Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Sturm–Liouville Eigenproblem of the Fourth Kind: A Critical Latitude with Equatorial Trapping

Through both analytical and numerical methods, we solve the eigenproblem uzz>+(1/z−λ−(z−1/ε)2)u=0 on the unbounded interval z∈[−∞, ∞], where λ is the eigenvalue and u(z)→0 as |z|→∞. This models an equatorially trapped Rossby wave in a shear flow in the ocean or atmosphere. It is the usual parabolic cylinder equation with Hermite functions as the eigenfunctions except for the addition of an extra term, which is a simple pole. The pole, which is on the interior of the interval, is interpreted as the limit δ→0 of 1/(z−iδ). The eigenfunction has a branch point of the form z log(z) at z=0, where the branch cut is on the upper imaginary axis. The eigenvalue is complex valued with an imaginary part, which we show, through matched asymptotics, to be approximately √πexp(−1/ε2){1−2ε log ε+ε log 2+γε}. Because T(λ) is transcendentally small in the small parameter ε, it lies “beyond all orders” in the usual Rayleigh–Schrödinger power series in ε. Nonetheless, we develop special numerical algorithms that are effective in computing T(λ) for ε as small as 1/100.
Drug abuse in schizophrenia.

Hospital and Community Psychiatry August 1989 Vol. 40 No. 8 847 ons closely agrees with the 8 percent figure reported by McCulloch and associates (2,3). This percentage, however, is much greater than that reported more recently from the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute by McNiel and Binder (4). There are several possible reasons for this difference. First is the difference in patient populations studied. Our study was conducted at the emergency psychiatnc services section of an urban university hospital rather than at a general emergency room, as in the McNiel and Binder study. Our emergency room also is located in a neighborhood whose residents are members of lower-socioeconomic and minority groups, rather than in a middle-class, ethnically diverse neighborhood. A second possible explanation for the higher proportion of patients who carried weapons in our study may be that we limited our searching to patients who were admitted to the inpatient service. One might infer that patients in need of inpatient treatment might also carry weapons more frequently. The fact that no significant differences appeared in the incidence of weapon carrying among diagnostic or demographic groups is consistent with the study hypothesis that patients who carried weapons would be a heterogeneous group. That finding is also consistent with those of the other studies (3,4). However, a larger sampie size might yield different resuits and perhaps show statistically significant differences between patients who do and do not carry weapons.
Perceived Factors Facilitating Students’ Transition from High School to College

Parents, friends, high school teachers and guidance counselors, college professors, academic advisors, and college orientation programs/first-year seminars play a role in facilitating students ' transition from high school to college. This paper assesses the perceived helpfulness of these variables in the transition experience of college students at a medium-sized state university in the Southeast. There were significant gender differences in the reported helpfulness of parents, friends, high school counselors, high school teachers, and the first-year seminar. There were also significant differences by race in the perceived helpfulness of parents, friends, high school counselors, and SOAR (an orientation program). Students ' perceptions of their parents ' and friends ' level of helpfulness may be exaggerated. Students who are academically and socially involved, especially during the first several months of the first year of college, experience a smoother transition to college and are more likely to return for their sophomore year (Tinto 1998: 169). While the "academic intensity and quality of one's high school curriculum" is important in determining how successful students are in making the transition from high school to college (Adelman 2002:40), there are a variety of other variables that influence and facilitate students' transition from high school to college (Cabrera and La Nasa 2000; Tierney, Corwin, and Colyar 2005; Hosslcr, Schmit, and Vesper 1999). Pascarella (2005:132) found that during the first year of college students' "interactions with peers can have a significant influence on first-year intellectual growth. " Counselors, admission representatives, teachers, and family members also assist students in the transition process. Kim and Schneider
A borderline range for Quantiferon Gold In-Tube results

