Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SimplifiedMethodfor DetectingAnti-InsulinAntibodiesand Insulin-Anti- InsulinImmuneComplexes

A simplifiedapproach forestimatingfreeand totalantiinsulinantibodiesand solubleinsulin-anti-insulin immune complexes inserum hasbeen developedand evaluated. For determinationoffreeanti-insulin a tibodies, a binding ratio for 125l-labeled insulin at fivefold serum dilution is calculated;the binding ratios obtained are reproducible (run-to-run coefficient of variation, 7.3%) and correlate well with titration of anti-insulin antibodies by other techniques (correlation coefficient, 0.9327). Total anti-insulin antibody concentrations are determined by calculating the [1251] insulin binding ratio for a sample previously acidified, adsorbed with acid dextran-coated charcoal, and neutralized. The difference in binding ratios between two aliquots of the same serum, one diluted 10-fold without manipulation and the second studied at an identical dilution after acidification and removal of free insulin, is taken as an index of the presence of soluble insulin-anti-insulin immune complexes. Because the tests can be performed at a single dilution, both time and materials are conserved without apparent loss of discrimination between sera with high antibody titers and high concentrations of insulinanti-insulin immune complexes and sera with negative titers or low concentrations.
Parental conditional regard as a predictor of deficiencies in young children's capacities to respond to sad feelings

This study explored the relationship between parents’ use of conditional regard (PCR, Assor, Roth, & Deci, 2004; Roth, 2008) to promote suppression of sad feelings and the following emotional skills in young children: (1) recognition of sadness in facial expressions, (2) awareness of sad feelings in oneself, and (3) empathic response to others’ sad feelings. The study distinguished between two PCR components: conditional negative regard (similar to love withdrawal) and conditional positive regard. Emotion-focused interviews were conducted with 102 children aged 5–6 years, and their parents completed questionnaires assessing parents’ use of conditional regard. As expected, both PCR components correlated negatively with the emotional skills. Regression analyses showed that the seemingly benign practice of conditional positive regard had unique negative associations with the three emotional skills also when effects of negative PCR were controlled. Copyright r 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Strategic Reward: Implementing More Effective Reward Management

Strategic reward is the process of deciding what route to take in developing appropriate reward arrangements and dealing with the issues which arise in making that journey. Armstrong and Brown hold great faith in strategic reward and present here their 'new realism' philosophy and breadth of experience on the subject. They examine the essence and context of strategic reward and the processes involved in developing and implementing strategies, along with a clear overview of the opportunities and risks of pursuing a reward strategy, demonstrating how critical it is to the dual agenda of successful organizational performance and the motivation and engagement of staff.
Trade Integration, Competition, and the Decline in Exchange-Rate Pass-Through

Over the past twenty years, U.S. import prices have become less responsive to the exchange rate. We propose that this decline is a result of increased trade integration. To illustrate this effect, we develop an open economy DGE model in which there is strategic complementarity in price setting so that a firm's pricing decision depends on the prices set by its competitors. Because of the complementarity in price setting, a foreign exporter finds it optimal to vary its markup over cost in response to shocks that change the exchange rate, which insulates import prices from exchange rate movements. With increased trade integration, exporters have become more responsive to the prices of their competitors and this change in pricing behavior accounts for a significant portion of the observed decline in the sensitivity of U.S import prices to the exchange rate. Our environment of low pass-through also has important implications for the welfare benefits of trade integration: we find that the benefits are substantially reduced compared to an environment with complete pass-through.
Radon mitigation survey among New York State residents living in high radon homes.

Residential exposure to radon has been considered an important environmental risk factor for lung cancer. Since 1986, U.S. EPA has recommended that all dwellings below the third floor be tested for the presence of radon and be mitigated to reduce indoor radon in homes with levels exceeding 148 Bq m(-3). In order to evaluate the effectiveness of New York State Department of Health's efforts to increase public awareness about radon risk and to promote radon testing and mitigation in compliance with EPA's guideline, a statewide radon mitigation survey was conducted between September 1995 and January 1996 among New York State residents whose homes had radon levels equal to or greater than 148 Bq m(-3) on the first floor (or above) living areas. The survey found that about 60% of 1,113 participants had taken actions for radon mitigation. The percentage of respondents who took actions to reduce radon levels in their homes increased with increasing education level as well as household income level. The method of installing a powered system to provide more ventilation was a more effective mitigation method than opening widows/doors or sealing cracks/openings in the basement. Mitigation performed by contractors was more effective in reducing radon levels than mitigation performed by residents. The reasons for performing radon mitigation given by the majority of respondents were those strongly related to radon health risk. High home radon level was an important motivational factor to stimulate radon mitigation. On the other hand, the cost of radon mitigation was a major barrier in decision making for performing radon mitigation and for selecting mitigation measures. Thus, public educational campaigns that focus on increasing awareness and knowledge about radon health risks and development of less expensive radon mitigation methods may help in promoting radon mitigation.
Cognitive Walkthroughs: Understanding the Effect of Task-Description Detail on Evaluator Performance

