Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contextualising the Research Process: Using Interviewer Notes in the Secondary Analysis of Qualitative Data

In this paper we argue that for the secondary analysis of qualitative data to be effective, researchers need to subject any accompanying interviewer notes to the secondary analysis process. The secondary analysis of interviewer notes can provide important insight into the research process and the attitudes, experiences, and expectations of those collecting the data. Such information is essential if meaningful analyses are to be offered. Using interviewer notes from a little known research project on youth transitions form the 1960s, this paper explores how the interviewers’ experiences of the research process and their perceptions are documented in the interviewer notes. Key Words: Interviewer Notes, Secondary Analysis, Qualitative Data, Research Process, Interviews, Recording Data, Representations of Respondents, and Sources of Bias
Management of the critically ill geriatric patient

Objective:To review the effect of an aging society on the utilization of critical care services and the physiology of aging as it applies to critical illness and prognosis and management issues in the intensive care unit (ICU). Data Source:MEDLINE, Embase, and citation review of relevant primary and review articles. Data Synthesis:Elderly patients (age of >65 yrs) currently account for 42–52% of ICU admissions and for almost 60% of all ICU days. Aging is associated with decreased cardiopulmonary and renal reserve and with a high rate of co-morbidities, increasing the risks of the elderly developing progressive organ failure. Elderly ICU patients are at a particularly high risk of developing delirium, which is associated with significant morbidity. Severity of illness and age are the important factors determining ICU survival. Age and functional status before ICU admission are the major determinants of survival at 6 and 12 months after ICU discharge. Age alone should not be used to triage ICU patients; the decision to admit an elderly patient to an ICU should be based on the patients co-morbidities, acuity of illness, prehospital functional status, and preferences with regard to life-sustaining treatment. Conclusions:The management of critically ill elderly patients is a complex issue and involves an understanding of the changing demographics of our society and the physiology of aging. The reality of our aging society dictates that we must focus on how to best care for the elderly who develop critical illness
Influence of Surface Modification on the Microstructure and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Bamboo Fibers

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of surface treatment on the morphology and thermo-mechanical properties of bamboo fibers. The fibers are subjected to an alkali treatment using 4 wt % sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for 1 h. Mechanical measurements show that the present concentration has an insignificant effect on the fiber tensile strength. In addition, systematic experimental results characterizing the morphological aspects and thermal properties of the bamboo fibers are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. It is found that an alkali treatment may increase the effective surface area, which is in turn available for superior bonding with the matrix. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis reveals that the alkali treatment leads to a gradual removal of binding materials, such as hemicellulose and lignin from the bamboo fiber. A comparison of the curve of thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry for the treated and untreated samples is presented to demonstrate that the presence of treatment contributes to a better thermal stability for bamboo fibers.
The neural underpinnings of prosody in autism

This study examines the processing of prosodic cues to linguistic structure and to affect, drawing on fMRI and behavioral data from 16 high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 11 typically developing controls. Stimuli were carefully matched on pitch, intensity, and duration, while varying systematically in conditions of affective prosody (angry versus neutral speech) and grammatical prosody (questions versus statement). To avoid conscious attention to prosody, which normalizes responses in young people with ASD, the implicit comprehension task directed attention to semantic aspects of the stimuli. Results showed that when perceiving prosodic cues, both affective and grammatical, activation of neural regions was more generalized in ASD than in typical development, and areas recruited reflect heightened reliance on cognitive control, reading of intentions, attentional management, and visualization. This broader recruitment of executive and “mind-reading” brain areas for a relative simple language-processing task may be interpreted to suggest that speakers with high-functioning autism (HFA) have developed less automaticity in language processing and may also suggest that “mind-reading” or theory of mind deficits are intricately bound up in language processing. Data provide support for both a right-lateralized as well as a bilateral model of prosodic processing in typical individuals, depending upon the function of the prosodic information.
Long-term safety of Remoxy® (extended-release oxycodone) in patients with moderate to severe chronic osteoarthritis or low back pain.