Objective Interferon gamma release assays like Quantiferon Gold In-Tube (QFT) are used to identify individuals infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A dichotomous cut-off (0.35 IU/ml) defines a positive QFT without considering test variability. Our objective was to evaluate the introduction of a borderline range under routine conditions. Methods Results of routine QFT samples from Sweden (2009–2014) were collected. A borderline range (0.20–0.99 IU/ml) was introduced in 2010 recommending a follow-up sample. The association between borderline results and incident active TB within 3 to 24 months was investigated through linkage with the national TB-register. Results Using the recommended QFT cut-off, 75.1% tests were negative, 21.4% positive and 3.5% indeterminate. In total, 9% (3656/40773) were within the borderline range. In follow-up samples, individuals with initial results between 0.20–0.34 IU/ml and 0.35–0.99 IU/ml displayed negative results below the borderline range (<0.20 IU/ml) in 66.1% (230/348) and 42.5% (285/671) respectively, and none developed incident TB. Among 6712 individuals with a positive initial test >0.99 IU/ml, 65 (0.97%) developed incident TB within 3–24 months. Conclusions We recommend retesting of subjects with QFT results in the range 0.20–0.99 IU/ml to enhance reliability and validity of the test. Half of the subjects in the borderline range will be negative at a level <0.20 IU/ml when retested and have a very low risk of developing incident active TB.
Implication of right frontostriatal circuitry in response inhibition and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relation between specific frontostriatal structures (prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia) and response inhibition deficits observed in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHOD Children with ADHD and age-matched normal controls were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and tested on three response inhibition tasks. Behavioral performance was correlated with MRI-based anatomical measures of frontostriatal circuitry (prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia) implicated in ADHD. RESULTS First, significant differences in performance by children with ADHD and normal volunteers were observed on all three response inhibition tasks. Second, performance on these tasks correlated only with those anatomical measures of frontostriatal circuitry observed to be abnormal in children with ADHD (e.g., the region of the prefrontal cortex, caudate, and globus pallidus, but not the putamen) in the authors' previous study. Third, significant correlations between task performance and anatomical measures of the prefrontal cortex and caudate nuclei were predominantly in the right hemisphere, supporting a role of right frontostriatal circuitry in response inhibition and ADHD. CONCLUSION The data suggest a role of the right prefrontal cortex in suppressing responses to salient, but otherwise irrelevant events while the basal ganglia appear to be involved in executing these behavioral responses.
A Key Role for Similarity in Vicarious Reward

A functional magnetic resonance imaging study reveals the interactions within the brain that modulate feelings of reward on seeing a similar person win a contest. Humans appear to have an inherent prosocial tendency toward one another in that we often take pleasure in seeing others succeed. This fact is almost certainly exploited by game shows, yet why watching others win elicits a pleasurable vicarious rewarding feeling in the absence of personal economic gain is unclear. One explanation is that game shows use contestants who have similarities to the viewing population, thereby kindling kin-motivated responses (for example, prosocial behavior). Using a game show–inspired paradigm, we show that the interactions between the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate cortex subserve the modulation of vicarious reward by similarity, respectively. Our results support studies showing that similarity acts as a proximate neurobiological mechanism where prosocial behavior extends to unrelated strangers.
Can Platelet rich plasma stimulate human ACL growth in culture? A preliminary experience.

INTRODUCTION Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) contains numerous growth factors; Platelet poor plasma (PPP) is plasma proteins without platelets, containing growth factors other than platelet derived. We planned to evaluate the effect of both autologous PRP & PPP on human ACL cell growth characteristics in culture conditions to see if one was better than the other. METHODS ACL remnants were collected from eleven patients during ACL reconstruction surgery; PPP and PRP were prepared from blood of these patients. Cells were isolated, identified and cultured and were then divided into six groups. Groups A-D had Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) added to them along with different concentrations of PRP and PPP. Groups E and F had 5% and 10% PRP respectively but lacked FBS. Cell viability was assayed by MTT and Annexin V assay, and DNA content was evaluated by propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. RESULTS analysis of cultured cells showed that addition of PRP (5 or 10%) increased the viability of ACL cells in 4 out of 11 and promoted cell proliferation in 8 of 11 donor samples; 10% PRP was more effective than 5% PRP. However, the difference in effectiveness of 10% PRP was not significantly better than 5% PRP. 5% PPP had no significant effect on cell viability, but it led to an increase in DNA content in 5 of 11. There was no statistically significant effect of either PRP or PPP in preventing cell death (depicted by apoptosis rate). CONCLUSION PRP may have an enhancing effect on ACL cell viability and promotion of cell proliferation but the ideal concentration of PRP for these positive effects needs to be determined before it could be used in clinical settings for enhancing primary repair of torn ACL. Also larger, more controlled and better studies are needed to confirm its clinical utility.
Anal HPV Infection in HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex with Men from China

Background Anal HPV infection, which contributes to the development of anal warts and anal cancer, is well known to be common among men who have sex with men (MSM), especially among those HIV positives. However, HIV and anal HPV co-infection among MSM has not been addressed in China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Beijing and Tianjin, China. Study participants were recruited using multiple methods with the collaboration of local volunteer organizations. Blood and anal swabs were collected for HIV-1 serological test and HPV genotyping. Results A total of 602 MSM were recruited and laboratory data were available for 578 of them (96.0%). HIV and anal HPV prevalence were 8.5% and 62.1%, respectively. And 48 MSM (8.3%) were found to be co-infected. The HPV genotypes identified most frequently were HPV06 (19.6%), HPV16 (13.0%), HPV52 (8.5%) and HPV11 (7.6%). Different modes of HPV genotypes distribution were observed with respect to HIV status. A strong dose-response relationship was found between HIV seropositivity and multiplicity of HPV genotypes (p<0.001), which is consistent with the observation that anal HPV infection was an independent predictor for HIV infection. Conclusions A high prevalence of HIV and anal HPV co-infection was observed in the MSM community in Beijing and Tianjin, China. Anal HPV infection was found to be independently associated with increased HIV seropositivity, which suggests the application of HPV vaccine might be a potential strategy to reduce the acquisition of HIV infection though controlling the prevalence of HPV.
XII. Hodgkin lymphoma in older patients: challenges and opportunities to improve outcomes