Inspection-based evaluation techniques are popular because they can be fast, require limited formal training, and can find numerous usability problems. Cognitive walkthroughs are one of the most studied techniques, and as a result, the technique has undergone a series of revisions. One such revision, made to speed the evaluation process and reduce the need for formal training in cognitive psychology, incorporated detailed step-by-step task descriptions to guide the evaluation process. This article reports on the first study that investigated the effects of this change when evaluators were learning to apply the technique. The results indicate that providing detailed task descriptions rather than shorter descriptions, as are often used in usability tests, significantly changes the types of problems found. Evaluators given detailed task descriptions found significantly more problems related to the feedback provided by the system but significantly fewer problems related to difficulties locating the necessary .
Efficacy Projection of Obiltoxaximab for Treatment of Inhalational Anthrax across a Range of Disease Severity

ABSTRACT Inhalational anthrax has high mortality even with antibiotic treatment, and antitoxins are now recommended as an adjunct to standard antimicrobial regimens. The efficacy of obiltoxaximab, a monoclonal antibody against anthrax protective antigen (PA), was examined in multiple studies conducted in two animal models of inhalational anthrax. A single intravenous bolus of 1 to 32 mg/kg of body weight obiltoxaximab or placebo was administered to New Zealand White rabbits (two studies) and cynomolgus macaques (4 studies) at disease onset (significant body temperature increase or detection of serum PA) following lethal challenge with aerosolized Bacillus anthracis spores. The primary endpoint was survival. The relationship between efficacy and disease severity, defined by pretreatment bacteremia and toxemia levels, was explored. In rabbits, single doses of 1 to 16 mg/kg obiltoxaximab led to 17 to 93% survival. In two studies, survival following 16 mg/kg obiltoxaximab was 93% and 62% compared to 0% and 0% for placebo (P = 0.0010 and P = 0.0013, respectively). Across four macaque studies, survival was 6.3% to 78.6% following 4 to 32 mg/kg obiltoxaximab. In two macaque studies, 16 mg/kg obiltoxaximab reduced toxemia and led to survival rates of 31%, 35%, and 47% versus 0%, 0%, and 6.3% with placebo (P = 0.0085, P = 0.0053, P = 0.0068). Pretreatment bacteremia and toxemia levels inversely correlated with survival. Overall, obiltoxaximab monotherapy neutralized PA and increased survival across the range of disease severity, indicating clinical benefit of toxin neutralization with obiltoxaximab in both early and late stages of inhalational anthrax.
Molecular Profiling of a Rare Rosette-Forming Glioneuronal Tumor Arising in the Spinal Cord

Rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor (RGNT) of the IV ventricle is a rare and recently recognized brain tumor entity. It is histologically composed by two distinct features: a glial component, resembling pilocytic astrocytoma, and a component forming neurocytic rosettes and/or perivascular rosettes. Herein, we describe a 33-year-old man with RGNT arising in the spinal cord. Following an immunohistochemistry validation, we further performed an extensive genomic analysis, using array-CGH (aCGH), whole exome and cancer-related hotspot sequencing, in order to better understand its underlying biology. We observed the loss of 1p and gain of 1q, as well as gain of the whole chromosomes 7, 9 and 16. Local amplifications in 9q34.2 and 19p13.3 (encompassing the gene SBNO2) were identified. Moreover, we observed focal gains/losses in several chromosomes. Additionally, on chromosome 7, we identified the presence of the KIAA1549:BRAF gene fusion, which was further validated by RT-PCR and FISH. Across all mutational analyses, we detected and validated the somatic mutations of the genes MLL2, CNNM3, PCDHGC4 and SCN1A. Our comprehensive molecular profiling of this RGNT suggests that MAPK pathway and methylome changes, driven by KIAA1549:BRAF fusion and MLL2 mutation, respectively, could be associated with the development of this rare tumor entity.
Maternal Satisfaction as an Outcome Criterion in Research on Labor Analgesia: Data Analysis from the Recent Literature