OBJECTIVE Evaluate the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of Remoxy® (extended-release oxycodone) in patients with chronic pain related to osteoarthritis of the hip and/or knee or chronic low back pain. DESIGN Open-label, 12-month, phase 3 trial. SETTING Fifty-nine US sites. PATIENTS Men and women with moderate to severe hip and/or knee pain caused by osteoarthritis or persistent moderate to severe low back pain. INTERVENTION Remoxy 5 mg twice daily, which could be increased in fixed increments up to 80 mg twice daily. OUTCOME MEASURES Safety and tolerability assessments included adverse events (AEs), laboratory tests, vital signs, physical examinations, and electrocardiograms. Efficacy was assessed through ratings of pain intensity, quality of analgesia, and global assessment of study drug. RESULTS Of the 828 patients enrolled, 823 received ≥1 dose of Remoxy, with 469 exposed for ≥180 days and 381 for ≥358 days. At least one AE was experienced by 678 patients (82%), the most common of which were opioid related, including constipation, nausea, and somnolence; 173 patients (21%) discontinued treatment because of AEs. No clinically relevant changes were seen in other safety assessments. Mean pain intensity scores decreased significantly from baseline at all time points (P < 0.001). At month 12, quality of analgesia and global assessment of study drug were rated positively (good, very good, or excellent) by 64% and 61% of patients (last observation carried forward), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Long-term treatment with Remoxy was safe, well tolerated, and efficacious in patients with chronic pain related to osteoarthritis of the hip and/or knee or chronic low back pain.
Detecting communities using asymptotical Surprise

Nodes in real-world networks are repeatedly observed to form dense clusters, often referred to as communities. Methods to detect these groups of nodes usually maximize an objective function, which implicitly contains the definition of a community. We here analyze a recently proposed measure called surprise, which assesses the quality of the partition of a network into communities. In its current form, the formulation of surprise is rather difficult to analyze. We here therefore develop an accurate asymptotic approximation. This allows for the development of an efficient algorithm for optimizing surprise. Incidentally, this leads to a straightforward extension of surprise to weighted graphs. Additionally, the approximation makes it possible to analyze surprise more closely and compare it to other methods, especially modularity. We show that surprise is (nearly) unaffected by the well-known resolution limit, a particular problem for modularity. However, surprise may tend to overestimate the number of communities, whereas they may be underestimated by modularity. In short, surprise works well in the limit of many small communities, whereas modularity works better in the limit of few large communities. In this sense, surprise is more discriminative than modularity and may find communities where modularity fails to discern any structure.
Exploring the timing and depth of discussions of traumatic material and the stages of change in psychotherapy: a case study

Currently, there is a lack of understanding of how the stages of change (SOC) relate to discussion of interpersonal trauma in therapy. This study aimed to explore the timing and depth of trauma discussion (TD) across the course of therapy in relation to SOC. The client in this single-case study was a 28-year-old African American female who recently moved to California and reported difficulties in relationships and work problems. The course of therapy lasted 21 sessions; of the 15 videotaped sessions, 6 contained discussions of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and workplace psychological harassment (WPH). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker et al., 2007) was used to identify the duration and frequency of cognitive processing, insight and causation words (timing and depth of processing), and the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA; McConnaughy et al., 1983) measured the client‘s SOC across therapy sessions. Qualitative themes were analyzed to determine SOC during sessions containing TD and other assessment measures were used to understand the context of TD, therapist techniques, and therapy course. Findings were consistent with literature indicating no specific timing of TD across therapy (Higgins Kessler & Nelson Goff, 2006; Sano et al., 2003). Within-session TD were inconsistent with literature reporting that most intimate disclosures occur at the end of therapy sessions (Strassberg et al., 1978); however, results were consistent with expectations from each SOC. Regarding TD depth, results were consistent with findings that increased use of insight words occurs later in the therapeutic process (Hemenover, 2003); greater percentages of cognitive processing and causation words occurred towards the beginning of therapy. These findings indicated that feelings regarding the cause of trauma became less salient while gaining insight into the meaning of trauma became more salient over time. Also, trauma processing occurred more during contemplation and preparation SOC (when insight was greatest), and occurred less during the action SOC (when insight was lowest). Finally, techniques consistent with SOC theory appeared to facilitate trauma processing.
Acculturation Indices as a Means of Confirming Cultural Differences. Navy Recruit's Expectations of Productivity, Liking, and Intentions to Quit under Different Supervisors.

