Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How system quality and incentive affect knowledge sharing

Purpose – Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) are seen as effective means to facilitate knowledge building among professionals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between system quality, attitude toward incentives and knowledge sharing in a VCoP. Additionally, individual and collective effect of system quality and attitude toward incentives on knowledge sharing are also examined.Design/methodology/approach – This is an empirical study that targets a major community of practice in human resource management (n=366), utilizing a survey questionnaire distributed on the internet as the data collection instrument to test the relationship among the three dimensions.Findings – The results indicated that: system quality and attitude toward incentives individually have demonstrated a significant effect on knowledge sharing behavior in a VCoP. Collectively, only factors within the attitude toward incentive dimension have demonstrated significant influences on the community participants'.
Pituitary and ovarian dysfunctions in women on haemodialysis.

28 female uraemic patients treated by chronic haemodialysis were studied. Of these patients, 6 had regular cycles, 6 irregular cycles, 7 were amenorrhoeic and 9 post-menopausal. Plasma gonadotropins (FSH and LH) were determined in all patients. Plasma concentrations of oestradiol and progesterone were determined only when of possible interest. LRH stimulation test was performed in 5 amenorrhoeic patients. In 19 pre-menopausal women baseline plasma FSH values were always normal, but LH concentrations were above normal in 5. In all 9 post-menopausal women both FSH and LH were markedly higher than in the pre-menopausal patients. , either healthy or uraemic. Persistent oestrogen activity was found in the 6 regularly menstruating women as well as in the 5 women with oligomenorrhoea. Luteal phase plasma progesterone was in the low normal range in 3 patients and was markedly depressed in the others. A prolonged rise in LH and to a lesser extent in FSH was observed in 4 of the 5 patients studied after 100 micrograms of LRH were administered intravenously. These results suggest that the defect underlying gonadal dysfunction in uraemic women treated by chronic haemodialysis is mainly of suprahypophyseal origin.
Subacromial corticosteroid injection or acupuncture with home exercises when treating patients with subacromial impingement in primary care — a randomized clinical trial

BackgroundPatients with subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) commonly seek primary care. Subacromial corticosteroid injection is the standard treatment given by GPs, which is supported by earlier studies reporting a positive effect but inconclusive evidence over the longterm. In Sweden, physiotherapists often choose acupuncture combined with exercises to treat SIS, which was reported as probably efficacious. We aimed to compare the efficacy of subacromial corticosteroids injected by a GP with physiotherapy combining acupuncture and home exercises as treatments for SIS.MethodsA randomized clinical trial was performed in primary health care. Patients diagnosed with SIS were randomized to either subacromial corticosteroid injection or 10 acupuncture treatments combined with home-exercises. The main outcomes were pain and shoulder function (Adolfsson-Lysholm shoulder assessment score). Secondary outcomes were health-related quality of life (HRQL) (EuroQol-five dimension self-report questionnaire) and the patients’ global assessment of change. All patients were assessed at baseline and after 6 weeks and 3, 6 and 12 months.ResultsOne hundred and seventeen patients with SIS were included, of which 91 complied with the study protocol. There were no significant differences between treatments with regard to pain, shoulder function and HRQL in change over time. However, both treatment groups improved significantly from baseline over time.ConclusionsBoth subacromial corticosteroid injection and a series of acupuncture treatments combined with home exercises significantly decreased pain and improved shoulder function in patients with SIS, but neither treatment was significantly superior to the other.
A Study of Fatality Risk and Head Dynamic Response of Cyclist and Pedestrian Based on Passenger Car Accident Data Analysis and Simulations

