Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The voice of personality: stereotyped judgments and their relation to voice quality and sex of speaker.

Summary This study attempted to determine the relationship between personality judgments from voice and vocal properties of the voice, particularly with reference to the speaker's sex. The taped voices of 57 American college students (25 males and 32 females) were played to 100 raters (also American college undergraduates) who rated the voices on 10 personality traits. Measurements were made of six vocal characteristics for each of the taped voices. There were correlations between personality judgments from the voices and the vocal characteristics of the voices. Raters also used different cues for rating male voices as opposed to female voices. The results were considered in terms of cultural sex role stereotypes.
Abnormal expression of tyrosine hydroxylase not accompanied by phosphorylation at serine 40 in cerebellar Purkinje cells of ataxic mutant mice, rolling mouse Nagoya and dilute‐lethal

ABSTRACT This study examined immunohistochemically the expression of an enzymatically active form of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), phosphorylated TH at Ser40 (phospho‐TH), in the cerebellum of ataxic mutant mice, rolling mouse Nagoya (RMN) and dilute‐lethal (DL). TH immunostaining appeared in some Purkinje cells in RMN and DL, but in a few of the Purkinje cells of littermate controls for both mutants. In all groups of mice, there were no phospho‐TH immunoreactive Purkinje cells in the cerebellum, although the subsets of TH immunoreactive Purkinje cells were found in the adjacent sections. The results suggest that TH expression in the Purkinje cells of ataxic mutants abnormally increases without activation of this enzyme by phosphorylation. This may mean that TH in Purkinje cells is not related to catecholamine synthesis.
Effects of low-dose mizoribine pulse therapy in combination with methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis patients with an insufficient response to methotrexate

The aim was to determine the efficacy of low-dose intermittent pulse administration of mizoribine (MZR), a purine synthesis inhibitor, in combination with methotrexate (MTX) to control the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients with an insufficient clinical response to MTX alone. Twenty-seven patients with active RA, despite treatment with MTX, were enrolled and given MZR in combination with MTX and continued for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was assessment of clinical improvements using the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) criteria. Administering MZR to RA patients with an insufficient response to MTX produced significant improvements in the Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) after 8–24 weeks. In addition, after 24 weeks, 60.0% and 8.0% of patients had achieved moderate and good responses, respectively, and there were significant reductions in Modified Health Assessment Questionnaire and serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 levels. The present preliminary study suggests that low-dose MZR in combination with MTX is well tolerated and provides both clinical and economic benefits.
Postoperative Complications in the Seriously Mentally Ill: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Objective:To determine the knowledge base on clinical outcomes of surgery among persons diagnosed with serious mental illness. Background:Despite a burgeoning literature during the last 20 years regarding perioperative risk management, little is known about intraoperative and postoperative complications among patients with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. Methods:A systematic literature search of Medline (1966–August 2007) and review of studies was conducted. Eligible studies were of any design with at least 10 patients diagnosed with serious mental illness, reporting perioperative medical, surgical, or psychiatric complications. Results:The search identified 1367 potentially relevant publications; only 12 met eligibility criteria. Of 10 studies of patients with schizophrenia, 9 had fewer than 100 patients, whereas one large retrospective study reported higher rates of postoperative complications among 466 schizophrenia patients compared with 338,257 controls. These studies suggest that patients with schizophrenia, compared with those without mental illness, may have higher pain thresholds, higher rates of death and postoperative complications, and differential outcomes (eg, confusion, ileus) by anesthetic technique. Two studies evaluated outcomes in patients with major depressive disorder and found higher rates of postoperative delirium and postoperative confusion. Both schizophrenia and depression patients experienced more postoperative confusion or delirium when psychiatric medications were discontinued preoperatively. We identified no studies of perioperative outcomes in patients with bipolar or posttraumatic stress disorder. Conclusions:There are few studies of perioperative outcomes in patients with serious mental illness. Future research should assess surgical risks among patients with serious psychiatric conditions using rigorous methods and well-defined clinical outcomes.
Maugeri Respiratory Failure questionnaire reduced form: A method for improving the questionnaire using the Rasch model

