Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vascular Health and Risk Management Dovepress the Utility of Troponin Measurement to Detect Myocardial Infarction: Review of the Current Findings

Myocardial infarction (MI) is defined by the presence of myocardial necrosis in combination with clinical evidence of myocardial ischemia. Cardiac troponins are regulatory proteins within the myocardium that are released into the circulation when damage to the myo-cyte has occurred. Therefore, serum troponin is an exquisitely sensitive marker of myocardial injury and is necessary for establishing the diagnosis of MI. High-sensitivity troponin assays are improving the diagnostic accuracy and rapid detection of myocardial infarction. The early identification of MI is vital for the institution of anti-thrombotic therapy to limit myocardial damage and preserve cardiac function. Troponin has both diagnostic and prognostic significance in the setting of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Increased troponin levels in the absence of ACS should prompt an evaluation for an alternative, non-thrombotic mechanism of troponin elevation and direct management at the underlying cause. This review describes the role of troponin in the evaluation of patients with suspected myocardial infarction.
Key factors in the internationalisation process of SMEs exporting business software as a service

Little is known about how SMEs export business software as a service. This article describes six case studies in which prevailing factors regarded as essential for the internationalisation process of software as a service are identified: generic software, a domestic market base, technical internationalisation and localisation, entrepreneurial management, personal customer contact, and usage of specific market selection criteria such as high IT penetration and maturity levels and psychical proximity. These factors and their interplay do not fit in the established theoretical models of internationalisation in the literature. A redefinition and refinement of internationalisation theories specific to software as a service are needed.
The role of commitment in software process improvement

Software process improvement (SPI) approaches have been designed to produce changes at many levels, i.e. in the strategies, culture and working practices, of software development. Studies have shown that nearly two thirds of all SPI efforts have failed or fallen short of expectations. It is often stated in SPI-related literature and practice that "commitment" to SPI plays an important part in determining whether an SPI endeavor ultimately becomes a success or a failure. However, it often remains unclear what this concept actually means and how it affects SPI. This thesis argues for a scientifically grounded concept of commitment and delivers a description and a definition of this concept in the context of software process improvement. The elaboration of the concept is based on a literature study, which makes the research done in behavioral psychology and organizational science applicable in the field of software process improvement. This thesis shows that current thinking relies on practical models of commitment, and the empirically validated analysis conducted within this study reveals a number of common misleading assumptions regarding the notion and development of commitment in SPI. On this basis, this thesis suggests that the commitment phenomenon is better explained through what can be called strategic, operational and personal commitment nets. This framework can be used for analyzing the unfolding and alteration of commitment towards a specific entity, in this case a software process improvement endeavor, through time and changing circumstances. The viability and usefulness of the commitment nets framework is demonstrated through an analysis of four SPI cases in two software organizations. As a result, it is shown that even though the objective features of SPI in terms of costs and benefits may be dominating in the project initiation phase, their role tends to lose strength later on due to an inability of the SPI effort to produce quick and meaningful results, even if these are explicitly sought for. This phenomenon gives rise to a need for enhancing the role of social and psychological drivers. If this is not achieved, SPI activities are likely to cease to exist. The empirical analysis demonstrates that the use of the commitment nets model enables a more precise analysis of the various aspects involved in the commitment phenomenon than what would have been possible with current commitment models. Commitment, as conceptualized and operationalized in this thesis, makes a significant contribution to the outcome of the SPI initiative. The empirical evidence shows that, eventually, even well-planned SPI initiatives may fail to reach the goals set for them due to changes in commitment nets.
Geometrical tests of cosmological models - II. Calibration of rotational widths and disc scaling relations