Objective: The current study aims to compare the fatality risk of pedestrians and cyclists in urban traffic through an analysis of real-world accident data in China. Methods: First, 438 cases, including 371 pedestrian cases and 67 cyclist cases, were selected as a sample from the accidents collected through an in-depth investigation of vehicle accidents in China. A statistical measurement of the fatality risk with respect to impact velocity was carried out using a logistic regression analysis. Furthermore, 21 pedestrian and 24 cyclist accidents were selected for reconstruction with the MADYMO program. A comparative analysis was conducted based on the results from accident analysis and simulations for the fatality risk and head dynamic response of pedestrians and cyclists. Results: The results indicate that the vehicle impact velocity has a significant relationship with the fatality risk of both pedestrians and cyclists. The fatality risks at 50 km/h are more than twice as high as the risk at 40 km/h and about 5 times as high as that at 30 km/h for both pedestrians and cyclists. Moreover, cyclists suffered slightly lower fatality risk compared to pedestrians. The corresponding vehicle impact velocity is 65.4 km/h for pedestrian with a fatality risk of 50 percent, whereas for cyclists it is 67.6 km/h. In addition, the head impact conditions between pedestrians and cyclists are different. Conclusions: These findings offer potential contributions for establishing a more reasonable speed limit for urban traffic in China and generating strategies for cyclists’ and pedestrians’ head protection.
[Study of in vitro antimicrobial resistance of positive coprocultures to Shigella sp].

BACKGROUND The gastroenteritis caused by Shigella sp (shigellosis) represents an important cause of morbimortality, especially in children under two years old. It is well known that the proper antimicrobial therapy can improve clinical state and diminish the disease dissemination. Increasing levels of resistance to drugs commonly used in the treatment of shigellosis have been described, and its sensibility has not been recently evaluated in our setting. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the Shigella antimicrobial resistance in our setting. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted using 106 coprocultures of patients, hospitalized or not, who have been assisted at HCPA and at HPV, during the period of 1994 to 1996, with the sensibility test done through the Kirby-Bauer technique of diffusion discs. RESULTS Out of the 106 coprocultures studied, 35 (33%) came from HPV and 71 (67%), from HCPA. Considering the species, 58.8% were S. flexneri, 39.6%, S. sonnei, 0.9%, S. disenteriae and 0.9%, S. boydii. The resistance levels to usually indicated antibiotics were: ampicillin -57.5%, trimethropim-sulfamethoxazol -75.5%, and nalidixic acid -7.5%. CONCLUSIONS These results show significant (p<0.001) in vitro antimicrobial resistance to ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazol and low resistance to nalidixic acid among Shigella sp. Thus, nalidixic acid may be an option to treat infections caused by resistant organisms.
Relevance Sensitive Non-Monotonic Inference on Belief Sequences

We present a method for relevance sensitive non-monotonic inference from belief sequences which incorporates insights pertaining to prioritized inference and relevance sensitive, inconsistency tolerant belief revision. Our model uses a finite, logically open sequence of propositional formulas as a representation for beliefs and defines a notion of inference from maxiconsistent subsets of formulas guided by two orderings: a temporal sequencing and an ordering based on relevance relations between the putative conclusion and formulas in the sequence. The relevance relations are ternary (using context as a parameter) as opposed to standard binary axiomatizations. The inference operation thus defined easily handles iterated revision by maintaining a revision history, blocks the derivation of inconsistent answers from a possibly inconsistent sequence and maintains the distinction between explicit and implicit beliefs. In doing so, it provides a finitely presented formalism and a plausible model of reasoning for automated agents.
Breast‐feeding, Bottle‐feeding and Related Factors

ABSTRACT. Infant feeding practices and related factors were studied in a survey of 189 mothers of 4‐month‐old infants in 1980 and of 151 mothers of 6‐month‐old infants in 1982. In both groups about 70 % of the mothers commenced with breast‐feeding. In 1980, 21 % of the infants were still being breast‐fed at the age of 4 months, compared with 32 % in 1982. 26 % of the infants were still being breast‐fed at the age of 6 months. The most frequently mentioned reason for not commencing with or discontinuing breast‐feeding was ‘insufficient milk’. Univariate analyses showed that the educational level of the mother and her smoking habits were significantly related to both the commencement and the duration of breast‐feeding in 1980 and 1982. These results were confirmed by multivariate analyses which suggest that well educated, non‐smoking mothers are the most successful in breast‐feeding their infants.
Functional gene pyrosequencing and network analysis: an approach to examine the response of denitrifying bacteria to increased nitrogen supply in salt marsh sediments

