Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anxiolytic Effect of Aromatherapy Massage in Patients with Breast Cancer

We examined how aromatherapy massage influenced psychologic and immunologic parameters in 12 breast cancer patients in an open semi-comparative trial. We compared the results 1 month before aromatherapy massage as a waiting control period with those during aromatherapy massage treatment and 1 month after the completion of aromatherapy sessions. The patients received a 30 min aromatherapy massage twice a week for 4 weeks (eight times in total). The results showed that anxiety was reduced in one 30 min aromatherapy massage in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) test and also reduced in eight sequential aromatherapy massage sessions in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) test. Our results further suggested that aromatherapy massage ameliorated the immunologic state. Further investigations are required to confirm the anxiolytic effect of aromatherapy in breast cancer patients.
Prognostic Value of Anxiety and Depression in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

Background—Anxiety is often present with depression and may be one of its manifestations. Although the adverse effects of depression in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) have been well studied, the relation between anxiety and CHF prognosis has not been addressed. In a secondary analysis of data collected for a published study of depression and prognosis in patients with CHF, we examined the relations among anxiety, depression, and prognosis. Methods and Results—We measured symptoms of anxiety with the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale and symptoms of depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale in 291 patients with CHF hospitalized as a result of cardiac events. We followed up these patients for all-cause mortality over 1 year. The mean scores for state anxiety (State-A) and trait anxiety (Trait-A) were identical at 33.5; the mean BDI score was 8.7±7.6. State-A and Trait-A scores correlated highly with each other (r=0.85; P<0.01) and with BDI score (State-A, r=0.52; Trait-A, r=0.59; P<0.01). Cox proportional-hazards model with and without confounding variables showed no relation between State-A or Trait-A and 1-year mortality. BDI scores, however, significantly predicted increased mortality during 1-year follow-up (hazard ratio, 1.04 for each 1-unit increase; P<0.01). Conclusions—Although anxiety and depression are highly correlated in CHF patients, depression alone predicts a significantly worse prognosis for these patients.
La santé des populations migrantes en Suisse : une analyse des données du GMM

Le monitoring de la sante des migrants est une enquete s’inscrivant dans la strategie "migration et sante" adoptee par le Conseil federal en 2002. Elle vise a recueillir des informations detaillees sur la sante de populations qui sont mal representees dans les sources de statistiques generalement disponibles. Il s’agit notamment de personnes ne maitrisant pas une des langues nationales et des requerants d’asile. Cette etude presente les resultats d’une analyse statistique ayant pour objectif de mettre en evidence le role du profil sociodemographique, socioeconomique et migratoire sur l’etat de sante, les comportements et facteurs de risque, les recours aux services de sante, la prevention et le depistage des maladies. Elle ete mandatee par l’Office federal de la sante publique.
Variation of Estimates of SNP and Haplotype Diversity and Linkage Disequilibrium in Samples from the Same Population Due to Experimental and Evolutionary Sample Size

Studies of genetic polymorphisms and diversity between and within human populations are increasingly characterised by a very large number of genetic markers but using a relatively small number of individuals from which DNA samples were taken. In this report we examine the limitations of a small experimental sample size relative to a large genomic sample size, and quantify the sampling variance of a number of measures of diversity and linkage disequilibrium. The relationship between sample size and observed levels of polymorphism and haplotype diversity at the level of a gene is investigated under a neutral model of sequence evolution, using coalescent simulations. It is shown that the effect of evolutionary sampling, as manifested by differences between samples (genes) in measures of diversity estimated using very large sample sizes, is substantial, with a coefficient of variation of the number of detected polymorphic SNPs or haplotypes in the order of 15%. The effect of experimental design (sample size) is also very large, and a number of ‘significant’ results reported in the literature can be explained by sampling alone. The expected correlation coefficient of measures of linkage disequilibrium across samples from the same population has been quantified and found to be consistent with empirical estimates from the literature.
Pharmacy executive leadership issues and associated skills, knowledge, and abilities.

