Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stroop Effect: Interference and Facilitation with Verbal and Manual Responses

Two groups of 12 volunteers manually (button pushing) or verbally identified the ink color of 5, randomly ordered and tachistoscopically presented, kinds of stimulus conditions, specified by the nature of the noncolor information and the relationship between color and noncolor information: Congruent Color Words, Noncolor Words, Scrambled Color Words, Nonword Geometric Shapes, and Noncongruent Color Words. With verbal response, facilitation of reaction time occurred for Congruent Color Words compared to Scrambled Color Words and Noncolor Words but not when compared to the Nonword Control, while with manual response facilitation appeared for all comparisons. Interference appeared for both groups, with Noncongruent Color Words having the slowest reaction time. The present design corrected for inadequacies in previous studies and more firmly established the conclusion of parallel perceptual processing of color and noncolor information, with facilitation/interference effects being localized in postperceptual decision operations of signal summation and response competition.
High expression of ALDH1 and SOX2 diffuse staining pattern of oral squamous cell carcinomas correlates to lymph node metastasis

One of the major factors involved in the prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients is metastasis. Recent progress in cancer stem‐like cell/cancer‐initiating cell (CSC/CIC) research indicates that CSCs are related to metastasis. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 – (ALDH1) and SRY‐related HMG‐box gene 2 (SOX2) have recently been shown to be putative CSC markers for several human malignancies. The aim of this study was to determine the association of ALDH1 and SOX2 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) with lymph node metastasis. Immunohistochemical staining of ALDH1, SOX2 and Ki67 was performed in 80 OSCC tissues. High expression rates of ALDH1 (2%–40%) were found to be related to lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0017). Interestingly, we found that SOX2 staining could be classified into two patterns: (i) peripheral staining pattern; and (ii) diffuse staining pattern. The diffuse staining pattern showed a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis (P < 0.001). No correlation was found between Ki67 staining and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.4724). The ALDH1 positive staining rates in metastatic lymph nodes were higher than that in corresponding primary OSCC tissues. These results indicate that high expression rates of ALDH1 and SOX2 diffuse staining patterns might be novel prediction markers for OSCC lymph node metastasis.
Antibody response to an eleven valent diphtheria- and tetanus-conjugated pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Filipino infants

Background. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines are intended to provide effective protection against pneumococcal infections, but very little information on antibody responses in infants living in countries with high pneumococcal disease burden exists. Methods. In this study 50 healthy Filipino infants were enrolled at a village health center in Cabuyao to receive 11-valent diphtheria- and tetanus-conjugated pneumococcal vaccine at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age (primary series) simultaneously with diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis/polyribosylribitol phosphate conjugated to tetanus toxoid, hepatitis B virus and oral poliovirus vaccines and at 9 months of age (booster dose) simultaneously with measles vaccine. The alum-adjuvanted study vaccine contained pneumococcal polysaccharide of serotypes 1, 4, 5, 7F, 9V, 19F and 23F conjugated to tetanus protein and pneumococcal polysaccharide of serotypes 3, 6B, 14 and 18C conjugated to diphtheria toxoid. Serum samples for enzyme immunoassay analyses were collected at 6, 10 and 14 weeks and 9 and 10 months of age. Results. Very high geometric mean antibody concentrations (GMCs) against most pneumococcal serotypes were observed after the first three doses of vaccine (range, serotype 23F, 3.89 &mgr;g/ml to serotype 4, 23.41 &mgr;g/ml) with the exception of serotype 6B and 14, with GMCs of 1.12 and 2.18 &mgr;g/ml, respectively. The fourth dose increased the GMCs against most serotypes (range, serotype 14, 1.65 to serotype 19F, 33.43 &mgr;g/ml). The maternally derived antibodies did not decrease the response to the vaccine. Conclusions. This first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine study in Asia confirms that the 11-valent diphtheria- and tetanus-conjugated pneumococcal vaccine is highly immunogenic in Filipino infants. The GMCs against most pneumococcal serotypes were substantially higher than described with the same or other pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in other populations.
MEMS and NEMS with integrated cavity optomechanical readout

