Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mycophenolate mofetil vs azathioprine for remission maintenance in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis: a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT Current remission maintenance therapies for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) are limited by partial efficacy and toxicity. OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of mycophenolate mofetil with azathioprine on the prevention of relapses in patients with AAV. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Open-label randomized controlled trial, International Mycophenolate Mofetil Protocol to Reduce Outbreaks of Vasculitides (IMPROVE), to test the hypothesis that mycophenolate mofetil is more effective than azathioprine for preventing relapses in AAV. The trial was conducted at 42 centers in 11 European countries between April 2002 and January 2009 (42-month study). Eligible patients had newly diagnosed AAV (Wegener granulomatosis or microscopic polyangiitis) and were aged 18 to 75 years at diagnosis. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomly assigned to azathioprine (starting at 2 mg/kg/d) or mycophenolate mofetil (starting at 2000 mg/d) after induction of remission with cyclophosphamide and prednisolone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary end point was relapse-free survival, which was assessed using a Cox proportional hazards model. The secondary end points were Vasculitis Damage Index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and proteinuria. RESULTS A total of 156 patients were assigned to azathioprine (n = 80) or mycophenolate mofetil (n = 76) and were followed up for a median of 39 months (interquartile range, 0.66-53.6 months). All patients were retained in the analysis by intention to treat. Relapses were more common in the mycophenolate mofetil group (42/76 patients) compared with the azathioprine group (30/80 patients), with an unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) for mycophenolate mofetil of 1.69 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-2.70; P = .03). Severe adverse events did not differ significantly between groups. There were 22 severe adverse events in 13 patients (16%) in the azathioprine group and there were 8 severe adverse events in 8 patients (7.5%) in the mycophenolate mofetil group (HR, 0.53 [95% CI, 0.23-1.18]; P = .12). The secondary outcomes of Vasculitis Damage Index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and proteinuria did not differ significantly between groups. CONCLUSIONS Among patients with AAV, mycophenolate mofetil was less effective than azathioprine for maintaining disease remission. Both treatments had similar adverse event rates. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00307645.
Transition and Transformation: The experiences of two young people

In this article I describe and elucidate the experiences of two young people as they pass into and through further education during what is often a formative period in their personal and intellectual development. Utilising data from semi-structured interviews conducted over a two year period, I adopt a case-study approach in which I focus on the young people's stories and passages into their post-16 careers. Through the stories I reveal how learning, as a socially organised process, was neither confined to particular place or location nor fixed within a specific timetable. Moreover, I show how their learning transcended the ordinary relationships of people in formal learning institutions and chronically infiltrated all the various dimensions of their young lives. Finally, I look outward from the research and indicate some of the ways in which work in this interpretative paradigm might provide a pointer to the future development of both theory and practice.
Group-Level Coping as a Moderator Between Heterosexism and Sexism and Psychological Distress in Sexual Minority Women

The purpose of this study was: (1) to examine concurrently the relationship between heterosexist events and sexist events and psychological distress and (2) to investigate sexual orientation–based and gender-based group-level coping as potential moderators of the heterosexism–distress and sexism–distress links among 282 lesbian and bisexual women. Findings from the Internet survey revealed that, when examined together, both heterosexism and sexism were unique and additive predictors of psychological distress. Results also supported a moderating role of feminist group-level coping in the link between number of sexist events and psychological distress, with the difference between the high–and low–feminist-activity groups occurring at the lower levels of sexism. Thus, it appears that high involvement in feminist activities may provide a buffer against the negative effects of sexism, but only when sexist events are relatively low in number.
Idealism, Relativism, and the Ethic of Caring

Abstract In this study, we investigated Gilligan's (1982) theory of moral thought. Two hundred sixteen American college students (73% women and 20.5% black) completed two questionnaires designed to measure individual differences in personal moral philosophies. Analyses indicated that individuals who endorsed an ethic of caring also tended to have higher scores on the idealism scale of the Ethics Position Questionnaire, r = . 53. Caring was also slightly correlated with the rejection of moral relativism, r = - . 13. Individuals who espoused highly idealistic but nonrelativistic personal moral philosophies most strongly endorsed an ethic of caring. Sex differences among these students were conspicuously absent.
Clinical features and risk factors for severe complications among patients with acute hepatitis A virus infection in the Jeonbuk Province of Korea.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The frequency of symptomatic acute HAV infections in adulthood are increasing in Korea. This study analyzes the clinical severity in patients with acute HAV infection and investigates risk factors associated with three severe complications: prolonged cholestasis, acute kidney injury, and acute liver failure. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of 726 patients diagnosed from January 2006 to December 2010 at three tertiary hospitals in Jeonbuk Province, Republic of Korea with acute HAV infection. RESULTS In the group of 726 patients, the mean age was 30.3 years, 426 (58.6%) were male, and 34 (4.7%) were HBsAg positive. Severe complications from acute HAV infection occurred as follows: prolonged cholestasis in 33 (4.6%), acute kidney injury in 17 (2.3%), and acute liver failure in 16 (2.2%). Through multivariate analysis, age ≥40 years (OR 2.63, p=0.024) and peak PT (INR) ≥1.5 (OR 5.81, p=0.035) were found to be significant risk factors for prolonged cholestasis. Age ≥40 years (OR 5.24, p=0.002) and female gender (OR 3.11, p=0.036) were significant risk factors for acute kidney injury. Age ≥40 years (OR 6.91, p=0.002), HBsAg positivity (OR 5.02, p=0.049), and peak total bilirubin (OR 1.11, p=0.001) were significant risk factors for acute liver failure. CONCLUSIONS Age ≥40 years, female gender, HBsAg positivity, peak PT (INR) ≥1.5, and peak total bilirubin were significant risk factors for severe complications in acute HAV infections.
Managing chronic rhinosinusitis and respiratory disease: a qualitative study of triggers and interactions