OBJECTIVES To identify challenges that current and future pharmacy executives are facing or will face in the future and to define what skills, knowledge, and abilities (SKAs) are required to successfully negotiate these challenges. DESIGN Delphi method for executive decision making. SETTING Civilian pharmacy profession. PARTICIPANTS 110 pharmacists who graduated from the GlaxoSmithKline Executive Management Program for Pharmacy Leaders. INTERVENTIONS Two iterations of the Delphi method for executive decision making separated by an expert panel content analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Round 1--participants were asked to identify five major issues they believed to be of greatest importance to pharmacy leaders in the next 5-10 years and name specific SKAs that might be needed by future leaders to successfully deal with those issues. An expert panel reviewed the issues, classified issues into specific domains, and titled each domain. Round 2-participants rated the SKAs on a 7-point scale according to their individual assessment of importance in each domain. RESULTS For Delphi rounds 1 and 2, response rates were 21.8% and 18.2%, respectively. More than 100 total issue statements were identified. The expert panel sorted the issues into five domains: management and development of the pharmacy workforce, pharmacy finance, total quality management of work-flow systems, influences on the practice of pharmacy, and professional pharmacy leadership. Five of the top 15 SKAs-and all four highest ranked items--came from the professional pharmacy leadership domain, including ability to see the big picture, ability to demonstrate the value of pharmacy services, ability to lead and manage in an ethical manner, and skills for influencing an organization's senior leadership. CONCLUSION Through successful integration of communication skills, critical thinking, and problem solving techniques, future public-sector pharmacy executives will be better equipped to effectively position their organizations and the profession for the challenges that lie ahead.
The Time-Resolved Fluorescence-Based PCA3 Test on Urinary Sediments after Digital Rectal Examination; a Dutch Multicenter Validation of the Diagnostic Performance

Purpose: To improve the specificity in prostate cancer diagnosis and to prevent unnecessary prostate biopsies, especially in the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) “gray zone” between 3 and 15 ng/mL, the implementation of prostate cancer–specific markers is urgently needed. The recently discovered prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) is such a promising prostate cancer marker. In a previous single institution study, the PCA3 urine test clearly proved to be of diagnostic value. Therefore, the diagnostic performance of the PCA3 urine test was validated in a multicenter study. Experimental Design: The first voided urine after digital rectal examination was collected from a total of 583 men with serum PSA levels between 3 and 15 ng/mL who were to undergo prostate biopsies. We determined the PCA3 score in these samples and correlated the results with the results of the prostate biopsies. Results: A total of 534 men (92%) had an informative sample. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve, a measure of the diagnostic accuracy of a test, was 0.66 for the PCA3 urine test and 0.57 for serum PSA. The sensitivity for the PCA3 urine test was 65%, the specificity was 66% (versus 47% for serum PSA), and the negative predictive value was 80%. Conclusions: In this multicenter study, we validated the diagnostic performance of the PCA3 urine test in the largest group studied thus far using a PCA3 gene-based test. This study shows that the PCA3 urine test, when used as a reflex test, can improve the specificity in prostate cancer diagnosis and could prevent many unnecessary prostate biopsies.
A Decision-Making Framework for Sediment Contamination