By integrating microdisk optical cavities with MEMS and NEMS, we achieve on-chip interferometric motion sensing with better than 1 fm/Hz½ precision and 1 GHz bandwidth. These transducers are less than 20 um in size, stable, self-aligned and fiber connectorized. Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) fabrication, operation at standard telecom wavelengths and design separating optical and mechanical parts enable a variety of applications. We read out picogram-scale nanomechanical probes for high speed atomic force microscopy (AFM). We also demonstrate 1000x suppression of random thermal motion of an electrostatically actuated MEMS transducer, using feedback to optimize for high bandwidth mechanical force sensing.
Achieving the potential of HIV prevention interventions: critical global need for collaborative dissemination efforts

Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 25 million people have died from AIDS [1] and an estimated 33 million individuals are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide [1]. Every day, over 5700 individuals die from AIDS [1] and approximately 6800 people become newly infected with HIV [1]. In the absence of an effective HIV prevention vaccine, and in light of substantial vaccine-development setbacks [2], the current best means for combating the epidemic is widespread implementation of effective HIV prevention interventions [3], including those that are medically-focused (e.g., circumcision, antiretrovirals for prevention of vertical transmission) and those that are behaviorally-focused (e.g., interventions to increase condom use, HIV testing, and safer injection drug use practices). To date, medical, behavioral, and social scientists have dedicated a tremendous amount of time and resources to developing evidence-based HIV prevention interventions for a range of populations and prevention settings, using an array of intervention approaches and intervention delivery methods [4]. Despite such advances, widespread application of effective HIV prevention interventions has been minimal. A considerable number of HIV infections and AIDS deaths worldwide are a result of inadequate access to HIV prevention services, rather than lack of important breakthroughs in the prevention field [5]. Mathematical modeling techniques have identified cost-effective and even cost-saving evidence-based medical and behavioral interventions with the ability to avert millions of new HIV infections [5]. However, we will fail to prevent a significant number of deaths if we do not take immediate action towards disseminating these effective HIV prevention interventions widely.
Testosterone Levels and Evoked Vocal Responses in a Natural Population of the FrogBatrachyla taeniata


Relationships between testosterone plasma levels and evoked vocal responses of males of the leptodactylid frog Batrachyla taeniata from southern Chile were studied. Evoked vocal responses were elicited in the field with playbacks of a synthetic imitation of the conspecific advertisement call and variants of this signal for which different temporal parameters were modified. Testosterone plasma levels were measured with radioimmunoassay in blood samples obtained from the experimental subjects immediately after the playback experiments and from nonstimulated males. Testosterone levels between groups did not differ significantly. A significant correlation between testosterone concentration and number of calls given in response to the synthetic advertisement call was found. Testosterone levels were also significantly correlated with the total number of calls given by the experimental subjects in response to the complete series of stimuli. Other measures of evoked vocal responses, i.e., number of pulses per call, call duration, pulse rate, and latency to first call, were not significantly correlated with testosterone levels. These results indicate a predominant effect of testosterone on the motivation of males of B. taeniata to call, rather than on the physical attributes of the vocalizations.
Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection for Subprime Lending and Securitization - Priced or not Priced?

