Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Rifaximin and Lactulose for the Treatment of Hepatic Encephalopathy: A Prospective Randomized Study

Rifaximin has been reported to be effective for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in Europe. However, it is unknown whether Rifaximin is effective for the treatment of HE in Koreans, therefore we conducted a open-label prospective randomized study to evaluate the efficacy of rifaximin versus lactulose in Korean patients. Fifty-four patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy were enrolled. Thirty-two patients were randomized to receive rifaximin and 22 to receive lactulose both over a 7-day periods. Before and at the end of treatment, gradation of blood ammonia, flapping tremor, mental status, number connection test (NCT) were performed and estimation of HE indexes determined. Both rifaximin and lactulose were effective in the majority of patients (84.4% and 95.4%, respectively, p=0.315). Blood NH3, flapping tremor, mental status, and NCT was significantly improved by rifaximin and lactulose, and the posttreatment levels of these measures were similar for the rifaximin and lactulose-treated groups, as was the HE index (rifaximin group (10.0→4.2, p=0.000); lactulose group (11.3→5.0, p=0.000)). One patient treated with rifaximin complained of abdominal pain, which was easily controlled. There was no episode of renal function impairment in either treatment group. Rifaximin proved to be as safe and as effective as lactulose for the treatment of Korean patients with hepatic encephalopathy.
Kernels for Multi--task Learning

This paper provides a foundation for multi-task learning using reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces of vector-valued functions. In this setting, the kernel is a matrix-valued function. Some explicit examples will be described which go beyond our earlier results in [7]. In particular, we characterize classes of matrix- valued kernels which are linear and are of the dot product or the translation invariant type. We discuss how these kernels can be used to model relations between the tasks and present linear multi-task learning algorithms. Finally, we present a novel proof of the representer theorem for a minimizer of a regularization functional which is based on the notion of minimal norm interpolation.
Harnessing Enzymatic Promiscuity in Myxochelin Biosynthesis for the Production of 5‐Lipoxygenase Inhibitors

The siderophore myxochelin A is a potent inhibitor of human 5‐lipoxygenase (5‐LO). To clarify whether the iron‐chelating properties of myxochelin A are responsible for this activity, several analogues of this compound were generated in the native producer Pyxidicoccus fallax by precursor‐directed biosynthesis. Testing in a cell‐free assay unveiled three derivatives with bioactivity comparable with that of myxochelin A. Furthermore, it became evident that inhibition of 5‐LO by myxochelins does not correlate with their iron affinities.
Community on Campus: The Role of Physical Space

COMMUNITY ON CAMPUS: THE ROLE OF PHYSICAL SPACE by Kim D. Harrington The physical environment of a college campus provides the context for learning and social interactions. These interactions lead to involved students, which help build community, and vibrant communities on college campuses contribute to student persistence and academic success (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie & Gonyea, 2008; Palmer, Maramba & Dancy, 2011; Strange & Banning, 2001; Tinto & Goodsell Love, 1993). The purpose of this study was to explore the role of physical space on student involvement and community. The methodology was ethnography and the methods of data collection included photo elicitation and semi structured interviews. This qualitative study presents the visual and interview data from 9 participants enrolled at a research university in the South. The student participants reported that they developed meaningful connections with their peers through interactions in outdoor spaces, student organization offices, academic facilities and recreational areas. The participants felt that many of the physical spaces encouraged interaction and helped to facilitate campus involvement. The findings of this work indicate that the natural and built environments at this university influenced how students discovered, built, and sustained community. COMMUNITY ON CAMPUS: THE ROLE OF PHYSICAL SPACE by Kim D. Harrington
Alterations in forearm vascular reactivity in patients with septic shock