Abstract A decision-making framework for determining whether or not contaminated sediments are polluted is described. This framework is intended to be sufficiently prescriptive to standardize the decision-making process but without using “cook book” assessments. It emphasizes 4 guidance “rules”: (1) sediment chemistry data are only to be used alone for remediation decisions when the costs of further investigation outweigh the costs of remediation and there is agreement among all stakeholders to act; (2) remediation decisions are based primarily on biology; (3) lines of evidence (LOE), such as laboratory toxicity tests and models that contradict the results of properly conducted field surveys, are assumed incorrect; and (4) if the impacts of a remedial alternative will cause more environmental harm than good, then it should not be implemented. Sediments with contaminant concentrations below sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) that predict toxicity to less than 5% of sediment-dwelling infauna and that contain no quantifiable concentrations of substances capable of biomagnifying are excluded from further consideration, as are sediments that do not meet these criteria but have contaminant concentrations equal to or below reference concentrations. Biomagnification potential is initially addressed by conservative (worst case) modeling based on benthos and sediments and, subsequently, by additional food chain data and more realistic assumptions. Toxicity (acute and chronic) and alterations to resident communities are addressed by, respectively, laboratory studies and field observations. The integrative decision point for sediments is a weight of evidence (WOE) matrix combining up to 4 main LOE: chemistry, toxicity, community alteration, and biomagnification potential. Of 16 possible WOE scenarios, 6 result in definite decisions, and 10 require additional assessment. Typically, this framework will be applied to surficial sediments. The possibility that deeper sediments may be uncovered as a result of natural or other processes must also be investigated and may require similar assessment.
The Agrobacterium tumefaciens VirB7 lipoprotein is required for stabilization of VirB proteins during assembly of the T-complex transport apparatus

The Agrobacterium tumefaciens virB7 gene product is a lipoprotein whose function is required for the transmission of oncogenic T-DNA to susceptible plant cells. Three lines of study provided evidence that VirB7 interacts with and stabilizes other VirB proteins during the assembly of the putative T-complex transport apparatus. First, a precise deletion of virB7 from the pTiA6NC plasmid of wild-type strain A348 was correlated with significant reductions in the steady-state levels of several VirB proteins, including VirB4, VirB9, VirB10, and VirB11; trans expression of virB7 in the delta virB7 mutant partially restored the levels of these proteins, and trans coexpression of virB7 and virB8 fully restored the levels of these proteins to wild-type levels. Second, modulation of VirB7 levels resulted in corresponding changes in the levels of other VirB proteins in the following cell types: (i) a delta virB7 mutant expressing virB7 and virB8 from isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)-inducible Plac and other virB genes from acetosyringone (AS)-inducible PvirB; (ii) a delta virB operon mutant expressing virB7 and virB8 from Plac and virB9, virB10, and virB11 from PvirB; and (iii) a delta virB operon mutant expressing virB7 from IPTG-inducible Pklac and virB9 from an AS-inducible PvirB. Third, the synthesis of a VirB7::PhoA fusion protein in strain A348 was correlated with a significant reduction in the steady-state levels of VirB4, VirB5, and VirB7 through VirB11; these cells also exhibited a severely attenuated virulence phenotype, indicating that synthesis of the fusion protein perturbs the assembly of VirB proteins into a stabilized protein complex required for T-complex transport. Extracts of AS-induced cells electrophoresed under nonreducing conditions possessed undetectable levels of the 32-kDa VirB9 and 4.5-kDa VirB7 monomers and instead possessed a 36-kDa complex that cross-reacted with both VirB7 and VirB9 antisera and accumulated as a function of virB7 expression. Our results are consistent with a model in which VirB7 stabilizes VirB9 by formation of a covalent intermolecular cross-link; in turn, the VirB7-VirB9 heterodimer promotes the assembly of a functional T-complex transport machinery.
Age estimations of M 31 globular clusters from their spectral energy distributions

This paper presents accurate spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 15 M 31 globular clusters (GCs) confirmed by spectroscopy and/or high spatial-resolution imaging, as well as 30 M 31 globular cluster candidates detected by Mochejska et al. (1998, AcA, 48, 455). Most of these candidates have $m_V > 18$, deeper than previous searches, and these candidates have not yet been confirmed to be globular clusters. The SEDs of these clusters and candidates are obtained as part of the BATC Multicolor Survey of the Sky, in which the spectrophotometrically-calibrated CCD images of M 31 in 13 intermediate-band filters from 4000 to 10 000 A were observed. These filters are specifically designed to exclude most of the bright and variable night-sky emission lines including the OH forest. In comparison to the SEDs of true GCs, we find that some of the candidate objects are not GCs in M 31. SED fits show that theoretical simple stellar population (SSP) models can fit the true GCs very well. We estimate the ages of these GCs by comparing with SSP models. We find that, the M 31 clusters range in age from a few ten Myr to a few Gyr old, as well as old GCs, confirming the conclusion that has been found by Barmby et al. (2000, AJ, 119, 727), Williams & Hodge (2001, ApJ, 548, 190), Beasley et al. (2004, AJ, 128, 1623), Burstein et al. (2004, ApJ, 614, 158) and Puzia et al. (2005, A&A, 434, 909) in their investigations of the SEDs of M 31 globular clusters.
Students’ perceptions on feedback module in pharmacology