Abstract Objective: The aim of this analysis is to explore views of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) about of the aetiology of their respiratory symptoms and the relationship between upper and lower respiratory symptoms. Methods: This study is part of a larger mixed methods study investigating the epidemiology of CRS, which comprises a questionnaire study of patients with CRS and controls and a qualitative study of 21 patients with CRS. Semi structured qualitative interviews were undertaken with these patients; 11 males and 10 females. Twelve patients had asthma. Patients were recruited with a tertiary outpatient rhinology clinic. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis, using Nvivo software (QSR International, Melbourne, Australia). Several important and recurring themes were highlighted. Results: Patients described many perceived triggering factors and an interaction between upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms. They felt that their symptoms could be managed more holistically. Conclusions: Concerns about triggers of respiratory symptoms and interactions between upper and lower respiratory symptoms are of significant concern to patients. These should be appropriately managed and acknowledged in formal treatment pathways, for example, through the use of combined ENT/respiratory clinics.
The Solute Carrier Families Have a Remarkably Long Evolutionary History with the Majority of the Human Families Present before Divergence of Bilaterian Species

The Solute Carriers (SLCs) are membrane proteins that regulate transport of many types of substances over the cell membrane. The SLCs are found in at least 46 gene families in the human genome. Here, we performed the first evolutionary analysis of the entire SLC family based on whole genome sequences. We systematically mined and analyzed the genomes of 17 species to identify SLC genes. In all, we identified 4,813 SLC sequences in these genomes, and we delineated the evolutionary history of each of the subgroups. Moreover, we also identified ten new human sequences not previously classified as SLCs, which most likely belong to the SLC family. We found that 43 of the 46 SLC families found in Homo sapiens were also found in Caenorhabditis elegans, whereas 42 of them were also found in insects. Mammals have a higher number of SLC genes in most families, perhaps reflecting important roles for these in central nervous system functions. This study provides a systematic analysis of the evolutionary history of the SLC families in Eukaryotes showing that the SLC superfamily is ancient with multiple branches that were present before early divergence of Bilateria. The results provide foundation for overall classification of SLC genes and are valuable for annotation and prediction of substrates for the many SLCs that have not been tested in experimental transport assays.
Temporal characteristics of the surprise reaction induced by schema-discrepant visual and auditory events

Abstract Two experiments investigated the effects of a schema-discrepant event on the surprise reaction. Schema-discrepancy concerned a physical feature of irrelevant distractor words that were presented while the subjects performed a choice reaction time task. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the distractors and the task-relevant stimuli was manipulated in both experiments. The occurrence of the schema-discrepant event led to subjective feelings of surprise and enhanced recall of the stimulus material. In Experiment 1, the presentation of a schema-discrepant auditory event resulted in a pronounced increase of reaction time (RT) with a 0.2sec SOA but not with a 1.5sec SOA. In Experiment 2, the effects of both fixed and variable SOAs of four different lengths (simultaneous onset, 0.5sec, 1sec, or 2sec SOA) were investigated within a visual task context. The increase of RT was found to be most pronounced with SOAs of 0.5sec and lsec respectively, and more pronounced with variable than with fixed .
Estimation of the tilt of the stellar velocity ellipsoid from RAVE and implications for mass models