This paper provides an overall test of whether prices in the subprime mortgage market reflect the quality of the underlying loans. One hypothesis is that the subprime mortgage market is a lemons market in which investors may end up with poor quality securities and pay prices unrelated to quality. The paper’s method of testing this hypothesis is to use high loan denial rates to identify subprime lenders with good underwriting practices, and use low loan denial rates to identify lenders with less stringent underwriting practices. The paper then matches this data to a dataset containing the initial yields on subprime ABSs issued over the period 2004-2007 and to the CDS spreads of home equity issuers over this same time period. The initial ABS yields provide us with investors’ assessment of the credit risk associated with the ABS notes. The CDS spreads of the home equity issuers provide us with investors’ assessment of the credit risk associated with their loan portfolios ‐ the value of which will typically include first-loss pieces. We then use these spreads to test whether there is tiering between issuers and find positive results. This leads to a rejection of the hypothesis that bad loans have driven out good loans in the subprime market.
Structure and expression of the mRNA for murine granulocyte‐macrophage colony stimulating factor.

A cDNA containing a virtually complete copy of the mRNA for the haemopoietic growth regulator, granulocyte‐macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM‐CSF), has been isolated from a murine T lymphocyte cDNA library. When a eukaryotic expression vector with this cDNA coupled to the SV40 late promoter was introduced into simian COS cells, significant quantities of GM‐CSF were secreted. Since all of the biological activities previously ascribed to highly purified GM‐CSF were exhibited in the COS cell‐derived GM‐CSF, all of these activities are intrinsic to the product of a single gene. There are two potential translational initiation codons in the GM‐CSF mRNA; the first is buried in the stem and the second located in the loop of a very stable hairpin structure. Expression studies using deletion derivatives of the cDNA indicated that the second AUG is able to initiate the translation and secretion of GM‐CSF. The amino acid sequence of the leader peptide is rather atypical for a secreted protein and we speculate that molecules which initiate at the first AUG might exist as integral membrane proteins whereas those initiating at the second are secreted.
Patterns of Climate Change Across Wisconsin From 1950 to 2006

Trends in meteorological and ecological variables were calculated across the state of Wisconsin from 1950 to 2006 to quantify recent patterns of climate change. In summary, annual average nighttime low temperatures have increased by 0.6 to 2.2° C, whereas the annual average daytime high temperatures have warmed by 0.3 to 0.6° C. Annual average precipitation has increased by 50-100 mm in the central and southern portions of the state, about a 10-15% increase, while precipitation across the far northern portion of the state appears to have declined by 20-60 mm since 1950, with the most pronounced decrease occurring during summer. On a seasonal basis, warming temperatures are more pronounced during winter and springtime, and nighttime temperatures are warming faster than daytime high temperatures. Some cooling trends in daytime high temperatures were observed during late summer and fall, particularly in the northeast and far southwest portions of the state. We calculated that the length of the growing season has increased by 5 to 20 days, with the greatest change in the central and northern part of Wisconsin. The annual number of days each year with low temperatures less than 0° F (-17.8° C) has diminished substantially, while the number of days each year with highs greater than 90°F (32.2° C) has remained relatively constant. A slight shift northward of the ecological "Tension Zone" was also documented.
Ichthyocotylurus erraticus (Digenea: Strigeidae): factors affecting infection intensity and the effects of infection on pollan (Coregonus autumnalis), a glacial relict fish

Lough Neagh pollan are heavily infected with the strigeid Ichthyocotylurus erraticus, with 100% prevalence and median infection intensities of 600+ metacercariae in the pericardial cavity of mature fish. Female fish were more heavily infected than males. Infection intensity, which rose in summer, varied with pollan size, year, sampling bay within the lough and water depth within bays. Heavily infected pollan were caught further offshore than lightly infected fish. Spatial variation in pollan infection intensity corresponded to variation in the abundance of the first intermediate host, Valvata snails. The data suggest that heavily infected fish had lower food intakes. Parasitism reduced condition and liver size in male fish but condition in heavily parasitized females increased. Infection intensity was greater in larger fish of a given age. These patterns are discussed in the context of risks and rewards. The data suggest that inshore waters in summer are the preferred habitat of pollan and that the greater infection intensity of offshore fish results from their reduced competitive ability as a consequence of parasitism and the increased risk of infection there.
Influence of respiration-induced organ motion on dose distributions in treatments using enhanced dynamic wedges.