Purpose. The Maugeri Respiratory Failure questionnaire (MRF-28) is the first instrument specifically developed for use with chronic respiratory failure (CRF) patients. The 28 items were selected using classical test theory. The purpose of the current analysis was to further refine the questionnaire using item response theory, specifically, the Rasch model analysis. Methods. Three hundred and seventeen CRF patients (mean aged 66.7 yrs; Male 219, Female 98) completed the MRF-28 health status measure. Data were collected through the self-report questionnaire and analyzed using 1-parameter logistic models by means of RUMM software. Results. The 28-item questionnaire has good psychometric properties in terms of discriminant power because the Person Separation Index is 0.896. However, the item-trait interaction was not good as shown by the total-item Chi-square (, p<0.001). Removing two items that did not fit the Rasch model well, produced a minor improvement in Person Separation Index to 0.899 and the item-trait interaction improved (, p = NS). In the preliminary analysis we identified 21 patients who were outliers; when they were excluded the distribution of the residuals, according to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics, was normal and factor analysis of the item residuals showed that the components had similar eigenvalues and no strong correlation with items. These results suggest that the MRF-26 is a unidimensional measure of health-related quality of life impairment for chronic respiratory failure patients. Conclusions. A combination of classical psychometric tests and Rasch analysis produced an instrument of moderate size that covers a wide range of effects of CRF and has interval scaling properties.
Only a small reduction in morphine use with adding NSAIDs, paracetamol or COX-2 inhibitors to patient controlled morphine in the 24 h after major surgery

Commentary on: McDaidCMaundERiceS. Paracetamol and selective and non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for the reduction of morphine-related side effects after major surgery: a systematic review. Health Technol Assess 2010;14:1–153.
Las Petroleras Europeas y sus prácticas de divulgación de la información medioambiental voluntaria

La creciente preocupacion por la conservacion del medio ambiente, los movimientos sociales y las presiones de las autoridades y las normativas, exigen mas responsabilidad y transparencia de las empresas en relacion a las cuestiones medioambientales. Los expertos se cuestionan si determinadas caracteristicas de las empresas pueden influir en la divulgacion. La falta de divulgacion de las informaciones medioambientales y/o una publicacion equivocada pueden impactar en el resultado futuro de estas. Para divulgar informacion medioambiental voluntaria las empresas suelen emplear protocolos o guias establecidos para ayudar a la divulgacion. Los guias son una sugerencia para la divulgacion de las informaciones medioambientales. Entre las iniciativas mas destacadas de guias de sostenibilidad se encuentra el GRI (Global Reporting Initiative). El trabajo tiene como objetivo identificar las practicas de divulgacion de las informaciones medioambientales voluntarias por parte de las empresas petroleras europeas. La metodologia utilizada fue el analisis del contenido del los informes de las empresas del ano 2008. La muestra del estudio son 15 empresas petroleras europeas. Se constato que gran parte de las empresas realizan el informe medioambiental separado del informe anual. Se observa que la mayoria de las empresas utilizan la guia del GRI para divulgar sus informaciones medioambientales voluntarias. La utilizacion de guias torna mas facil la comparacion de unas empresas con otras y su evaluacion a largo de un periodo. El estudio tambien constato que las empresas con actuacion internacional divulgan mas informaciones medioambientales que las empresas que tienen actuacion restringida a un pais.
Teleworking and a Green Computing Environment: A Conceptual Model

This paper considers strategic green issues of teleworking in terms of the environment, transport, location, office space and resource use for modern organisations and business sectors and formulates a conceptual model of the processes involved. Teleworking technologies are variously implemented for green computing initiatives and many advantages include lower greenhouse gas emissions related to travel, greater worker satisfaction and, as a result of lower overhead office costs, increased profit margins. The paper initially investigates the appropriateness of a working definition of teleworking with regard to green computing and explores the benefits, and barriers, of teleworking in a green computing environment. Theoretical frameworks and models of teleworking are considered and a conceptual model of the contribution of teleworking to green computing is formulated. The application of the model is considered in terms of teleworking concepts, the organisational environment and driving forces. It is the intention of the paper to identify, and articulate, those teleworking concepts that will be useful to academicians, scientists, business entrepreneurs, practitioners, managers and policy makers, and to indicate future directions for research scholars and students with similar interests.
WHEN TO QUIT? ESTIMATING SPIDER SPECIES RICHNESS IN A NORTHERN EUROPEAN DECIDUOUS FOREST

Abstract Terrestrial arthropod surveys and inventories frequently suffer from undersampling bias; common species are over-represented and rare species may be missed entirely. This study compared a rapid (3 days) and intense inventory of spiders from one hectare of a mature beech forest (Fagus sylvaticus) in Hestehaven, Denmark, comprising 8,710 adult spiders of 66 species to a previous, much more thorough, bi-weekly survey of two years duration from the same site that comprised 42,273 spiders (adult and juvenile) of 141 species. Non-parametric species richness estimators were used to assess the degree of undersampling bias in various data partitions. The current study used five experienced, four novice collectors, and five semi-quantitative collecting methods. Method and time of day strongly affected numbers of species and adults per sample. Collector experience affected numbers of species but not numbers of adults per sample. Despite the intensive collecting, number of adults per sample did not decrease over the course of the study. At the end of the sampling, 31 species were still rare in the sample (singletons or doubletons). Non-parametric richness estimators suggest that the actual richness of adult spiders in the study plot at this time of year and susceptible to the methods used was about 80 species. Species turnover between the two surveys (ca 23 years) was remarkably small: the two lists were 92% identical. The base-line study suggests that the rarity of 12 of the 31 rare species was artifactual (10 due to phenology, one to method, another to spatial edge effects). The rarity of the remainder is unexplained and by default is interpreted as undersampling bias.
Optical microangiography provides correlation between microstructure and microvasculature of optic nerve head in human subjects