Objectives:To investigate whether maternal satisfaction (MS) is taken into consideration as an outcome criterion in clinical research on analgesia for labor. Methods:A systematic review of articles reporting analgesia for labor from a panel of 17 influential journals was undertaken. A total of 116 articles were analyzed, including 282 within-study groups. The scope of MS, the type of outcome measure used, and the time of measurement were noted. Each available observation was assigned an ordinal value of MS (ordMS), according to data distribution. The factors influencing ordMS were identified by multivariable analysis. Results:The methods used to assess MS were very variable, even within the different measurement tools reported. The weighted distribution of ordMS was 17.8%, 21.8%, 31.2%, and 29.3% for levels “poor,” “fair,” “good,” and “excellent,” respectively. In comparative studies, statistical differences for analgesia were related to statistical differences for MS (P<0.0001), but only the negative predictive value was high (0.87). Power to detect a difference in MS between treatment groups was low in general, but it influenced reporting of a significant difference for MS (P<0.0001). The obstetrical factors influencing ordMS were: the body mass index, the initial cervical dilatation, and the within-study percentage of nulliparous women. The techniques alternative to epidural analgesia negatively influenced ordMS. Discussion:A standard and validated tool to assess MS in clinical research on analgesia for labor is still to be developed. Power should be improved by acting on sample sizes or sensitivity of the outcome.
A new transform for document image compression

In this paper, we propose a new real transform (rCS-SCHT) derived from the conjugate symmetric sequency-ordered complex Hadamard transform (CS-SCHT) for document image compression. Like the CS-SCHT, the proposed transform is also an orthogonal transform. The transform computation is very simple and it requires only addition/subtractions with the use of a fast algorithm. This transform possesses good energy compaction property which makes it suitable to be employed in document image compression. Simulations are conducted in order to demonstrate the energy compaction capability of the transform as compared to the discrete cosine transform (DCT) and the Walsh Hadamard transform (WHT), particularly for scanned document images. Further discussions on the bit rate vs peak signal-to-noise (PSNR) performances of the proposed transform, the DCT and the WHT are presented using the default JPEG setting for simulations.
Developing the Therapeutic Use of Self in the Health Care Professional through Autoethnography: Working with the Borderline Personality Disorder Population

Frequently stigmatized, misdiagnosed, improperly treated, and discounted is the suffering of the patient with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and it can be a serious, agonizing, tenacious, and draining mental illness. Present-day research illustrates that patients with BPD are in fact the largest consumers of mental health services, utilizing every treatment genre more frequently and in greater quantities than any other mental health taxonomy. They experience more complex and destructive symptoms, more perpetual misery and encumbrance, an unpredictable usage of outpatient services, and extensive treatment modalities and psychiatric admissions. A review of current literature reveals this consistent notion: the attitudes of health care professionals toward patients diagnosed with this elaborate disorder tend to be disparaging. The aim of this article is to critically analyze the prospect that autoethnography (or narrative research) is a strategic, useful tool for mental health professionals to improve empathy and identification with patients suffering with BPD. As a qualitative research method, autoethnography is advantageous for creating connections between care provider and patient. It can deepen their mutual and divergent experiences while generating empirical knowledge from the professional's narrative reflection and through the therapeutic use of self with the patient.
A Bourdieusian investigation into reproduction and transformation in the field of disability cricket

Disability cricket in England and Wales exists within a constant state of change. This thesis is an organizational analysis of how environmental factors foster reproduction and/or transformation within the field of disability cricket. It is important to examine how these factors are translated across multiple levels of analysis; institutional, organizational, and individual. A layered analysis is important because it attempts to overcome the limitations of previous micro- and macro-approaches to change. A reflexive ethnography that involved three years of fieldwork allowed perceptions and meanings of change to be examined in real-time. This approach is novel in studies of institutional and organizational change. Data was collected through formal and informal interviews, active-member observations, and document analysis. The findings reveal a series of structural and cognitive consequences, which included a greater number of playing opportunities for disabled cricketers and the establishment of an economic market for disability cricket which ensured organizational commitment to accepting accountability and managerial pressures. While change occurred, the nature of organizational responses to these environmental factors varied. Drawing on the theoretical insights of Bourdieu (2005) and the institutional theory of translation (Czarniawska & Sevon, 1996), I demonstrate that these responses varied between organizations because of the relationship between the field, the organization’s doxa and the habitus of the individuals employed within. It concludes empirically that the translation of environmental factors is dependent on the interlinking relationships between institutions, organizations and individuals. The use of Bourdieu extends previous institutional analysis in sport management by providing a unique perspective on the role of organizations in reproducing inequality. As this thesis demonstrates institutional change is a recurrent theme in British sport organizations and further work is needed to examine the impact of these changes on the relations between sport organizations and the participants, employees and volunteers within them. As such it reinforces interdisciplinary calls to link sport management and the sociology of sport.
Relation of Steroid Hormones to Glucose Tolerance and Plasma Insulin Levels in Men: Importance of visceral adipose tissue