Patients with septic shock are haemodynamically unstable and suffer from vasodilation. Studying the human forearm vascular bed in patients with septic shock, we tested the hypothesis that the responses to regionally infused endothelium‐(in)dependent vasodilators and vasoconstrictors are uniformly impaired. Forearm blood flow (FBF, venous occlusion plethysmography) and brachial arterial pressure were determined to calculate forearm vascular resistance (FVR) in eight consecutive sedated, mechanically ventilated patients with septic shock (APACHE II Score range 21–34, SOFA Score 11–16) and 11 healthy volunteers. Despite increased baseline FBF in patients with septic shock (6.1 (SD 1.5) ml.min−1. (100 ml of tissue)−1 compared to 4.7 (1.4) in volunteers) the significant decreases in FVR seen in response to exogenous nitric oxide (nitroprusside) and acetylcholine did not differ between groups. However, compared to volunteers, mitigation of endogenous nitric oxide production by a low dose of NG‐methyl‐l‐arginine acetate (l‐NMMA) caused a significant increase (+ 6.7 mmHg.min.ml−1) in septic patients. Regional vasoconstriction in response to phenylephrine (FVR: + 9.9 vs + 30.7 mmHg.min.ml−1 in controls) and angiotensin II (FVR: + 9.0 vs + 67.4 mmHg.min.ml−1) was markedly impaired. In contrast, vasopressin, in dosages evoking no vasoconstriction in volunteers, induced a significant increase in FVR in septic patients (+ 10.0 mmHg.min.ml−1). In the forearm of patients with septic shock, vasoconstriction by α1‐ and angiotensin II receptor agonists is selectively impaired, whereas the vasoconstrictor response to vasopressin is exaggerated. These findings exclude a generalised impairment of vasomotor activity in patients with septic shock and provide a rationale for vasopressin administration.
Tegillarca granosa extract Haishengsu inhibits the expression of p-glycoprotein and induces apoptosis in drug-resistant K562/ADM cells

This study was designed to investigate the effect and molecular mechanisms of Haishengsu (HSS), a protein extract from a shellfish Tegillarca granosaL. , on a drug resistant leukemia cell line. Cultured K562/Adriamycin (ADM) cells were treated with HSS at 10, 20 and 40 μg/mL, respectively. The apoptosis and expression of p-glycoprotein was evaluated by flow cytometry. Expressions of caspase-3 and Bcl-2 were also evaluated. There was a significant dose-dependent increase in the apoptosis in the HSS treated K562/ADM cells (P < 0.05 and 0.01, respectively). The p-glycoprotein expression in the 40 μg/mL HSS group (14.8%) was lower than in the control (16.9%, P < 0.05) and the 10 μg/mL HSS group (7.3%, P < 0.05), but it was similar to the HSS 20 μg/mL group (10.7%, P > 0.05). The expressions of apoptosis-stimulating protein caspase-3 protein were increased, whereas the expressions of apoptosis-suppressing Bcl-2 were decreased in the HSS groups, as compared with the levels in the control group (P < 0.05). We conclude that HSS induces apoptosis of the Adriamycin-resistant K562/ADM cells. The enhanced expressions in caspase-3 and the reduced expressions in Bcl-2 protein may have contributed to the apoptosis-stimulating effect of HSS. The inhibition of p-glycoprotein suggests that HSS may diminish the resistance to Adriamycin and potentially enhance the therapeutic effects.
Interactions between electromagnetic waves and elliptically shaped metamaterials

The interaction between plane waves and multilayer elliptic cylinders with one or more layers made of metamaterials is considered. An analytical solution is proposed, which extends to double-negative metamaterials an efficient recursive procedure previously developed for double-positive dielectrics. Two cases are considered: multilayer dielectric cylinders and perfectly conducting cylinders with a lossy dielectric coating. Numerical results and comparisons are provided concerning both the internal field and the scattering cross section per unit length, allowing a significant assessment of the scattering properties of metamaterials.
Work Congruence and Excellence in Human Resource Management

Two data samples (N1 = 244, N2 = 155) were used to test hypotheses regarding the effect of person-organization fit (POF) and met expectations (ME) on the performance of nonprofit employees. Our first sample was collected from employees of a public sector organization. Findings revealed job satisfaction and organizational commitment were higher in employees who better fitted the organizational sphere and in those who better fulfilled their expectations. These employees' intentions of voice, in-role performance, and organizational citizenship behavior also increased as a result of higher ME. The second sample was collected from employees of a third sector organization. These findings also supported the centrality of ME in determining work outcomes. The authors conclude that expectations exert a notable effect on work outcomes for nonprofit employees. Moreover, POF has a secondary effect. Several theoretical and practical implications of these results, especially for nonprofit systems, are noted in the final section.
Commodity Price Shocks and Civil Conflict: Evidence from Colombia