We present a measure of the inclination of the velocity ellipsoid at 1 kpc below the Galactic plane using a sample of red clump giants from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) Data Release 2. We find that the velocity ellipsoid is tilted towards the Galactic plane with an inclination of 7 degrees.3 +/- 1 degrees.8. We compare this value to computed inclinations for two mass models of the Milky Way. We find that our measurement is consistent with a short scalelength of the stellar disc (Rd similar or equal to 2 kpc) if the dark halo is oblate or with a long scalelength (Rd similar or equal to 3 kpc) if the dark halo is prolate. Once combined with independent constraints on the flattening of the halo, our measurement suggests that the scalelength is approximately halfway between these two extreme values, with a preferred range 2.5-2.7 kpc for a nearly spherical halo. Nevertheless, no model can be clearly ruled out. With the continuation of the RAVE survey, it will be possible to provide a strong constraint on the mass distribution of the Milky Way using refined measurements of the orientation of the velocity ellipsoid.
Crystal structure of catena-poly[[(dimethyl sulfoxide-κO)(pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylato-κ3 O,N,O′)nickel(II)]-μ-pyrazine-κ2 N:N′]

A one-dimensional NiII coordination polymer has been prepared via solvothermal synthesis using dimethyl sulfoxide as solvent. The coordination polymer forms double-chains along [010] and exhibits π–π stacking and C—H⋯π interactions forming the interior of the double-chains, separated from a C—H⋯π hydrogen-bonding network in the space between the double-chains.
Generalized net model of Cuckoo search algorithm

In this paper the apparatus of generalized nets is applied to describe the Cuckoo search (CS). The CS is a metaheuristic population-based algorithm inspired by the brood parasitism of some cuckoo species laying their eggs in the nests of other bird species. In addition, CS is enhanced by the so-called Lévy flights rather than by simple isotropic random walks. Preliminary studies show that CS is very promising and could outperform existing algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization, Genetic Algorithms, and other algorithms. The proposed herewith model provides the opportunity to describe the logic of CS in the terms of the mathematical modeling paradigm of generalized nets.
A keyword search system using open source software

Provides an overview of a speech-to-text (STT) and keyword search (KWS) system architecture build primarily on the top of the Kaldi toolkit and expands on a few highlights. The system was developed as a part of the research efforts of the Radical team while participating in the IARPA Babel program. Our aim was to develop a general system pipeline which could be easily and rapidly deployed in any language, independently on the language script and phonological and linguistic features of the language.
Genetic Algorithm for Traveling Salesman Problem with Modified Cycle Crossover Operator

Genetic algorithms are evolutionary techniques used for optimization purposes according to survival of the fittest idea. These methods do not ensure optimal solutions; however, they give good approximation usually in time. The genetic algorithms are useful for NP-hard problems, especially the traveling salesman problem. The genetic algorithm depends on selection criteria, crossover, and mutation operators. To tackle the traveling salesman problem using genetic algorithms, there are various representations such as binary, path, adjacency, ordinal, and matrix representations. In this article, we propose a new crossover operator for traveling salesman problem to minimize the total distance. This approach has been linked with path representation, which is the most natural way to represent a legal tour. Computational results are also reported with some traditional path representation methods like partially mapped and order crossovers along with new cycle crossover operator for some benchmark TSPLIB instances and found improvements.
Is human object recognition better described by geon structural descriptions or by multiple views? Comment on Biederman and Gerhardstein (1993).

Is human object recognition viewpoint dependent or viewpoint invariant under "everyday" conditions? I. Biederman and P.C. Gerhardstein (1993) argued that viewpoint-invariant mechanisms are used almost exclusively. However, our analysis indicates that (a) their conditions for immediate viewpoint invariance lack the generality to characterize a wide range of recognition phenomena, (b) the extensive body of viewpoint-dependent results cannot be dismissed as processing "by-products" or "experimental artifacts," and (c) geon structural descriptions cannot coherently account for category recognition, the domain they are intended to explain. The weight of current evidence supports an exemplar-based multiple-views mechanism as an important component of both exemplar-specific and categorical recognition.
Pagetoid reticulosis with CD30 positivity and cytotoxic/suppressor cells

Pagetoid reticulosis (PR) is a low‐grade primary cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma that usually presents as a solitary, slowly enlarging erythematous or hyperkeratotic plaque on the distal areas of the extremities. Histopathologically, it is characterized by a dense, band‐like infiltrate of atypical lymphocytes with prominent epidermotropism within a hyperplastic epidermis, and immunophenotypic studies show in most cases, a CD4‐positive T‐helper phenotype for the neoplastic lymphocytes. We describe an African man with a more than 20‐year history of an acral lesion of PR, which was histopathologically characterized by lymphocyte immunophenotype consisting of CD8‐ and CD30‐positive cells. We discuss the differential diagnosis with other primary cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders showing similar immunophenotype. This case shows that CD30‐positive PR should be included as a rare variant within the spectrum of CD30‐positive primary cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders. As in other primary cutaneous CD30‐positive lymphoproliferative processes, lesions of CD30‐positive PR show an indolent course and a benign biological behavior.
Spectral evolution of Fermi/GBM short Gamma-Ray Bursts