Abstract : When subjects from culture A are becoming acculturated to culture B they may move toward culture B (accommodation), not only move toward B but even go beyond B's position (overshooting), or might move away from the position commonly found in culture B (ethnic affirmation). Three kinds of data were examined to determine which of these patterns of adjustment to another culture take place. For role perceptions and behavioral intentions accommodation and overshooting were by far the most common; for stereotypes there were numerous cases of ethnic affirmation. When ethnic affirmation is the exception rather than the rule, we can use acculturation indices as means of confirming cultural differences. The more acculturated the culture A subject, the less is the difference between that subject's position and the mean of culture B.
Stromal cell‐derived factor‐1/CXCR4 enhanced motility of human osteosarcoma cells involves MEK1/2, ERK and NF‐κB‐dependent pathways

Osteosarcoma is characterized by a high malignant and metastatic potential. The chemokine stromal‐derived factor‐1α (SDF‐1α) and its receptor, CXCR4, play a crucial role in adhesion and migration of human cancer cells. Integrins are the major adhesive molecules in mammalian cells, and has been associated with metastasis of cancer cells. Here, we found that human osteosarcoma cell lines had significant expression of SDF‐1 and CXCR4 (SDF‐1 receptor). Treatment of osteosarcoma cells with SDF‐1α increased the migration and cell surface expression of αvβ3 integrin. CXCR4‐neutralizing antibody, CXCR4 specific inhibitor (AMD3100) or small interfering RNA against CXCR4 inhibited the SDF‐1α‐induced increase the migration and integrin expression of osteosarcoma cells. Pretreated of osteosarcoma cells with MAPK kinase (MEK) inhibitor PD98059 inhibited the SDF‐1α‐mediated migration and integrin expression. Stimulation of cells with SDF‐1α increased the phosphorylation of MEK and extracellular signal‐regulating kinase (ERK). In addition, NF‐κB inhibitor (PDTC) or IκB protease inhibitor (TPCK) also inhibited SDF‐1α‐mediated cell migration and integrin up‐regulation. Stimulation of cells with SDF‐1α induced IκB kinase (IKKα/β) phosphorylation, IκB phosphorylation, p65 Ser536 phosphorylation, and κB‐luciferase activity. Furthermore, the SDF‐1α‐mediated increasing κB‐luciferase activity was inhibited by AMD3100, PD98059, PDTC and TPCK or MEK1, ERK2, IKKα and IKKβ mutants. Taken together, these results suggest that the SDF‐1α acts through CXCR4 to activate MEK and ERK, which in turn activates IKKα/β and NF‐κB, resulting in the activations of αvβ3 integrins and contributing the migration of human osteosarcoma cells. J. Cell. Physiol. 221: 204–212, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc
HIGH-DIMENSIONAL GENERALIZED LINEAR MODELS AND THE LASSO

We consider high-dimensional generalized linear models with Lipschitz loss functions, and prove a nonasymptotic oracle inequality for the empirical risk minimizer with Lasso penalty. The penalty is based on the coefficients in the linear predictor, after normalization with the empirical norm. The examples include logistic regression, density estimation and classification with hinge loss. Least squares regression is also discussed.
On Nearly Orthogonal Lattice Bases and Random Lattices