The mean velocity of respiration-induced organ motion in cranio-caudal direction is of the same magnitude as the velocity of the moving jaw during a treatment with an enhanced dynamic wedge. Therefore, if organ motion is present during collimator movement, the resulting dose distribution in wedge direction may differ from that obtained for the static case, i.e., without organ motion. The position as a function of time of the moving jaw has been derived from a log-file generated during each treatment. Parameters for the respiratory cycle and information about respiration-induced motion for organs in the upper abdomen were taken from the literature. Both movements were superimposed and the resulting monitor unit distribution has been calculated in the intrinsic coordinate system of the organ. The deviations from the static case have been studied as a function of wedge angle, amplitude of organ motion, respiratory rate, asymmetry of the respiratory cycle, beam energy, and the dose rate. If an amplitude of 30 mm and a respiratory rate of 10 min(-1) are assumed, the maximum deviation in monitor units is 2.5% for a 10 degees wedge, 7% for a 30 degrees wedge, and 16% for a 60 degrees wedge. Furthermore, a dose distribution for an organ undergoing respiration-induced motion has been generated and we found dose deviations of the same magnitude as calculated with the monitor unit distribution.
The relationship between doctors' and nurses' own weight status and their weight management practices: a systematic review

It has been established that health professionals' smoking and physical activity influence their related health‐promoting behaviours, but it is unclear whether health professionals' weight status also influences their related professional practices. A systematic review was conducted to understand the relationship between personal weight status and weight management practices. Nine eligible studies were identified from a search of the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Chinese databases. All included studies were cross‐sectional surveys employing self‐reported questionnaires. Weight management practice variables studied were classified under six practice indicators, developed from weight management guidelines. Syntheses of the findings from the selected studies suggest that: normal weight doctors and nurses were more likely than those who were overweight to use strategies to prevent obesity in‐patients, and, also, provide overweight or obese patients with general advice to achieve weight loss. Doctors' and nurses' own weight status was not found to be significantly related to their referral and assessment of overweight or obese patients, and associations with their relevant knowledge/skills and specific treatment behaviours were inconsistent. Additionally, in female, primary care providers, relevant knowledge and training, self‐efficacy and a clear professional identity emerged as positive predictors of weight management practices. This review's findings will need to be confirmed by prospective theoretically driven studies, which employ objective measures of weight status and weight management practices and involve multivariate analyses to identify the relative contribution of weight status to weight management.
Expression of Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subunit Genes in the Rat Autonomic Nervous System

In the autonomic nervous system efferent signals are relayed in sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia. Fast synaptic transmission between pre‐ and postsynaptic neurons is achieved by neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). There is still little known about the subunit composition of these receptors. Establishing the subunit composition of native neuronal nAChRs is important for the understanding of their functional properties both in vivo and after expression in heterologous expression systems. We have combined in situ hybridization and autoradiography to detect the presence of mRNAs encoding subunits of neuronal nAChRs in sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia. Inspection of the autoradiographs showed that the hybridization signal of five riboprobes (α3, 014–1, α7, β2 and β4) was significantly higher than the unspecific signal obtained with sense riboprobes. The distribution of α7 was tissue‐dependent: a7 riboprobe binding was detected in the neurons of the superior cervical ganglion, adrenal medulla and ciliary ganglion. In contrast, the α7 hybridization signal was found only in a small fraction (1 ‐3%) of the neurons of the sphenopalatine and otic ganglia. Our results are consistent with the idea that α3 mRNA expression levels are somewhat higher than those of α7, α4 ‐1, β2 and β4.
In vivo gene therapy of cancer with E. coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase.