Advanced age is a known poor prognostic factor in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) [1]. Further, outcomes for HL patients aged≥60years are significantly and disproportionately inferior compared with younger patient populations (Figure 1) [2–4] and a standard treatment paradigm for older HL patients is lacking. The inferior outcome for older patients has been attributed to a variety of factors including presence of co-morbidities, poor performance status, histologic and biologic differences (e.g. mixed cellularity, EBV-related, and advanced-stage disease), inability to tolerate chemotherapy at full dose and schedule, and increased treatment-related toxicity and mortality. Compounding these challenges has been the underrepresentation of older patients in HL clinical trials, which is a barrier in the evaluation of disease biology and discovery of effective treatment strategies. Nonetheless, outcomes have improved for older HL patients over the past several decades, and there are recently published data and research endeavours in this patient population that are underway. In this review, we discuss the epidemiology, biology, disease characteristics, prognostication, and treatment strategies for older HL patients.
Myobacterium tuberculosis Induces Selective Up-Regulation of TLRs in the Mononuclear Leukocytes of Patients with Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis1

Human and mouse studies indicate that TLRs are important in mycobacterial infections. We investigated TLR gene expression in fresh unstimulated blood and bronchoalveolar lavage from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis using a well-validated, real-time PCR. A human splice variant of TLR1, designated hsTLR1, was found in all donors tested. hsTLR1 mRNA lacks exon 2, which is a 77-bp region of the 5′-untranslated region, but contains the same coding sequence as TLR1. Compared with the matched controls, whole blood from patients had increased levels of mRNA encoding TLR2 (p = 0.0006), TLR1 (p = 0.004), hsTLR1 (p = 0.0003), TLR6 (p < 0.0001), and TLR4 (p = 0.0002). By contrast, expression of these TLRs was not increased in bronchoalveolar lavage. An increased level of hsTLR1 mRNA was found in both CD3− (p = 0.0078) and CD4+ cells (p = 0.028), resulting in an increased ratio of hsTLR1 mRNA to TLR1 and to TLR6 mRNA. An in vitro study in THP1 cells suggested that this relative increase in hsTLR1 might be attributable to a direct effect of mycobacterial components because it could be mimicked by mycobacterial preparations in the absence of IFN-γ or T cells and by the TLR1/2 agonist Pam3CysK4. Half-life studies using blood from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and THP1 cells exposed to Myobacterium tuberculosis in vitro showed p38 MAPK-independent stabilization of mRNAs encoding hsTLR1 and TLR1. We conclude that M. tuberculosis exerts direct effects on patterns of TLR expression, partly via changes in mRNA half-life. The significance of these changes in the pathogenesis of disease deserves further investigation.
Preserved acoustic hearing in cochlear implantation improves speech perception.

BACKGROUND With improved surgical techniques and electrode design, an increasing number of cochlear implant (CI) recipients have preserved acoustic hearing in the implanted ear, thereby resulting in bilateral acoustic hearing. There are currently no guidelines, however, for clinicians with respect to audiometric criteria and the recommendation of amplification in the implanted ear. The acoustic bandwidth necessary to obtain speech perception benefit from acoustic hearing in the implanted ear is unknown. Additionally, it is important to determine if, and in which listening environments, acoustic hearing in both ears provides more benefit than hearing in just one ear, even with limited residual hearing. PURPOSE The purposes of this study were to (1) determine whether acoustic hearing in an ear with a CI provides as much speech perception benefit as an equivalent bandwidth of acoustic hearing in the nonimplanted ear, and (2) determine whether acoustic hearing in both ears provides more benefit than hearing in just one ear. RESEARCH DESIGN A repeated-measures, within-participant design was used to compare performance across listening conditions. STUDY SAMPLE Seven adults with CIs and bilateral residual acoustic hearing (hearing preservation) were recruited for the study. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Consonant-nucleus-consonant word recognition was tested in four conditions: CI alone, CI + acoustic hearing in the nonimplanted ear, CI + acoustic hearing in the implanted ear, and CI + bilateral acoustic hearing. A series of low-pass filters were used to examine the effects of acoustic bandwidth through an insert earphone with amplification. Benefit was defined as the difference among conditions. The benefit of bilateral acoustic hearing was tested in both diffuse and single-source background noise. RESULTS were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS Similar benefit was obtained for equivalent acoustic frequency bandwidth in either ear. Acoustic hearing in the nonimplanted ear provided more benefit than the implanted ear only in the wideband condition, most likely because of better audiometric thresholds (>500 Hz) in the nonimplanted ear. Bilateral acoustic hearing provided more benefit than unilateral hearing in either ear alone, but only in diffuse background noise. CONCLUSIONS RESULTS support use of amplification in the implanted ear if residual hearing is present. The benefit of bilateral acoustic hearing (hearing preservation) should not be tested in quiet or with spatially coincident speech and noise, but rather in spatially separated speech and noise (e.g., diffuse background noise).
Career Publication Patterns and Collaborative “Styles” in American Academic Science