Context: Feedback is an integral part of formative assessment though underutilized in medical education. The objective of this study was to review our feedback module through students’ perceptions. Methodology: We have developed a feedback module which is practiced by us for last 10 years for term ending examination that gives collective feedback to the whole class, followed by individual student-teacher interactions. Students were also exposed to 6–7 multiple choice questions (MCQs) based assessment during the course of pharmacology. Immediately after each MCQ test the answer keys is displayed along with an explanation. Two classes of students were requested to give their perceptions about the feedback by responding on Likert scale for the statements in the questionnaire. All the 206 students who volunteered for the study were enrolled in the study. Mann–Whitney test was used to calculate the difference in perceptions. Results: Of 278 students of two classes, 206 responded (74%). Students’ agreement varied from 93% to 98% for 5 items in the questionnaire for the feedback after term ending examinations. Perception of students attending one or more than one feedback session did not differ significantly. For MCQs, tests agreement was 91% to 98% for the 4 items. There was no significant difference between two classes in their perceptions regarding feedback practices (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Students gave a favorable opinion for our feedback module. In the medical colleges with a large number of students, this module is feasible for feedback in formative assessment in the form of written tests.
Anti-Discrimination Legislation and the Efficiency-Enhancing Role of Mandatory Parental Leave

We study a setting where anti-discrimination legislation gives rise to adverse selection in the labor market. Firms rely on nonlinear compensation contracts to screen workers who differ in their family/career orientation. This results in a labor market equilibrium where career-oriented workers are offered an inefficiently low duration of parental leave. In addition, family-oriented workers are offered lower wages as compared to their equally skilled career-oriented counterparts. We demonstrate the usefulness of mandatory parental leave rules in mitigating the distortion in the labor market and derive conditions under which a Pareto improvement is possible. We also characterize the optimal parental leave policy and highlight the possibility for parental leave legislation to eliminate the wage penalty of family-oriented workers by supporting pooling employment contracts.
THE EFFECT OF SPEAKING SELF-EFFICACY AND GENDER IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

The present study tries to find out the effect of speaking self-efficacy and gender in speaking activities particularly in English as second/foreign language situation, using questionnaire from Bandura’s Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales. The Samples of this study were 23 male and 27 female college-students from speaking classes. ANOVA and T-test helped by SPSS 15.0 for windows were employed to investigate speaking self-efficacy, gender and speaking activities. The result showed that the level of speaking self-efficacy both male and female students is moderate. They can moderately perform speaking activities but they think them quite though and difficult. Besides, Sig. for gender scores lower than . 05 (.013 .05) but also its simultaneous interaction with gender (Sig .0677 > .05) did not affect significantly towards speaking activities.
Over- and underestimation of the sensitivity of a diagnostic malignancy test due to various selections of the study population.