OBJECTIVE Low plasma testosterone levels are associated with hyperinsulinemia and glucose intolerance in men. However, it is unclear whether these abnormalities are related to the concomitant alteration in regional adipose tissue (AT) accumulation associated with reduced androgen levels. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We measured plasma steroid levels in a sample of 79 men, ranging from lean to obese (aged 29–42 years), for whom an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), anthropometrie and computed tomography (CT) measurements of body fatness, and AT distribution were performed. Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and the following steroids were measured after extraction from plasma and chromatography: dehydro-epiandrosterone, androstenedione, androst–5–ene–3β,17β–diol, testosterone, estrone, and estradiol (E2). RESULTS Several significant negative correlations were found between adrenal C19 steroid precursors, testosterone, SHBG, and fasting insulin levels, as well as between plasma glucose and insulin concentrations measured during the OGTT (−0.25 ≤ r ≤ −0.35, 0.05 ≥ P ≥ 0.001). The best steroid correlate of plasma glucose and insulin homeostasis indexes was the E2: testosterone ratio (0.34 ≤ r ≤ 0.42,0.005 ≥ P ≥ 0.001). However, after correction of steroid levels for either fat mass, body mass index (BMI), or visceral AT area, as measured by CT, no significant residual associations were noted between testosterone, adrenal C19 steroid, SHBG, and estrogen levels and indexes of plasma glucose-insulin homeostasis, although the positive association between the E2:testosterone ratio and glucose area remained significant after adjustment for total body fat mass and BMI. Furthermore, 15 pairs of obese subjects, matched for visceral AT area, showing either low or high levels of the steroids studied, did not differ in fasting insulin and postglucose plasma insulin levels or in glucose tolerance. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the previously reported relationships between androgen levels and indexes of plasma glucose-insulin homeostasis are mediated, to a large extent, by concomitant alterations in levels of total body fat and visceral AT in men.
Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact

Detailed contents viii Preface: is this book for me? xiv 1 Developing contextual research that matters 1 2 Entering the conversation of qualitative research 20 3 Paradigmatic reflections and theoretical foundations 37 4 Fieldwork and fieldplay: Negotiating access and exploring the scene 64 5 Proposal writing: Explaining your research to institutional review boards, instructors, supervisory committees, and funding agencies 87 6 Field roles, fieldnotes, and field focus 105 7 Interview planning and design: Sampling, recruiting, and questioning 130 8 Interview practice: Embodied, mediated, and focus-group approaches 157 9 Data analysis basics: A pragmatic iterative approach 183 10 Advanced data analysis: The art and magic of interpretation 203 11 Qualitative quality: Creating a credible, ethical, significant study 227 12 Writing Part 1: The nuts and bolts of qualitative tales 251 13 Writing Part 2: Drafting, polishing, and publishing 273 14 Qualitative methodology matters: Exiting and communicating impact 296 Appendix A Fieldnote 315 Appendix B Focus group guide 317 Appendix C Interview transcription excerpts 321 References 325 Index 341
Simulation in nursing education : from conceptualization to evaluation

By popular demand, the topic of the NLN’s annual fall survey is. Workload, Compensation, and Teaching Practices ■ What classroom and clinical teaching challenges do nurse educators face today? ■ How do nurse educator salaries compare to colleagues’ in clinical practice? ■ Are compensation and workload issues undermining nurse faculty retention? We are partnering with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to examine these issues so that we may contribute to the base of knowledge that will shape the future of nursing education. Please help us find out the answers. The survey is open to ALL nurse faculty and administrators employed in prelicensure or graduate-level RN programs.
Challenges in Mentalization–Based Group Therapy (MBT-G) : A Video-based Explorative Case Study

This paper presents a video-based explorative case study of therapeutic challenges in mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G) for patients with borderline-type problems. Employing qualitative methodology, we explored a MBT group as part of routine psychiatric care at a Psychiatric District Centre (naturalistic study). Several phenomena emerged as important in understanding the therapists’ struggle to construe the group in a manner that foster mentalization. First and foremost, the main challenge seemed to be that the therapists did not succeed in establishing the authority needed to break through a strong pseudo-mentalizing group culture, alternating with more chaotic displays of psychic equivalence. This may be understood as a consequence of a misconstrued attempt by the therapists to take on a not-knowing stance, a central principle in MBT. Supposedly, the not-knowing stance towards the inner psyche of the patients interfused with a not-knowing stance towards the therapeutic process as a whole, undermining the authority of the therapists. The seemingly contradicting demands inherent in the MBT-G treatment manual, both being authoritative and taking a not-knowing stance, have not previously been highlighted in the literature. The results point towards the complicated process of transferring scientifically validated treatments to routine clinical practice.