Collaboration between scholars first developed in Napoleonic France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among the professionalizing scientists [7, 8], but it has only been since the Second World War that collaboration in published scholarship has exploded exponentially, until it now represents the majority of work in many fields [9, 46]. The greatest degree of collaboration tends to occur in those fields that are more heavily financially supported, that require sophisticated instrumentation and facilities [26], and that are the more "mature" disciplines with strong paradigm development. Research and scholarship in biomedical fields are highly collaborative, as are the "hard" sciences, except mathematics. The "soft" (social) sciences, applied research, and particularly the humanities, generally have markedly lower rates of collaborative scholarship [42, 59]. There is some evidence that collaborative scholarship results in an improved product: the more prestigious journals in a field contain a greater proportion of collaborative papers than do other publication outlets [9]; and there is a positive correlation between the number of authors of a paper and the probability of acceptance for publication [25, 45], although this relationship is attenuated when other paper character-
CHANGES IN REGIONAL BRAIN ACTIVATION RELATED TO DEPRESSIVE STATE: A 2‐YEAR LONGITUDINAL FUNCTIONAL MRI STUDY

Abnormal brain activations during processing of emotional facial expressions in depressed patients have been demonstrated. We investigated the natural course of brain activation in response to emotional faces in depression, indexed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans preceding and following change in depressive state. We hypothesized a decrease in activation in the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and insula with a decrease in depressive pathology.
Synovial biopsy in arthritis research: five years of concerted European collaboration

The term rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was first proposed by Garrod in 1859.1 By 1959, the histopathological features of synovitis, the proliferating pannus, and cartilage degradation in longstanding RA had been well described.2 Early histopathological studies were based on tissue samples obtained at surgery or at postmortem examinations. Occasionally, biopsy samples were obtained for analysis from patients with arthritis undergoing open arthrotomy. The initial interest in developing synovial biopsy techniques was to aid the differential diagnosis of joint diseases. In 1932 Forestier described a technique for obtaining synovial tissue with a dental nerve extractor that was introduced into the joint through a large calibre needle.3 He never published his results. Early experience with needle biopsy of the synovium was described in the 1950s.4 5 It was concluded that if strict aseptic techniques were employed, the procedure was safe and practical for use in both hospital wards and outpatient clinics. However, the biopsy needles tended to cause considerable trauma to the penetrated tissues owing to their wide bore and the requirement for an incision. In 1963 Parker and Pearson developed a simplified 14-gauge biopsy needle that did not require a skin incision.6 They described their experience of 125 procedures, almost all from the suprapatellar pouch of the knee joint, of which only five failed to yield adequate tissue for analysis. No serious complications were encountered. The potential of needle biopsy as a research tool in arthritis was highlighted in 1970 by Kinsella et al in their study of synovial lining layer cells in RA,7 and in 1972 by Schumacher and Kitridou in their clinicopathological study of the early features of synovitis.8 Arthroscopy was also initially developed as a diagnostic instrument. It was used primarily by orthopaedic surgeons.9 In the 1970s and 1980s a number …
What Do Diploma Theses Unveil about Academic Public Policy in the Czech Republic?

Abstract Although textbooks, conference papers, scientific journals and monographs deal with the research aspects of public policy, only little attention is paid to the way it is taught at universities. In this article we aim to explore academic public policy in the Czech Republic - specifically in terms of teaching outputs - using a unique method: an analysis of diploma theses. In the sample there were diploma theses defended within all the full-time Master’s study programmes having “public policy” in their names in the Czech Republic between 1995 and 2013. We conclude that there are two traditions of academic public policy in the Czech Republic, which enriches previous findings in the area and makes them more accurate. The research design and thoroughly described methodology invite other researchers to conduct international comparison of the features of academic public policy. The findings may also illustrate the trajectory made by the newly established discipline of public policy in the past twenty years in the Czech Republic, which may be of great interest to the newly formed international public policy community.