Functional gene pyrosequencing is emerging as a useful tool to examine the diversity and abundance of microbes that facilitate key biogeochemical processes. One such process, denitrification, is of particular importance because it converts fixed nitrate (NO−3) to N2 gas, which returns to the atmosphere. In nitrogen limited salt marshes, removal of NO−3 prior to entering adjacent waters helps prevent eutrophication. Understanding the dynamics of salt marsh microbial denitrification is thus imperative for the maintenance of healthy coastal ecosystems. We used pyrosequencing of the nirS gene to examine the denitrifying community response to fertilization in experimentally enriched marsh plots. A key challenge in the analysis of sequence data derived from pyrosequencing is understanding whether small differences in gene sequences are ecologically meaningful. We applied a novel approach from information theory to determine that the optimal similarity level for clustering DNA sequences into OTUs, while still capturing the ecological complexity of the system, was 88%. With this clustering, phylogenetic analysis yielded 6 dominant clades of denitrifiers, the largest of which, accounting for more than half of all the sequences collected, had no close cultured representatives. Of the 638 OTUs identified, only 11 were present in all plots and no single OTU was dominant. We did, however, find a large number of specialist OTUs that were present only in a single plot. The high degree of endemic OTUs, while accounting for a large proportion of the nirS diversity in the plots, were found in lower abundance than the generalist taxa. The proportion of specialist taxa increased with increasing supply of nutrients, suggesting that addition of fertilizer may create conditions that expand the niche space for denitrifying organisms and may enhance the genetic capacity for denitrification.
Identification of liver CYP51 as a gene responsive to circulating cholesterol in a hamster model

Abstract Hypercholesterolaemia is a risk factor for CVD, which is a leading cause of death in industrialised societies. The biosynthetic pathways for cholesterol metabolism are well understood; however, the regulation of circulating cholesterol by diet is still not fully elucidated. The present study aimed to gain more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between circulating cholesterol levels and molecular effects in target tissues using the hamster model. Male golden Syrian hamsters were fed with chow or diets containing 36 % energy from fat with or without 1 % cholesteyramine (CA) as a modulator of circulating cholesterol levels for 35 d. It was revealed that the expression of lanosterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51) instead of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl (HMG)-CoA reductase mRNA expression was responsive to circulating cholesterol in hamsters fed hypercholesterolaemic diets. The high-fat diet increased circulating cholesterol and down-regulated CYP51, but not HMG-CoA reductase. The CA diet decreased cholesterol and increased CYP51 expression, but HMG-CoA reductase expression was not affected. The high-fat diet and CA diet altered the expression level of cholesterol, bile acids and lipid metabolism-associated genes (LDL receptor, cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), liver X receptor (LXR) α, and ATP-binding cassette subfamily G member 5/8 (ABCG5/8)) in the liver, which were significantly correlated with circulating cholesterol levels. Correlation analysis also showed that circulating cholesterol levels were regulated by LXR/retinoid X receptor and PPAR pathways in the liver. Using the hamster model, the present study provided additional molecular insights into the influence of circulating cholesterol on hepatic cholesterol metabolism pathways during hypercholesterolaemia.
Hausdorff Dimension and Conformal Dynamics I: Strong Convergence of Kleinian Groups

This paper investigates the behavior of the Hausdorff dimensions of the limit sets Λn and Λ of a sequence of Kleinian groups Γn → Γ, where M = H/Γ is geometrically finite. We show if Γn → Γ strongly, then: (a) Mn = H 3/Γn is geometrically finite for all n ≫ 0, (b) Λn → Λ in the Hausdorff topology, and (c) H. dim(Λn) → H. dim(Λ), if H. dim(Λ) ≥ 1. On the other hand, we give examples showing the dimension can vary discontinuously under strong limits when H. dim(Λ) < 1. Continuity can be recovered by requiring that accidental parabolics converge radially. Similar results hold for higher-dimensional manifolds. Applications are given to quasifuchsian groups and their limits.
Human Dendritic Cells Activated via Dectin-1 Are Efficient at Priming Th17, Cytotoxic CD8 T and B Cell Responses