In characterizing indicators of malignancy, sensitivity and specificity are commonly presented. These estimates, however, are dependent upon the structure of the basic data. A simple model is given, explaining why some sensitivity estimates do not give a realistic picture of an indicator. The model is based on the assumption of three categories of diseased individuals–those having the illness in such a form that the indicator is not sensitive at all, those for whom the indicator is of great practical value, and finally those who are so seriously ill that the sensitivity of the indicator is one hundred percent, but the diagnosis is apparent anyway. Applied to data concerning tumor markers, an estimate of a ‘future relevant sensitivity’ can be obtained. The model can also be used when comparing results from studies with different population structures.
A Simple Model of Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing and Its Implications for the Fama-French Three-Factor Model ∗

Characterizing the instantaneous investment opportunity set by the real interest rate and the maximum Sharpe ratio, a simple model of time varying investment opportunities is posited in which these two variables follow correlated Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes, and the implications for stock and bond valuation are developed. The model suggests that the prices of certain portfolios that are related to the FamaFrench HML and SMB hedge portfolios will carry information about investment opportunities, which provides a potential justification for the risk premia that have been found to be associated with these hedge portfolios. Evidence that the FF portfolios are in fact associated with variation in the investment opportunity set is found from an analysis of stock returns. Further evidence of time variation in the investment opportunity set is found by analyzing bond yields, and the time variation in investment opportunities that is identified from bond yields is shown to be associated both with the time-variation in investment opportunities that is identified from stock returns and with the returns on the Fama-French hedge portfolios. Finally, both pricing kernel and tracking portfolio approaches are used to provide estimates of the magnitude of the HML and SMB risk premia implied by our simple model.
Colors of the Robe: Religion, Identity, and Difference

A new approach to the study of cultural life in general and religion in particular; Poised to spark debate among scholars of religious studies and other disciplines, Colors of the Robe sheds new light on the Sri Lankan Buddhist universe of ethics and politics and, more important, suggests innovative directions for the global study of religion, identity, culture, politics, and violence. In a volume that surpasses other studies in tracking, identifying, contextualizing, and interpreting Sri Lankan Buddhism in its sectarian, ethnic, cultural, social, and political dimensions, Ananda Abeysekara lays down a challenge to postcolonial and postmodern theory. He argues that although criticisms have undermined the orientalist constructions of culture, they cannot help us understand, let alone theorize, the emergence of contemporary authoritative discourses that define distinctions involving religion and violence, identity and difference. Supplanting that aim, Abeysekara illuminates the shifting configurations that characterize the relations connected with postcolonial religious identity and culture. Drawing on extensive field research in Sri Lanka, Abeysekara illustrates how differing meanings of such religious and national concepts come into central view and then fade, denying them fixity. Proposing an alternative, he develops the concept of "minute conjunctures of contingency" and places it in modest opposition to the work of Michel Foucault and other leading postmodern thinkers. Abeysekara attends to these minute conjunctures of contingency to understand such categories as religion and difference, Buddhism and politics, civilization and terror. He thereby resists today's antiessentialist arguments without falling back on yesterday's foundationalist claims. Viewing religion through this lens, Abeysekara contends, has profound political implications for how we might more generally think about and begin to disrupt entrenched presumptions of postcolonial cultural difference.
Electromagnetically powered electrolytic pump and thermo-responsive valve for drug delivery

A novel drug delivery device is presented, implementing an electrolytic pump and a thermo-responsive valve. The device is remotely operated by an AC electromagnetic field (40.5~58.5 mT, 450 kHz) that provides the power for the pump and the valve. It is suitable for long-term therapy applications, which use a solid drug in reservoir (SDR) approach and avoids unwanted drug diffusion. When the electromagnetic field is on, the electrolytic pump drives the drug towards the valve. The valve is made of a magnetic composite consisting of a smart hydrogel: Poly (N-Isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) and iron powder. The heat generated in the iron powder via magnetic losses causes the PNIPAm to shrink, allowing the drug to flow past it. When the electromagnetic field is off, the PNIPAm swells, sealing the outlet. In the meantime, the bubbles generated by electrolysis recombine into water, causing a pressure reduction in the pumping chamber. This draws fresh fluid from outside the pump into the drug reservoir before the valve is fully sealed. The recombination can be accelerated by a platinum (Pt) coated catalytic reformer, allowing more fluid to flow back to the drug reservoir and dissolve the drug. By repeatedly turning on and off the magnetic field, the drug solution can be delivered cyclically.