We study the spectral evolution of 13 short duration Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) detected by the Gamma Burst Monitor (GBM) on board Fermi. We study spectra resolved in time at the level of 2 ‐ 512 ms in the 8 keV‐35 MeV energy range. We find a strong correlation between the observed peak energy Epeak and the flux P within individual short GRBs. The slope of the Epeak / P s correlation for individual bursts ranges between �0.4 and �1. There is no correlation between the low energy spectral index and the peak energy or the flux. Our results show that in our 13 short GRBs Epeak evolves in time tracking the flux. This behavior is similar to what found in the population of long GRBs and it is in agreement with the evidence that long GRBs and (the still few) short GRBs with measured redshifts follow the same rest frameEpeak Liso correlation. Its origin is most likely to be found in the radi ative mechanism that has to be the same in both classes of GRBs.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy — One Model Fits All?

This article expresses concern about the indiscriminate acceptance of the solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) model by some social workers and social agencies in spite of the dearth of empirical support for its claims to provide clients with more rapid and more enduring change than other treatment models. The article reviews the core assumptions and techniques of SFBT and outlines the strengths and limitations of the model in the context of the findings of psychotherapy process and outcome research and from the perspective of mainstream social work. The authors argue that social workers should avoid rigid adherence to narrow models of therapy and that social work students need to be exposed to multiple theories and techniques to be adequately prepared for practice. Agencies are encouraged to offer services based on a variety of treatment models in order to more adequately serve their clients and also to better position themselves to contribute to research that would further inform the profession about the combinations of model, client, and worker characteristics that lead to the most efficient and effective outcomes.
HHV‐6 DNAaemia in patients with multiple sclerosis in Kuwait

Objective– To study the presence of active human herpesvirus type‐6 (HHV‐6) infection indicated by the presence of HHV‐6 DNA in serum (DNAaemia) in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) in Kuwait. Material and methods– Sera from 24 patients with MS (18 relapsing–remitting, six secondary progressive disease), control sera from 13 patients suffering from other neurological diseases and sera from 20 healthy volunteers were examined for the presence of HHV‐6 DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Results– None of the MS patients, nor patient controls were positive for HHV‐6 DNAaemia while, one of the normal healthy controls was positive for HHV‐6 DNAaemia. Conclusion– HHV‐6 DNAaemia, indicating active HHV‐6 infection could not be demonstrated in a sample of Kuwaiti patients suffering from active clinically definite MS. There is no evidence to incriminate this virus in the pathogenesis of MS in Kuwait.
Practical Data-Centric Storage

Most data retrieval mechanisms in wireless sensor networks adopt a data-centric approach, in which data is identified directly by name rather than through the location of the node on which it is stored. Initial data-centric methods, such as directed diffusion and TinyDB/TAG, focused on the conveyance of data. One of the advantages of these algorithms is that they do not require point-to-point routing, which has proved to be difficult and costly to implement in wireless sensor networks, and instead require only the simpler and more robust tree-construction primitives. Some recent data retrieval proposals have extended the data-centric paradigm to storage. Data-centric storage uses in-network placement of data to increase the efficiency of data retrieval in certain circumstances. Unfortunately, all such proposals have been based on point-to-point routing, and therefore have faced a significant deployment barrier. In this paper we hope to make data-centric storage more practical by removing the need for point-to-point routing. To that end, we propose pathDCS, an approach to data-centric storage that requires only standard tree construction algorithms, a primitive already available in many real-world deployments. We describe the design and implementation of pathDCS and evaluate its performance through both high-level and packet-level simulations, as well as through experiments on a sensor testbed.
Hemoglobin Is a Co-Factor of Human Trypanosome Lytic Factor

Trypanosome lytic factor (TLF) is a high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subclass providing innate protection to humans against infection by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei brucei. Two primate-specific plasma proteins, haptoglobin-related protein (Hpr) and apolipoprotein L-1 (ApoL-1), have been proposed to kill T. b. brucei both singularly or when co-assembled into the same HDL. To better understand the mechanism of T. b. brucei killing by TLF, the protein composition of TLF was investigated using a gentle immunoaffinity purification technique that avoids the loss of weakly associated proteins. HDL particles recovered by immunoaffinity absorption, with either anti-Hpr or anti-ApoL-1, were identical in protein composition and specific activity for T. b. brucei killing. Here, we show that TLF-bound Hpr strongly binds Hb and that addition of Hb stimulates TLF killing of T. b. brucei by increasing the affinity of TLF for its receptor, and by inducing Fenton chemistry within the trypanosome lysosome. These findings suggest that TLF in uninfected humans may be inactive against T. b. brucei prior to initiation of infection. We propose that infection of humans by T. b. brucei causes hemolysis that triggers the activation of TLF by the formation of Hpr–Hb complexes, leading to enhanced binding, trypanolytic activity, and clearance of parasites.