Background Dendritic cells capture antigens through PRRs and modulate adaptive immune responses. The type of adaptive immune T cell response generated is dependent upon the type of PRR activated by the microbes. Dectin-1 is a C-type lectin receptor present on dendritic cells. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we show that selective dectin-1 agonist Curdlan can activate human DCs and induce the secretion of large amounts of IL-23, IL-1β, IL-6 and low levels of IL-12p70 as determined by ELISA. The Curdlan-stimulated DCs are efficient at priming naïve CD4 cells to differentiate into Th17 and Th1 cells. Furthermore, these CD4 T cells induce differentiation of B cells to secrete IgG and IgA. In addition, Curdlan-stimulated DCs promote the expansion and differentiation of Granzyme and perforin expressing cytotoxic T lymphocyte that display high cytolytic activity against target tumor cells in vitro. Conclusions/Significance These data demonstrate that DCs stimulated through Dectin-1 can generate efficient Th, CTL and B cell responses and can therefore be used as effective mucosal and systemic adjuvants in humans.
Localized Structures in Indented Shells: A Numerical Investigation

We present results from a numerical investigation of the localization of deformation in thin elastomeric spherical shells loaded by differently shaped indenters. Beyond a critical indentation, the deformation of the shell ceases to be axisymmetric and sharp structures of localized curvature form, referred to as “s-cones,” for “shell-cones. ” We perform a series of numerical experiments to systematically explore the parameter space. We find that the localization process is independent of the radius of the shell. The ratio of the radius of the shell to its thickness, however, is an important parameter in the localization process. Throughout, we find that the maximum principal strains remain below 6%, even at the s-cones. As a result, using either a linear elastic (LE) or hyperelastic constitutive description yields nearly indistinguishable results. Friction between the indenter and the shell is also shown to play an important role in localization. Tuning this frictional contact can suppress localization and increase the load-bearing capacity of the shell under indentation.
Differential effects of superoxide on luminal and basolateral Na+/H+ exchange in the thick ascending limb.

Superoxide (O2-) increases Na+ reabsorption in the thick ascending limb (THAL) by enhancing Na/K/2Cl cotransport. However, the effects of O2- on other THAL transporters, such as Na(+)/H+ exchangers, are unknown. We hypothesized that O2- stimulates Na(+)/H+ exchange in the THAL. We assessed total Na(+)/H+ exchange activity by measuring recovery of intracellular pH (pH(i)) after acid loading in isolated perfused THALs before and after adding xanthine oxidase (XO) and hypoxanthine (HX). We found that XO and HX decreased total pH(i) recovery rate from 0.26 +/- 0.05 to 0.21 +/- 0.04 pH units/min (P < 0.05), and this net inhibition decreased steady-state pH(i) from 7.52 to 7.37. Because THALs have different Na(+)/H+ exchanger isoforms on the luminal and basolateral membrane, we tested the effects of xanthine oxidase and hypoxanthine on luminal and basolateral Na(+)/H+ exchange by adding dimethylamiloride to either the bath or lumen. Xanthine oxidase and hypoxanthine increased luminal Na(+)/H+ exchange from 3.5 +/- 0.8 to 6.7 +/- 1.4 pmol.min(-1). mm(-1) (P < 0.01) but decreased basolateral Na(+)/H+ exchange from 10.8 +/- 1.8 to 6.8 +/- 1.1 pmol.min(-1). mm(-1) (P < 0.007). To ascertain whether these effects were caused by O2- or H2O2, we examined the ability of tempol, a superoxide dismutase mimetic, to block these effects. In the presence of tempol, xanthine oxidase and hypoxanthine had no effect on luminal or basolateral Na(+)/H+ exchange. We conclude that O2- inhibits basolateral and stimulates luminal Na(+)/H+ exchangers, perhaps because different isoforms are expressed on each membrane. Inhibition of basolateral Na(+)/H+ exchange may enhance stimulation of luminal Na(+)/H+ exchange by providing additional protons to be extruded across the luminal membrane. Together, the effects of O2- on Na(+)/H+ exchange may increase net HCO3- reabsorption by the THAL.
CAD/CAM Glass Ceramics for Single-Tooth Implant Crowns: A Finite Element Analysis