Abstract. It is demonstrated that optical microangiography (OMAG) is capable of imaging the detailed microstructure and microvasculature of the in vivo human optic nerve head (ONH), including the prelaminar tissue, the lamina cribrosa, the scleral rim and the vessels in the region of the circle of Zin-Haller. For demonstration, an ultrahigh sensitive OMAG system operating in the 850 nm wavelength region and a 500 kHz A-scan rate resulting in a spatial resolution of ∼6 μm were used. It was shown that OMAG provides superior results for three-dimensional imaging of the ONH compared to conventional optical coherence tomography by simultaneously recording both the microstructure and the functional microcirculation. The blood supply to the tissues of the ONH is an essential physiologic parameter needed for clinical assessment of the health of the nerve.
Genetic characterization of hypervariable region 1 in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 2

The hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) has been most reliably identified in the genome of HCV genotype 1 isolates and thought to possibly play a role in immune evasion and development of chronic infection. There are few studies, however, of other HCV genotypes to determine if they also have such a hypervariable region present, and it is unclear whether or not there is any genotype‐dependent difference in the genetic characteristics of HVR1. We determined the nucleotide sequence of 5′ end of E2/NS1 region of the HCV genome spanning HVR1 of multiple genotype 1 and 2 HCV isolates and carried out a detailed genetic analysis. Similarity plots identified two hypervariable regions within the genotype 2 sequences, a larger one corresponding to HVR1 as well as a smaller 27‐nucleotide region of hypervariability. The synonymous substitutions per synonymous site (ds) was greater than nonsynonymous substitutions per nonsynonymous site (dn) within genotype 1 group whereas dn and ds were similar in the genotype 2 group. Analysis of amino acid sequences revealed several conserved sites across genotype 1 and 2 (amino acid numbers 2,6, 20 and 26) and overall similar hydropathic profiles were found within two genotypes. Still, despite the hypervariability, the HVR1 showed a genotype‐specific phylogenetic clustering. Thus, HVR1 appears to be conserved between genotypes in keeping with it having an important survival function. Genotype 2 appears to have a greater rate of nonsynonymous substitutions within HVR1, suggesting a greater positive evolutionary pressure. J. Med. Virol. 64:325–333, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Asymmetric Reaction to Information and Serial Dependence of Short-Run Returns

This paper studies the daily stock price reaction to new information of portfolios grouped by size quintiles. To that end, cross-correlations, autocorrelations and Dimson beta regressions are analyzed. Based on a sample of shares traded in the Santiago de Chile Stock Exchange for the 1991–1998 period, results show that larger company stock prices—as measured by market capitalization—react to both good and bad news sooner than the smaller ones do. Thus a crossed effect appears, although not as a cascade: only the prices of large firms react earlier than the rest. These effects do not seem to be caused by non-trading. There also are significant asymmetric lagged and cross-effects. Good news has a more pronounced lagged effect than bad news does.
Gujarati Character Recognition Using Zoning Density and K-NN Algorithm

In the field of Optical Character Recognition (OCR), zoning is used to extract topological information from patterns. In this paper we propose Zone based features for recognition of the Printed Gujarati Characters. A digital image is divided into 64 zones and pixel density is computed for each zone. This procedure is sequentially repeated for entire zone. Finally 64 features are extracted for classification and recognition. There could be some zone column/row having empty foreground pixels. Hence the feature value of such particular zone column/row in the feature vector is zero. The KNN classifier is used to classify the printed Gujarati Characters.
Upregulated expression of transforming growth factor-beta receptors in dermal fibroblasts of skin sections from patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression levels of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) receptors in the skin of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHOD We examined expressions of TGF-beta type I and type II receptors (TGF-betaRI and TGF-betaRII) in skin sections of 5 patients with SSc and 5 healthy controls using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analysis. RESULTS The expression levels of both TGF-betaRI and TGF-betaRII were elevated in the dermal fibroblasts of skin sections from patients with SSc in comparison to control skin sections in in situ hybridization and in immunohistochemical stainings. The numbers of fibroblasts expressing TGF-betaRI and TGF-betaRII in the SSc skin sections were increased in comparison to controls. The inflammatory cells around the vessels also expressed TGF-betaRI and TGF-betaRII intensively in the SSc skin sections. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the autocrine TGF-beta signaling due to the overexpression of TGF-betaRI and TGF-betaRII in dermal fibroblasts is involved in the pathogenesis of dermal fibrosis in patients with SSc.
Mangrove production and carbon sinks: A revision of global budget estimates