We study lattice bases where the angle between any basis vector and the linear subspace spanned by the other basis vectors is at least $\frac{\pi}{3}$ radians; we denote such bases as “nearly orthogonal. ” We show that a nearly orthogonal lattice basis always contains a shortest lattice vector. Moreover, we prove that if the basis vector lengths are “nearly equal,” then the basis is the unique nearly orthogonal lattice basis up to multiplication of basis vectors by $\pm 1$. We also study random lattices generated by the columns of random matrices with $n$ rows and $m \leq n$ columns. We show that if $m \leq c\,n$, with $c \approx 0.071$, then the random matrix forms a nearly orthogonal basis for the random lattice with high probability for large $n$ and almost surely as $n$ tends to infinity. Consequently, the columns of such a random matrix contain the shortest vector in the random lattice. Finally, we discuss an interesting JPEG image compression application where nearly orthogonal lattice bases play an important role.
Characterization of Novel Human Hepatoma Cell Lines with Stable Hepatitis B Virus Secretion for Evaluating New Compounds against Lamivudine- and Penciclovir-Resistant Virus

ABSTRACT l-Nucleoside analogs are new therapeutic agents for treatment of chronic hepatitis B. However, their clinical application was limited by the emergence of viral resistance. It is important to develop a new system to evaluate drug cross-resistance and to test new agents that may overcome resistant virus. In this report, three cell lines HepG2-WT10, HepG2-SM1, and HepG2-DM2 are presented; these cell lines were established by transfection of HepG2 cells with unique fully functional 1.1× hepatitis B virus (HBV) genomes: wild-type HBV-adr and its L526M and L526MM550V variants, respectively. We have demonstrated that these genomes have different susceptibilities to lamivudine [l(−)SddC] and penciclovir (PCV). By examining HBV RNA transcription, antigen expression, progeny DNA replication, and viral susceptibilities to l(−)SddC, PCV, and other nucleoside analogs, it is concluded that the cell lines are able to stably producel(−)SddC- and PCV-sensitive and -resistant HBV virions. In addition, the relative susceptibilities of the wild-type and mutant HBV produced from the stably transfected cell lines to several anti-HBV nucleoside analogs were also examined and found to be about the same as those found by using a transient infection system. PMEA [9-(2-phosphonylmethoxytehyl)-adenine] and QYL685 are able to suppress l(−)SddC- and PCV-resistant HBV. In conclusion, this cell culture system is a novel and useful tool for evaluating anti-HBV compounds and biologics.
Technetium-MIBI as a glioma imaging agent for the assessment of multi-drug resistance.

OBJECTIVE To explore the presence of MDR-1 drug resistance in human glioma utilizing a Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography (SPECT) imaging agent, sesta-MIBI, and testing cases interpreted as positive for drug resistance with molecular characterization of subsequent tissue biopsy, including RNA, Northern blot analysis, and polymerase chain reaction, and in situ hybridization. METHODS Six patients that carried a diagnosis of biopsy-proven glioma underwent dual isotope SPECT imaging with thallium 201 and technetium sesta-MIBI. All six patients underwent subsequent surgical reexcision of their tumors, and tissue was immediately flash frozen for further analysis. PolyA RNA was isolated and subsequently analyzed by both Northern blot analysis and RT-PCR utilizing an MDR-1 probe (ATCC) and MDR-1 primers. RESULTS Four patients with SPECT concordance yielded tumors without MDR-1 expression whereas two patients with SPECT discordance yielded tumors with MDR-1 gene expression. In one discordant case we subsequently performed RT-PCR in situ amplification/ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry with, respectively, an MDR-1 sense primer with Biotin labeled probes and an MDR-1 monoclonal antibody, and both analyses revealed MDR-1 expression in tumor cells. CONCLUSION These data support the use of SPECT technetium sesta-MIBI to evaluate the presence of MDR-1 gene expression in gliomas.
System-level Max POwer (SYMPO) - a systematic approach for escalating system-level power consumption using synthetic benchmarks

