Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abnormal magnetization transfer ratios in normal-appearing white matter on conventional MR images of patients with occlusive cerebrovascular disease.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Chronic hypoperfusion may cause ischemic insult in the deep white matter. The magnetization transfer phenomenon is associated with the amount and constitution of myelin. The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) for detecting vasculometabolic abnormalities on positron emission tomography (PET) studies in patients with unilateral severe stenosis of the internal carotid artery (ICA). METHODS MTR maps and PET data-including regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), regional cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (rCMRO(2)), and regional oxygen extraction fraction (rOEF)-were investigated in 13 patients with unilateral severe stenosis of the ICA. The same regions of interest were selected in the white matter both on MTR maps and PET scans. The areas were classified into three groups based on MTR values (group 0, MTR >47.22%; group 1, MTR = 45.77% to 47.22%; group 2, MTR <45.77%), and the relationship between MTR and PET data was analyzed by means of both absolute values and asymmetric index (AI). RESULTS Abnormal values could not be detected in the areas classified as group 0. The areas classified as group 1 were characterized by absolutely normal values of rCMRO(2) and increased rOEF with AI, which was assessed as viable and reversible on the PET study. The areas classified as group 2 showed decreased rCMRO(2) with absolute values, which was considered irreversible in PET. A significant overall linear correlation was found between MTR and rCMRO(2) values. CONCLUSION Using the MTR technique to classify ischemic damage into three groups (normal, reversible, and irreversible), we found a significant correlation between the reduction of MTR and that of rCMRO(2) in white matter with ICA stenosis. We believe that the MTR technique may partly replace PET data in the assessment of ischemic injury.
Fear-related avoidance of activities, falls and physical frailty. A prospective community-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVE to investigate the relationship between fear-related avoidance of activities and physical frailty. SUBJECTS AND METHODS fear-related avoidance of activities, physical performance, maximal isometric muscle strength and postural control were assessed in 225 community-living elderly (94 men and 131 women), aged between 61 and 92 years of age. RESULTS bivariate analyses revealed significant correlations between avoidance of activities on the one hand, and physical performance, muscle strength, forward endpoint excursion of the centre of gravity, and previous falls on the other hand. Logistic regression analysis revealed that fear of falling and avoidance of activities in daily life were predictive of falls within a 1-year follow-up, together with general fear of falling, old age and being female. CONCLUSIONS fear-related avoidance of activities may have negative effects on physical abilities and may also be predictive for future falls. Avoidance of activities is therefore an important additional psychological variable in the development of physical frailty and falling in community-living elderly.
Pivotal Areas in Intervention for Autism

Discusses several core pivotal areas that appear to be influential in intervention for autism. Literature and outcome data are reviewed with respect to several core areas that appear to be particularly helpful in intervention for autism, including improving motivation, responsivity to multiple cues, self-management, and self-initiation of social interactions. A conceptual framework is described, and outcome data are reviewed suggesting that when children with autism are motivated to initiate complex social interactions, it may reverse a cycle of impairment, resulting in exceptionally favorable intervention outcomes for many children. Because the peripheral features of autism can be numerous and extensive, the concept of intervention for pivotal areas of functioning may be critical if children are to be habilitated in a time- and cost-efficient manner.
TOWARDS A EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL?

ABSTRACT The market-enhancing regulations of the European Union (EU) place political and economic constraints on the Member States. This has been expected to induce convergence of social policies, generally in a downward direction. At the same time the notion of a European Social Model has been launched as a strategy to make marketization socially acceptable, pointing to a development in a different direction. This paper examines key aspects of the development of the main social insurance programs during the period 1980–2000 in 14 EU Member States. Are there significant signs of convergence in the replacement rates of social insurance programs and do broader development trends of the social insurance systems indicate converging institutional models? The results indicate divergence rather than convergence of social insurance replacement rates. In terms of institutional models there is no evidence of a common European Social Model in the area of social insurance over the past decades.
Osmolyte controlled fibrillation kinetics of insulin: New insight into fibrillation using the preferential exclusion principle

