic user context that resides on the client machine. This context and the system that exploits it can then be used in conjunction with a broad range of search services, from highly specialized and structured digital libraries to the completely undisciplined World Wide Web. We present an initial version of the "Web Host Access Tool", (WHAT) that provides us with a testing suite for personalized search. A data collection system, the "WHAT Observer" is also described that allows us to automatically and efficiently test the veracity of iterations of the WHAT system.