This is the second in a series of three papers dedicated to a new technique to select galaxies that can act as standard rods and standard candles in order to perform geometrical tests on large samples of high redshift galaxies to constrain different cosmological parameters. The goals of this paper are (1) to compare different rotation indicators in order to understand the relation between rotation velocities extracted from observations of the Hα6563 A line and the [OII]λ3727 A line; and (2) to determine the scaling relations between physical size, surface brightness and magnitude of disc galaxies and their rotation velocity using the SFI++, a large catalog of nearby galaxies observed at I-band. A good correlation is observed between the rotation curve-derived velocities of the Hα- and [OII] observations, as well as between those calculated from velocity histograms, justifying the direct comparison of velocities measured from Her rotation curves in nearby galaxies and from [OII] line widths at higher redshifts. To provide calibration for the geometrical tests, we give expressions for the different scaling relations between properties of galaxies (size, surface brightness, magnitude) and their rotation speeds. We use Malmquist bias-corrected distances from the SFI++ template Tully-Fisher relation to generate a size-rotation velocity relation with unprecedentedly small scatter. We show how the best size-rotation velocity relation is derived when size is estimated not from disc scale lengths but from the isophotal diameter r 23.5 , once these have been corrected for inclination and extinction effects.
Relationship of Psychological and Physiological Variables in Long-Term Self-Monitored Data During Work Ability Rehabilitation Program

Individual wellness comprises both psychological and physiological wellbeing, which are interrelated. In long-term monitoring of wellness, both components should be included. Work-related stress and burnout are persistent problems in industrial countries. Early identification of work-related stress symptoms and early intervention could reduce individual suffering and improve the working productivity and creativity. The goal of this study was to explore the relationship between physiological and psychological variables measured at home by the users themselves or automatically. In all, 17 (3 males and 14 females, age 40-62) people participating in a work ability rehabilitation program (due to work overload) were monitored for three months. Physiological and behavioral variables (activity, bed occupancy, heart rate (HR) and respiration during night, HR during day, blood pressure, steps, weight, room illumination, and temperature) were measured with different unobtrusive wireless sensors. Daily self-assessment of stress, mood, and behaviors (exercise, sleep) were collected using a mobile phone diary. The daily self-assessment of stress and the Derogatis stress profile questionnaire were used as reference for stress status. Results show modest, but significant pooled overall correlations between self-assessed stress level, and physiological and behavioral variables (e.g., sleep length measured with wrist-worn activity monitor: rho = -0.22, p<0.001, and variance of nightly bedroom illumination: rho = 0.13, p<0.001). Strong, but sometimes conflicting correlations can be found at individual level, suggesting individual reactions to stress in daily life.
Optimal universal graphs with deterministic embedding

Let <i>H</i> be a finite family of graphs. A graph <i>G</i> is <i>H</i>-universal if it contains a copy of each <i>H</i> ∈ <i>H</i> as a subgraph. Let <i>H</i><i>(k,n)</i> denote the family of graphs on <i>n</i> vertices with maximum degree at most <i>k. </i> For all admissible <i>k</i> and <i>n</i>, we construct an <i>H</i><i>(k, n)</i>-universal graph <i>G</i> with at most <i>ckn<sup>2-2/k</sup></i> edges, where <i>c<sub>k</sub></i> is a constant depending only on <i>k. </i> This is optimal, up to the constant factor <i>c<sub>k</sub></i>, as it is known that <i>c'<sub>k</sub>n<sup>2-2/k</sup></i> is a lower bound for the number of edges in any such graph. The construction of <i>G</i> is explicit, and there is an efficient deterministic algorithm for finding a copy of any given <i>H</i> ∈ <i>H</i><i>(k,n)</i> in <i>G. </i>
Can Incentives for Long-Term Care Insurance Reduce Medicaid Spending?