Amyloid proteins are converted from their native‐fold to long β‐sheet‐rich fibrils in a typical sigmoidal time‐dependent protein aggregation curve. This reaction process from monomer or dimer to oligomer to nuclei and then to fibrils is the subject of intense study. The main results of this work are based on the use of a well‐studied model amyloid protein, insulin, which has been used in vitro by others. Nine osmolyte molecules, added during the protein aggregation process for the production of amyloid fibrils, slow‐down or speed up the process depending on the molecular structure of each osmolyte. Of these, all stabilizing osmolytes (sugars) slow down the aggregation process in the following order: tri > di > monosaccharides, whereas destabilizing osmolytes (urea, guanidium hydrochloride) speed up the aggregation process in a predictable way that fits the trend of all osmolytes. With respect to kinetics, we illustrate, by adapting our earlier reaction model to the insulin system, that the intermediates (trimers, tetramers, pentamers, etc.) are at very low concentrations and that nucleation is orders of magnitude slower than fibril growth. The results are then collated into a cogent explanation using the preferential exclusion and accumulation of osmolytes away from and at the protein surface during nucleation, respectively. Both the heat of solution and the neutral molecular surface area of the osmolytes correlate linearly with two fitting parameters of the kinetic rate model, that is, the lag time and the nucleation rate prior to fibril formation. These kinetic and thermodynamic results support the preferential exclusion model and the existence of oligomers including nuclei and larger structures that could induce toxicity. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog. , 2009
Rethinking Advertising Skepticism in China after West

Abstract: The present article reviews skepticism on the instrument of advertising in China which emphasizes that advertising in its existing institution doesn’t fit in the Chinese context. The literature reveals that consumer perceives the meaning of controversial, deceitful and waste of resources of advertising practice. It is reason of consumption of luxurious goods and increases the values of advertised item. Consumerism, consumer culture, sexual imagery, materialism and social differences are the conducive elements by advertisers to exploit for their utmost desire of maximization of profits. The review indicates that the regulation/code of conduct of advertising in the Western style is not a panacea. The elucidation of advertising as phenomena can arguably be addressed in the indigenous socio-political and cultural setting. In post-socialist China, Confucius ideals recommended as cultural, political, social and economic manifestation for authorities. It is suggested that institutionalization of advertising in accordance to Confucius’ “li”, “ren” and “xiaokang” serve the objectives of harmony, fair balance between economic growth and development and moreover issues concerning to the ecology. Key Words: Advertising scepticism; Advertising regulation; China; Confucius norms; Consumerism; Material cultureResume: Le present article suggere des commentaires de l’effet de scepticisme sur l'instrument de la publicite en Chine, lequel souligne que la publicite dans son institution existante ne rentre pas parfaitement dans le contexte chinois. La litterature montre que le consommateur percoit le sens de la controverse, fourbe et le gaspillage des ressources de la pratique de la publicite. C'est la raison de la consommation de biens de luxe et augmente les valeurs de l'annonce. Societe de consommation, la culture de consommation, de l'imagerie sexuelle, le materialisme et les differences sociales sont les elements conductifs par les annonceurs d'exploiter pour leur plus grand desir de maximisation des profits. L'examen indique que le reglement / code de conduite de la publicite dans le style Occidental n'est pas une panacee. L'elucidation de la publicite en tant que phenomenes peut sans doute etre abordee dans le contexte socio-politique et culturelle de milieu indigene. En post-socialiste de la Chine, les ideaux de Confucius ont recommande que les manifestations culturelles, politiques, sociales et economiques pour les autorites. Il est suggere que l'institutionnalisation de la publicite conformement selon le Confucius "li", "ren" et "xiaokang" servent les objectifs de l'harmonie, le juste equilibre entre la croissance economique et le developpement et d'ailleurs les questions relatives a l'ecologie. Mots cles: L’effet de scepticisme de la publicite; Reglementation de la publicite; La Chine; Les normes de Confucius; Le consumerisme; La culture materielle
Individual Knowledge Sharing Behavior in Organizations

Knowledge management is one of the most important research streams in IS research since knowledge is being seen as a vital and significant strategic organizational resource that can influence the competitive advantages of the organization. Organizations have been trying to understand how knowledge is created, shared, and used within the organization as they need to capitalize on the knowledge they possess. Knowledge exists and is shared at different levels (individual, group, and organization level) in organizations. This paper reviews existing literature in this area and presents a framework that identifies factors that most significantly influence knowledge sharing between individuals in organizations.
Shift covariant time-frequency distributions of discrete signals

Many commonly used time-frequency distributions are members of the Cohen (1989) class. This class is defined for continuous signals, and since time-frequency distributions in the Cohen class are quadratic, the formulation for discrete signals is not straightforward. The Cohen class can be derived as the class of all quadratic time-frequency distributions that are covariant to time shifts and frequency shifts. We extend this method to three types of discrete signals to derive what we call the discrete Cohen classes. The properties of the discrete Cohen classes differ from those of the original Cohen class. To illustrate these properties, we also provide explicit relationships between the classical Wigner distribution and the discrete Cohen classes.
Infectious Molecular Clones with the Nonhomologous Dimer Initiation Sequences Found in Different Subtypes of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Can Recombine and Initiate a Spreading Infection In Vitro