Purpose: To evaluate the load distribution of CAD/CAM mono-ceramic crowns supported with single-tooth implants in functional area. Materials and Methods: A 3-dimensional numerical model of a soft tissue–level implant was constructed with cement-retained abutment to support glass ceramic machinable crown. Implant-abutment complex and the retained crown were embedded in a Ø 1.5 × 1.5 cm geometric matrix for evaluation of mechanical behavior of mono-ceramic CAD/CAM aluminosilicate and leucite glass crown materials. Laterally positioned axial load of 300 N was applied on the crowns. Resulting principal stresses in the mono-ceramic crowns were evaluated in relation to different glass ceramic materials. Results: The highest compressive stresses were observed at the cervical region of the buccal aspect of the crowns and were 89.98 and 89.99 MPa, for aluminosilicate and leucite glass ceramics, respectively. The highest tensile stresses were observed at the collar of the lingual part of the crowns and were 24.54 and 25.39 MPa, respectively. Conclusion: Stresses induced upon 300 N static loading of CAD/CAM aluminosalicate and leucite glass ceramics are below the compressive strength of the materials. Impact loads may actuate the progress to end failure of mono-ceramic crowns supported by metallic implant abutments.
Outlier detection by logic programming

The development of effective knowledge discovery techniques has become a very active research area in recent years due to the important impact it has had in several relevant application domains. One interesting task therein is that of singling out anomalous individuals from a given population, for example, to detect rare events in time-series analysis settings, or to identify objects whose behavior is deviant w.r. t. a codified standard set of rules. Such exceptional individuals are usually referred to as outliers in the literature. In this article, the concept of outlier is formally stated in the context of knowledge-based systems, by generalizing that originally proposed in Angiulli et al. [2003] in the context of default theories. The chosen formal framework here is that of logic programming, wherein potential applications of techniques for outlier detection are thoroughly discussed. The proposed formalization is a novel one and helps to shed light on the nature of outliers occurring in logic bases. Also the exploitation of minimality criteria in outlier detection is illustrated. The computational complexity of outlier detection problems arising in this novel setting is also thoroughly investigated and accounted for in the paper. Finally, rewriting algorithms are proposed that transform any outlier detection problem into an equivalent inference problem under stable model semantics, thereby making outlier computation effective and realizable on top of any stable model solver.
Alcohol and injury: multi-level analysis from the emergency room collaborative alcohol analysis project (ERCAAP).

AIMS To analyze the relationship between individual-level characteristics and site-level contextual variables on the association of acute alcohol use and injury. METHODS Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and survey data collected (using similar methodology and instruments) at the time of the emergency department (ED) visit, between 1985 and 2003 on probability samples of injured and non-injured patients (n = 18 438) from 31 EDs in seven countries (Argentina, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Spain, USA) were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). RESULTS BAC and self-reported consumption were predictive of an injury (compared to a non-injury), controlling for gender and age, with odds ratios of 1.51 and 1.58, respectively. The likelihood of injury given a positive BAC and self-report was less for heavier drinkers (those reporting five or more drinks on an occasion) than for lighter drinkers, and was greater in those societies with greater detrimental drinking patterns than those with lower detrimental patterns. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest a moderate, but robust association of a positive BAC and self-report with admission to the ED for an injury, which is modified by the patient's usual heavier drinking and by societal drinking patterns.