The prospect of paying for nursing home care represents a significant financial risk for older Americans. Despite this risk, few individuals buy long-term care insurance and, since many lack the resources to pay out of pocket, they often turn to the means-tested Medicaid program. Concerned about growing Medicaid costs, many states have initiated “partnership” programs that offer a unique incentive for those who buy long-term care insurance: the state relaxes Medicaid’s asset test so that, if the private insurance benefits run out, individuals can retain more of their assets while still being eligible for Medicaid. This brief, which is based on a longer paper, estimates whether these enhanced insurance policies are likely to reduce Medicaid spending on single men and women. The brief is organized as follows. The first section describes the long-term care cost challenge and introduces the partnership programs. The second section explains the methodology for analyzing the programs’ impact on Medicaid outlays. The third section presents the results, which suggest that most of the buyers are those who would otherwise have purchased a traditional – unenhanced – policy. Thus, the final section concludes that, on balance, Medicaid will lose money on the partnership programs.
Some further developments for stick-breaking priors: Finite and infinite clustering and classification

SUMMARY. The class of stick-breaking priors and their extensions are considered in classification and clustering problems in which the complexity, the number of possible models or clusters, can be either bounded or unbounded. A conjugacy property for the ex tended stick-breaking prior is established which allows for informative characterizations of the priors under i.i. d. sampling, and which further enables an informative characterization of the posterior in the classification model. Such characterizations show how to develop Monte Carlo algorithms for efficient posterior computing. One implication is that it is pos sible to estimate infinite complexity mixture models subject to arbitrary stick-breaking priors.
Auroral streamers and magnetic flux closure

On 7 December 2000 at 2200 UT an auroral streamer was observed to develop above Scandinavia with the IMAGE‐FUV global imagers. The ionospheric equivalent current deduced from the MIRACLE‐IMAGE Scandinavian ground‐based network of magnetometers is typical of a substorm‐time streamer. Observations of the proton aurora using the SI12 imager onboard the IMAGE satellite are combined with measurements of the ionospheric convection obtained by the SuperDARN radar network to compute the dayside merging and nightside flux closure rates. On the basis of this and other similar events, it is found that auroral streamers appear during the period of most intense flux closure in the magnetotail, most often shortly after substorm onset. The ionospheric convection velocity, as measured by SuperDARN, appears to be reduced in the vicinity of the streamer, suggesting de‐coupling of magnetospheric and ionospheric plasma flows in the region of enhanced ionospheric conductance.
Differential dropout and bias in randomised controlled trials: when it matters and when it may not

Dropout in randomised controlled trials is common and threatens the validity of results, as completers may differ from people who drop out. Differing dropout rates between treatment arms is sometimes called differential dropout or attrition. Although differential dropout can bias results, it does not always do so. Similarly, equal dropout may or may not lead to biased results. Depending on the type of missingness and the analysis used, one can get a biased estimate of the treatment effect with equal dropout rates and an unbiased estimate with unequal dropout rates. We reinforce this point with data from a randomised controlled trial in patients with renal cancer and a simulation study.
The crystal structure of TDP-43 RRM1-DNA complex reveals the specific recognition for UG- and TG-rich nucleic acids

TDP-43 is an important pathological protein that aggregates in the diseased neuronal cells and is linked to various neurodegenerative disorders. In normal cells, TDP-43 is primarily an RNA-binding protein; however, how the dimeric TDP-43 binds RNA via its two RNA recognition motifs, RRM1 and RRM2, is not clear. Here we report the crystal structure of human TDP-43 RRM1 in complex with a single-stranded DNA showing that RRM1 binds the nucleic acid extensively not only by the conserved β-sheet residues but also by the loop residues. Mutational and biochemical assays further reveal that both RRMs in TDP-43 dimers participate in binding of UG-rich RNA or TG-rich DNA with RRM1 playing a dominant role and RRM2 playing a supporting role. Moreover, RRM1 of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-linked mutant D169G binds DNA as efficiently as the wild type; nevertheless, it is more resistant to thermal denaturation, suggesting that the resistance to degradation is likely linked to TDP-43 proteinopathies. Taken together all the data, we suggest a model showing that the two RRMs in each protomer of TDP-43 homodimer work together in RNA binding and thus the dimeric TDP-43 recognizes long clusters of UG-rich RNA to achieve high affinity and specificity.
The Chloroplast Genome of Passiflora edulis (Passifloraceae) Assembled from Long Sequence Reads: Structural Organization and Phylogenomic Studies in Malpighiales