ABSTRACT Recombinant forms of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) have been shown to be of major importance in the global AIDS pandemic. Viral RNA dimer formation mediated by the dimerization initiation sequence (DIS) is believed to be essential for viral genomic RNA packaging and therefore for RNA recombination. Here, we demonstrate that HIV-1 recombination and replication are not restricted by variant DIS loop sequences. Three DIS loop forms found among HIV-1 isolates, DIS (CG), DIS (TA), and DIS (TG), when introduced into deletion mutants of HIV-1 recombined efficiently, and the progeny virions replicated with comparable kinetics. A fourth DIS loop form, containing an artificial AAAAAA sequence disrupting the putative DIS loop-loop interactions [DIS (A6)], supported efficient recombination with DIS loop variants; however, DIS (A6) progeny virions exhibited a modest replication disadvantage in mixed cultures. Our studies indicate that the nonhomologous DIS sequences found in different HIV-1 subtypes are not a primary obstacle to intersubtype recombination.
A technique for sidelobe suppression in OFDM systems

In this paper, a new technique for sidelobe suppression in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is proposed and investigated. This technique can be applied to both pure OFDM and OFDM based multiple-access systems to improve spectral efficiency. Moreover, it can be utilized within OFDM based overlay systems to avoid interference towards the legacy systems operating in the same frequency band as the overlay system. The proposed sidelobe suppression technique is based on subcarrier weighting. The real-valued subcarrier weights are determined in such a way that the sidelobes of the transmission signal are minimized using an optimization algorithm which is capable to take several optimization constraints into account. Results show that sidelobes can be easily suppressed by more than 10 dB with the proposed technique. These results are achieved by allowing only a moderate loss in bit-error rate performance.
Physical Attractiveness in Adaptationist Perspective.

How and why do our minds generate different levels of attraction to others? This chapter integrates life history, evolutionary psychology, and human biology approaches to address this question. Biological adaptations regulate a vast number of life history trade-offs that affect how we look, smell, sound, and behave. Selection produced adaptations that evaluate these cues and regulate our degree of attraction to others based on their relative probable social value to us in different contexts. This chapter outlinesthe alternative evolutionary explanations for the emergence of an attraction,basic components necessary for attraction systems to evolve, and sources of variation in attractiveness assessment. It identifies different domains of social value for which attractiveness assessment evolved, reviews evidence for some of the hypothesized attractiveness-assessment adaptations in those domains, and highlights avenues calling for increased attention. Finally, it calls for greater integration of evolutionary psychology, human biological research, and data from small-scale foraging societies to generate predictions about these domains of social value, the cues or signals associated with them, adaptations selected to regulate attraction to them, and the life history trade-offs involved in these processes. New research on body shape attractiveness is presented to illustrate these points. Keywords: attractiveness; life history; beauty; social value; waist-to-hip ratio; body shape
Careers, identities, and institutions: the legacy of the Chicago School of Sociology

A sociology which forgets its past may be committed to the continuous rediscovery of old ideas. When the provenance of thought is unknown, authorship can be claimed by those who lack any proper title to it. Old issues are proclaimed innovations, only to recede again into the limbo from which they were retrieved. The unstated component … is a fertile culture for the emergence of a cyclical pattern of recovery and loss. Paul Rock, 1979 Specialization rarely proceeds by simply redistributing tasks. Instead, most specialties evolve gradually by pruning back an initially broader set of interests. By sloughing off the fuzzier elements of earlier thought in favor of more developed concepts, nascent specialties ostensibly select more precise tools for roughing out a cumulative line of inquiry. In the process, however, fruitful but less articulate ideas may fall through the discipline's cracks. Consequently, when specialists stop to take stock of their progress, as is the partial function of a handbook such as this, they should not only seek to consolidate their hard-won treasures but also attempt to uncover long-neglected paths once blazed by their forebears. By so doing, specialists may reclaim realms of inquiry that might now be more profitably explored. Thus, it is with an eye to enriching career theory that this essay deals in what may seem the all-too-distant past. My intent, however, is neither to write a history of career theory nor to lead modern scholars on a pilgrimage to their roots. Though such a trek might prove enlightening, it begs for a focus broader than my own.
Towards Cosmopolis: Planning for Multicultural Cities

THEORETICAL AIRINGS A Death Foretold: A Chronicle of Modernist Planning Re/presenting Planning's Histories Exploring Planning's Knowledges The Difference that Theory Makes Voices from the Borderlands: The Theory that Difference Makes GROUNDINGS: INSURGENT PRACTICES Insurgent Practices: A Thousand Tiny Empowerments. POSTMODERN POSSIBILITIES: COSMOPOLIS AND PLANNING Towards Cosmopolis: A Postmodern Utopia Planning for Cosmopolis: A New Paradigm Appendix Endnotes References Index.
Hydrogen-related volatile defects as the possible cause for the recoverable component of NBTI