Mangrove forests are highly productive but globally threatened coastal ecosystems, whose role in the carbon budget of the coastal zone has long been debated. Here we provide a comprehensive synthesis of the available data on carbon fluxes in mangrove ecosystems. A reassessment of global mangrove primary production from the literature results in a conservative estimate of ∼218 ± 72 Tg C a−1. When using the best available estimates of various carbon sinks (organic carbon export, sediment burial, and mineralization), it appears that >50% of the carbon fixed by mangrove vegetation is unaccounted for. This unaccounted carbon sink is conservatively estimated at ∼112 ± 85 Tg C a−1, equivalent in magnitude to ∼30–40% of the global riverine organic carbon input to the coastal zone. Our analysis suggests that mineralization is severely underestimated, and that the majority of carbon export from mangroves to adjacent waters occurs as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). CO2 efflux from sediments and creek waters and tidal export of DIC appear to be the major sinks. These processes are quantitatively comparable in magnitude to the unaccounted carbon sink in current budgets, but are not yet adequately constrained with the limited published data available so far.
Multicentre controlled trial of parenting groups for childhood antisocial behaviour in clinical practice

Abstract Objective: To see whether a behaviourally based group parenting programme, delivered in regular clinical practice, is an effective treatment for antisocial behaviour in children. Design: Controlled trial with permuted block design with allocation by date of referral. Setting: Four local child and adolescent mental health services. Participants: 141 children aged 3-8 years referred with antisocial behaviour and allocated to parenting groups (90) or waiting list control (51). Intervention: Webster-Stratton basic videotape programme administered to parents of six to eight children over 13-16 weeks. This programme emphasises engagement with parental emotions, rehearsal of behavioural strategies, and parental understanding of its scientific rationale. Main outcome measures: Semistructured parent interview and questionnaires about antisocial behaviour in children administered 5-7 months after entering trial; direct observation of parent-child interaction. Results: Referred children were highly antisocial (above the 97th centile on interview measure). Children in the intervention group showed a large reduction in antisocial behaviour; those in the waiting list group did not change (effect size between groups 1.06 SD (95% confidence interval 0.71 to 1.41), P<0.001). Parents in the intervention group increased the proportion of praise to ineffective commands they gave their children threefold, while control parents reduced it by a third (effect size between groups 0.76 (0.16 to 1.36), P=0.018). If the 31 children lost to follow up were included in an intention to treat analysis the effect size on antisocial behaviour was reduced by 16%. Conclusions: Parenting groups effectively reduce serious antisocial behaviour in children in real life conditions. Follow up is needed to see if the children's poor prognosis is improved and criminality prevented. What is already known on this topic Children who persistently display a high level of antisocial behaviour are at high risk of social rejection, juvenile delinquency, and long term unemployment; the cost to society is high While some behaviourally based parenting programmes have been shown to be effective in university centre trials with volunteers or specially selected cases, most trials of psychological treatments for children in real life settings have shown no effect What this study adds An evidence based intervention is available for use in regular clinical practice that effectively reduces antisocial behaviour in referred children The intervention works well with children at risk of criminality from a combination of highly antisocial behaviour, multiple psychopathology, and social deprivation
The Quadruple Gravitational Lens PG 1115+080: Time Delays and Models

Optical photometry is presented for the quadruple gravitational lens PG 1115+080. A preliminary reduction of data taken from 1995 November to 1996 June gives component C leading component B by 23.7 ± 3.4 days and components A1 and A2 by 9.4 days. A range of models has been fitted to the image positions, none of which gives an adequate fit. The best-fitting and most physically plausible of these, taking the lensing galaxy and the associated group of galaxies to be singular isothermal spheres, gives a Hubble constant of 42 km s-1 Mpc-1 for Ω = 1, with an observational uncertainty of 14%, as computed from the B - C time delay measurement. Taking the lensing galaxy to have an approximately E5 isothermal mass distribution yields H0 = 64 km s-1 Mpc-1, while taking the galaxy to be a point mass gives H0 = 84 km s-1 Mpc-1. The former gives a particularly bad fit to the position of the lensing galaxy, while the latter is inconsistent with measurements of nearby galaxy rotation curves. Constraints on these and other possible models are expected to improve with planned Hubble Space Telescope observations.