We have developed a new strategy for the gene therapy of cancer based on the activation of purine nucleoside analogs by transduced E. coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP, E.C. 2.4.2.1). The approach is designed to generate antimetabolites intracellularly that would be too toxic for systemic administration. To determine whether this strategy could be used to kill tumor cells without host toxicity, nude mice bearing human malignant D54MG glioma tumors expressing E. coli PNP (D54-PNP) were treated with either 6-methylpurine-2'-deoxyriboside (MeP-dR) or arabinofuranosyl-2-fluoroadenine monophosphate (F-araAMP, fludarabine, a precursor of F-araA). Both prodrugs exhibited significant antitumor activity against established D54-PNP tumors at doses that produced no discernible systemic toxicity. Significantly, MeP-dR was curative against this slow growing solid tumor after only 3 doses. The antitumor effects showed a dose dependence on both the amount of prodrug given and the level of E. coli PNP expression within tumor xenografts. These results indicated that a strategy using E. coli PNP to create highly toxic, membrane permeant compounds that kill both replicating and nonreplicating cells is feasible in vivo, further supporting development of this cancer gene therapy approach.
Neural crest cell plasticity and its limits

The neural crest (NC) yields pluripotent cells endowed with migratory properties. They give rise to neurons, glia, melanocytes and endocrine cells, and to diverse `mesenchymal' derivatives. Experiments in avian embryos have revealed that the differentiation of the NC `neural' precursors is strongly influenced by environmental cues. The reversibility of differentiated cells (such as melanocytes or glia) to a pluripotent precursor state can even be induced in vitro by a cytokine, endothelin 3. The fate of `mesenchymal' NC precursors is strongly restricted by Hox gene expression. In this context, however, facial skeleton morphogenesis is under the control of a multistep crosstalk between the epithelia (endoderm and ectoderm) and NC cells.
Neurobiology of wisdom: a literature overview.

CONTEXT Wisdom is a unique psychological trait noted since antiquity, long discussed in humanities disciplines, recently operationalized by psychology and sociology researchers, but largely unexamined in psychiatry or biology. OBJECTIVE To discuss recent neurobiological studies related to subcomponents of wisdom identified from several published definitions/descriptions of wisdom by clinical investigators in the field, ie, prosocial attitudes/behaviors, social decision making/pragmatic knowledge of life, emotional homeostasis, reflection/self-understanding, value relativism/tolerance, and acknowledgment of and dealing effectively with uncertainty. DATA SOURCES Literature focusing primarily on neuroimaging/brain localization and secondarily on neurotransmitters, including their genetic determinants. STUDY SELECTION Studies involving functional neuroimaging or neurotransmitter functioning, examining human (rather than animal) subjects, and identified via a PubMed search using keywords from any of the 6 proposed subcomponents of wisdom were included. DATA EXTRACTION Studies were reviewed by both of us, and data considered to be potentially relevant to the neurobiology of wisdom were extracted. DATA SYNTHESIS Functional neuroimaging permits exploration of neural correlates of complex psychological attributes such as those proposed to comprise wisdom. The prefrontal cortex figures prominently in several wisdom subcomponents (eg, emotional regulation, decision making, value relativism), primarily via top-down regulation of limbic and striatal regions. The lateral prefrontal cortex facilitates calculated, reason-based decision making, whereas the medial prefrontal cortex is implicated in emotional valence and prosocial attitudes/behaviors. Reward neurocircuitry (ventral striatum, nucleus accumbens) also appears important for promoting prosocial attitudes/behaviors. Monoaminergic activity (especially dopaminergic and serotonergic), influenced by several genetic polymorphisms, is critical to certain subcomponents of wisdom such as emotional regulation (including impulse control), decision making, and prosocial behaviors. CONCLUSIONS We have proposed a speculative model of the neurobiology of wisdom involving frontostriatal and frontolimbic circuits and monoaminergic pathways. Wisdom may involve optimal balance between functions of phylogenetically more primitive brain regions (limbic system) and newer ones (prefrontal cortex). Limitations of the putative model are stressed. It is hoped that this review will stimulate further research in characterization, assessment, neurobiology, and interventions related to wisdom.