The recently suggested time-dependent defect spectroscopy (TDDS) has allowed us to study the recoverable component of NBTI at the single-defect level. To go beyond our previous efforts, we have performed a long-term TDDS study covering also the kilo-second time window. We found that even in this extended window NBTI recovery is due to a collection of first-order reactions. In particular, there is no trace of a diffusion-limited process as assumed in the reaction-diffusion model. Most intriguingly, the responsible traps show various degrees of volatility, that is, they can disappear and reappear. Our observations lend strong support to the idea that the recoverable component of NBTI is due to hydrogen-related defects which are active when a hydrogen atom is at the defect site and inactive when not.
Generalized Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling

We consider the non-metric multidimensional scaling problem: given a set of dissimilarities ∆, find an embedding whose inter-point Euclidean distances have the same ordering as ∆. In this paper, we look at a generalization of this problem in which only a set of order relations of the form dij < dkl are provided. Unlike the original problem, these order relations can be contradictory and need not be specified for all pairs of dissimilarities. We argue that this setting is more natural in some experimental settings and propose an algorithm based on convex optimization techniques to solve this problem. We apply this algorithm to human subject data from a psychophysics experiment concerning how reflectance properties are perceived. We also look at the standard NMDS problem, where a dissimilarity matrix ∆ is provided as input, and show that we can always find an orderrespecting embedding of ∆.
Inhibition of TRP3 Channels by Lanthanides

The lanthanide ions La3+ and Gd3+ block Ca2+-permeable cation channels and have been used as important tools to characterize channels of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family. However, widely different concentrations of La3+ and Gd3+ have reportedly been required for block of TRP3 channels in various expression systems. The present study provides a possible explanation for this discrepancy. After overexpression of TRP3 in Chinese hamster ovary cells, whole-cell currents through TRP3 were reversibly inhibited by La3+with an EC50 of 4 μm. For comparison, the organic blocker SKF96365 required an EC50 of 8 μm. Gd3+ blocked with an EC50 of 0.1 μm, but this block was slow in onset and was not reversible after wash-out. When the two lanthanides were added to the cytosolic side of inside-out patches, block was achieved with considerably lower concentrations (EC50 for La3+, 0.02 μm; EC50 for Gd3+, 0.02 μm). Uptake of La3+into the cytosol of Chinese hamster ovary cells was demonstrated with intracellular fura-2. We conclude that lanthanides block TRP3 more potently from the cytosolic than from the extracellular side of the plasma membrane and that uptake of lanthanides will largely affect the apparent EC50 values after extracellular application.
Pharmacokinetic Study in Mice of Galphimine-A, an Anxiolytic Compound from Galphimia glauca

The aim of this study was to obtain pharmacokinetic data for the anxiolytic compound galphimine-A (G–A) from Galphimia glauca. G–A is the most abundant anxiolytic compound in this plant, while Galphimine-E (G–E) is the most abundant galphimine, but inactive. G–E was transformed chemically into G–A. The pharmacokinetic study was carried out in ICR mice, which were orally administered a single 200 mg/kg dose of G–A. Samples of blood and brain were taken at different times after administration of G–A. Previously, we established the validation of methods for determining the concentration of G–A. The G–A was detected in plasma 5 min after oral administration, and its concentration reached 2.47 μg/mL. Data from concentration-time curves allowed us to establish the main pharmacokinetic parameters in two models: one- and/or two-compartment. Cmax values were 3.33 and 3.42 μg/mL respectively, likewise AUC0→1440 min were 1,951.58 and 1,824.95 μg/mL·min. The G–A in brain tissue was noted to cross the blood-brain barrier, reaching Cmax 2.74 μg/mL, Tmax 81.6 min, and then drop gradually to 0.32 μg/mL detected at 24 h. The presence of G–A in brain tissue, confirmed that this anxiolytic compound can access the target organ and acts directly on the CNS.
REFLECTING ON EXPERIENCE FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Adrian Y.L. Chan, Ph.D University of Nebraska, 2010 Advisor: Fred Luthans This study proposes that being reflective or ruminative about one's leadership experience can have differential effects on one's leadership efficacy, implicit leadership theories and psychological capital. Specifically, through the aid of an event history calendar, conscript military trainees of high and low military experience from a SE Asian military organization were randomly assigned to recall and reflect or ruminate on his past leadership experience. Results show that type of reflection interacts with level of military leadership experience to differentially affect one's leadership efficacy, implicit leadership theories and leadership self-awareness. Reflection triggers produced significantly higher levels of implicit leadership theories under both low and high leadership experience conditions. In the low leadership experience condition, reflection triggers resulted in higher levels of leadership efficacy and leadership self-awareness but was not significant. On the other hand, in the high leadership experience condition, the reflection triggers performed significantly worse than the rumination triggers. Implications for the findings are discussed.