The family Passifloraceae consists of some 700 species classified in around 16 genera. Almost all its members belong to the genus Passiflora. In Brazil, the yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) is of considerable economic importance, both for juice production and consumption as fresh fruit. The availability of chloroplast genomes (cp genomes) and their sequence comparisons has led to a better understanding of the evolutionary relationships within plant taxa. In this study, we obtained the complete nucleotide sequence of the P. edulis chloroplast genome, the first entirely sequenced in the Passifloraceae family. We determined its structure and organization, and also performed phylogenomic studies on the order Malpighiales and the Fabids clade. The P. edulis chloroplast genome is characterized by the presence of two copies of an inverted repeat sequence (IRA and IRB) of 26,154 bp, each separating a small single copy region of 13,378 bp and a large single copy (LSC) region of 85,720 bp. The annotation resulted in the identification of 105 unique genes, including 30 tRNAs, 4 rRNAs, and 71 protein coding genes. Also, 36 repetitive elements and 85 SSRs (microsatellites) were identified. The structure of the complete cp genome of P. edulis differs from that of other species because of rearrangement events detected by means of a comparison based on 22 members of the Malpighiales. The rearrangements were three inversions of 46,151, 3,765 and 1,631 bp, located in the LSC region. Phylogenomic analysis resulted in strongly supported trees, but this could also be a consequence of the limited taxonomic sampling used. Our results have provided a better understanding of the evolutionary relationships in the Malpighiales and the Fabids, confirming the potential of complete chloroplast genome sequences in inferring evolutionary relationships and the utility of long sequence reads for generating very accurate biological information.
“Brain MR spectroscopy in autism spectrum disorder—the GABA excitatory/inhibitory imbalance theory revisited”

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) from voxels placed in the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was measured from 14 boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and 24 gender and age-matched typically developing (TD) control group. Our main aims were to compare the concentration of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) between the two groups, and to investigate the relationship between brain metabolites and autism symptom severity in the ASD group. We did find a significant negative correlation in the ASD group between Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) and GABA+/Cr, which may imply that severity of symptoms in ASD is associated with differences in the level of GABA in the brain, supporting the excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance theory. However we did not find a significant difference between the two groups in GABA levels.
Caspofungin for the treatment of less common forms of invasive candidiasis.

OBJECTIVES Caspofungin has demonstrated efficacy in invasive candidiasis. However, in a comparative study, most patients (>83%) had candidaemia. Therefore, we performed a study in patients with non-fungaemic invasive candidiasis. PATIENTS AND METHODS Adults with proven non-fungaemic invasive candidiasis or probable chronic disseminated candidiasis (CDC) received caspofungin primary or salvage monotherapy. Most patients received 50 mg daily following a 70 mg loading dose. Patients with endocarditis, osteomyelitis or septic arthritis received caspofungin at 100 mg daily and were allowed dose escalation up to 150 mg. Primary efficacy endpoint was the overall response at end of caspofungin therapy. A favourable overall response required complete resolution of symptoms and either eradication of Candida or radiographic resolution. RESULTS All 48 patients enrolled had confirmed infection and received>or=1 dose of caspofungin. At study entry, 8% were neutropenic. The mean APACHE II score was 14.3. Most infections were due to Candida albicans (60%) or Candida glabrata (14%). The overall success at end of caspofungin therapy was 81%. Success by site of infection was as follows: peritonitis 77% (10/13), abdominal abscess 89% (8/9), CDC 88% (7/8), osteomyelitis/septic arthritis 100% (4/4), endocarditis 33% (1/3) and multiple sites 75% (6/8). Outcomes were similar across Candida spp. None of the patients had a serious drug-related adverse event or discontinued caspofungin due to toxicity. Overall mortality until 12 week follow-up was 23%. CONCLUSIONS In deep-seated invasive candidiasis, including peritonitis, abdominal abscesses, CDC and arthritis, caspofungin was effective and safe at regular doses and up to 100 mg daily.
The Unusual Spectrum of the Ultraluminous X-Ray Source M82 X-1