To effectively design a computer system for the worst case power consumption scenario, system architects often use hand-crafted maximum power consuming benchmarks at the assembly language level. These stressmarks, also called power viruses, are very tedious to generate and require significant domain knowledge. In this paper, we propose SYMPO, an automatic SYstem level Max POwer virus generation framework, which maximizes the power consumption of the CPU and the memory system using genetic algorithm and an abstract workload generation framework. For a set of three ISAs, we show the efficacy of the power viruses generated using SYMPO by comparing the power consumption with that of MPrime torture test, which is widely used by industry to test system stability. Our results show that the usage of SYMPO results in the generation of power viruses that consume 14–41% more power compared to MPrime on SPARC ISA. The genetic algorithm achieved this result in about 70 to 90 generations in 11 to 15 hours when using a full system simulator. We also show that the power viruses generated in the Alpha ISA consume 9–24% more power compared to the previous approach of stressmark generation. We measure and provide the power consumption of these benchmarks on hardware by instrumenting a quad-core AMD Phenom II X4 system. The SYMPO power virus consumes more power compared to various industry grade power viruses on x86 hardware. We also provide a microarchitecture independent characterization of various industry standard power viruses.
Utility in Case-Based Decision Theory

This paper provides two axiomatic derivations of a case-based decision rule. Each axiomatization shows that, if preference orders over available acts in various contexts satisfy certain consistency requirements, then these orders can be numerically represented by maximization of a similarity-weighted utility function. In each axiomatization, both the similarity function and the utility function are simultaneously derived from preferences, and the axiomatic derivation also suggests a way to elicit these theoretical concepts from in-principle observable preferences. The two axiomatizations differ in the type of decisions that they assume as data. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Number: D80.
Motion-Extended Array Synthesis—Part II: Experimental Validation

The theory and method for motion-extended array synthesis (MXAS) are described by Kendra. The concept describes how MXAS, for a one- or two-dimensional synthetic array, is realized specifically without recourse to a reference waveform. The essential idea is that the relative motion between (a minimum of) two collection platforms with different velocity vectors can be exploited to create a virtual array, with the size of the virtual array being equivalent to the space swept out by the relative motion of the collectors. This paper describes a multistage experimental validation for MXAS, progressing from a “closed” (nonfree space) RF-domain test bed, to a highly controlled indoor free-space prototype system, and finally to an outdoor, vehicle-based prototype system. Key imaging principles validated include resolution performance relative to theoretical prediction; capability across a range of scenarios, including extreme near field, multipath, and ultralow power; retention of array degrees of freedom for steering nulls; and satisfaction of system requirements for synchronization and precision using consumer off-the-shelf components.
Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress Inducible Factor Cysteine-Rich with EGF-Like Domains 2 (Creld2) Is an Important Mediator of BMP9-Regulated Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent progenitors that can undergo osteogenic differentiation under proper stimuli. We demonstrated that BMP9 is one of the most osteogenic BMPs. However, the molecular mechanism underlying BMP9-initiated osteogenic signaling in MSCs remains unclear. Through gene expression profiling analysis we identified several candidate mediators of BMP9 osteogenic signaling. Here, we focus on one such signaling mediator and investigate the functional role of cysteine-rich with EGF-like domains 2 (Creld2) in BMP9-initiated osteogenic signaling. Creld2 was originally identified as an ER stress-inducible factor localized in the ER-Golgi apparatus. Our genomewide expression profiling analysis indicates that Creld2 is among the top up-regulated genes in BMP9-stimulated MSCs. We confirm that Creld2 is up-regulated by BMP9 in MSCs. ChIP analysis indicates that Smad1/5/8 directly binds to the Creld2 promoter in a BMP9-dependent fashion. Exogenous expression of Creld2 in MSCs potentiates BMP9-induced early and late osteogenic markers, and matrix mineralization. Conversely, silencing Creld2 expression inhibits BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation. In vivo stem cell implantation assay reveals that exogenous Creld2 promotes BMP9-induced ectopic bone formation and matrix mineralization, whereas silencing Creld2 expression diminishes BMP9-induced bone formation and matrix mineralization. We further show that Creld2 is localized in ER and the ER stress inducers potentiate BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation. Our results strongly suggest that Creld2 may be directly regulated by BMP9 and ER stress response may play an important role in regulating osteogenic differentiation.