The results of a spectral analysis, using XMM-Newton and Chandra data of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray source in the nearby galaxy M82, are presented. The spectrum of M82 X-1 was found to be unusually hard (photon spectral index Γ ≈ 1) with a sharp cutoff at ≈6 keV. The disk blackbody emission model requires a nonphysically high temperature. Instead, the spectrum is better described, with a lower reduced χ2, as emission due to the nearly saturated Comptonization of photons in an optically thick (τ ≈ 10-30, depending on the geometry) plasma having a temperature kT ≈ 2 keV. This is in contrast to the high-energy spectra of other black hole systems, which are relatively steeper (Γ > 1.5) and hence are modeled as the unsaturated thermal and/or nonthermal Comptonization of soft photons, in an optically thin (τ ≈ 1) high-temperature plasma. An iron line emission that is marginally resolved (σ ~ 0.2 keV) is required to fit the data. We argue that the standard geometry for the X-ray-producing region, which consists of an optically thin inner disk or a uniform/patchy corona on top of a cold disk, is not applicable to this source. Alternatively, the geometry of the X-ray-producing region could be a large sphere surrounding a cold accretion disk or an optically thick inner disk region that cools by bremsstrahlung self-Comptonization. For the latter scenario, such an inner disk region, whose effective optical depth to absorption is less than unity, is expected in the standard accretion disk theory for near-Eddington accretion rates.
Title of Document: Promotion-focused and Prevention-focused? Regulatory Focus Ambidexterity and Its Effects on Team Processes and Outcomes Rin (lynn) Imai, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Promotion-focused and Prevention-focused? Regulatory Focus Ambidexterity and Its Effects on Team Processes and Outcom

have distinct processes through which they approach desired end-states, has generated a tremendous amount of research activity in recent years. This literature shows that whether an individual pursues a goal with either a promotion focus or a prevention focus has important psychological consequences. However, research has focused largely on the individual-level, and not the team-level consequences of regulatory focus. Furthermore, the paradigm of contrasting the predominantly promotion-focused from the predominantly prevention-focused has precluded researchers from understanding the role of ambidextrous individuals who are simultaneously promotion-focused and prevention-focused. Accordingly, the goal of this dissertation was to examine whether having a higher proportion of certain regulatory focus types in the team (i.e., predominantly promotion-focused, predominantly prevention-focused, and ambidextrous types) is advantageous for team creativity and team timeliness, as well as the team processes that lead to each outcome. It was proposed that 1) teams with a higher proportion of predominantly promotion-focused types are more likely to attain team creativity as well as the processes that lead to it (i.e., placement of goal importance on creativity, idea generation, and task conflict), and 2) teams with a higher proportion of predominantly prevention-focused types are more likely to attain team timeliness as well as the processes that lead to it (i.e., placement of goal importance on timeliness and adoption of an early team pacing style). This dissertation also explored whether teams with higher proportion of ambidextrous types are more likely to attain higher team creativity and team timeliness, as well as the team processes that lead to these outcomes, relative to teams with lower proportions of such individuals. Based on a lab study of 89 simulated project teams, it was found as expected, that teams with higher proportions of ambidextrous types achieved greater team creativity than teams with lower proportions of such individuals. It was also found unexpectedly, that teams with higher proportions of ambidextrous types placed less importance on timeliness as a goal at the outset of the team task. In all, hypotheses were largely unsupported. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed along with directions for future research.