How do income shocks affect armed conflict? Theory suggests two opposite effects. If labour is used to appropriate resources violently, higher wages may lower conflict by reducing labour supplied to appropriation. This is the opportunity cost effect. Alternatively, a rise in contestable income may increase violence by raising gains from appropriation. This is the rapacity effect. Our article exploits exogenous price shocks in international commodity markets and a rich dataset on civil war in Colombia to assess how different income shocks affect conflict. We examine changes in the price of agricultural goods (which are labour intensive) as well as natural resources (which are not). We focus on Colombia's two largest exports, coffee and oil. We find that a sharp fall in coffee prices during the 1990s lowered wages and increased violence differentially in municipalities cultivating more coffee. This is consistent with the coffee shock inducing an opportunity cost effect. In contrast, a rise in oil prices increased both municipal revenue and violence differentially in the oil region. This is consistent with the oil shock inducing a rapacity effect. We also show that this pattern holds in six other agricultural and natural resource sectors, providing evidence that price shocks affect conflict in different directions depending on the type of the commodity. Copyright 2013, Oxford University Press.
A Comparative Investigation of Seven Implicit Measures of Social Cognition

The present research compared the psychometric qualities of seven indirect attitude measures across three attitude domains (race, politics and self-esteem) with a large sample (n = 23,413). We compared the measures on internal consistency, sensitivity to known effects, relationship with indirect and direct measures of the same topic, reliability and validity of single-category attitude measurement, ability to detect meaningful variance among people with non-extreme attitudes, and robustness to the exclusion of misbehaved or well-behaved participants. All seven indirect measures correlated with each of the other indirect measures, and with direct measures of the same topic. For all seven measures, these relations were weak for self-esteem, moderate for race and strong for politics. This suggests that some of the source of variation in reliability and predictive validity of indirect measures is a function of the concepts rather than the methods. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) and Brief IAT (BIAT) showed the best overall psychometric quality, followed by the Go-No go Association Task, Single-target IAT (ST-IAT), Affective Misattribution Procedure (AMP), Sorting Paired Features task, and Evaluative Priming. The AMP showed a steep decline in its psychometric qualities when people with extreme attitude scores were removed. Single-category attitude scores computed for the IAT and BIAT showed good relationship with other attitude measures, but no evidence of discriminant validity between paired categories. The other measures, especially the AMP and ST-IAT, showed better evidence for discriminant validity. In a follow-up study, we improved some of the AMP’s psychometric qualities by increasing the number of trials.
Is endemic political corruption hampering provision of ART and PMTCT in developing countries?

Leadership is a key factor in the success of HIV prevention and treatment. Positive HIV‐related outcomes are also affected by funding levels for HIV, health sector resources, disease burden and the socio‐economic environment. Leadership on HIV as well as these other factors are affected by the quality of political governance of the country, which may be an overarching factor that influences the making of effective responses to the HIV epidemic.
Replication Capacity of Avian Influenza A(H9N2) Virus in Pet Birds and Mammals, Bangladesh

Avian influenza A(H9N2) is an agricultural and public health threat. We characterized an H9N2 virus from a pet market in Bangladesh and demonstrated replication in samples from pet birds, swine tissues, human airway and ocular cells, and ferrets. Results implicated pet birds in the potential dissemination and zoonotic transmission of this virus.
Success in Sport Psych: Effective Sport Psychologists

Athletes’ physiques and conditioning levels have advanced significantly in the past decade. Now, it’s time for their mental prowess to catch up. The Sport Psych Handbook makes significant performance improvement possible through training the mind to parallel the body’s enhanced development. Experts covering each facet of the mental game present research-based, field-tested approaches to enhance individual and team performance. [Book Synopsis]
A Smart Filtering System for Newly Coined Profanities by Using Approximate String Alignment

Verbal abuse is becoming a serious social problem in online communication, because anonymity makes it easier to use profanities. Detecting and removing some words that have been registered in a forbidden list is a straightforward filtering method. This is simple, but preparing the forbidden word list is difficult as newly coined words have to be added to the lexicon. Especially Korean is a type of agglutinative language, so the construction of new variations of a vulgar word is easy without causing difficulties in textual communications in an online environment. In this paper we propose a new method to detect all variations of a vulgar word with phoneme modification by applying a phoneme based string alignment. However, aligning a query word against all vulgar words registered in a database takes time and its computation is difficult. We propose a R*-tree based searching algorithm to overcome this expensive computation. The method applies the metric space property of string edit distance. We prepared a word database with more than 9300 prototype vulgar words for experiment. For a given query word, our algorithm quickly finds the best-aligned candidate word(0.006 sec. with 1000 words), which are within an edit distance equals of one unit. Our contribution is that we empirically found the number of pivot words to create a near optimal searching space.
The hidden burden of influenza: A review of the extra‐pulmonary complications of influenza infection

Severe influenza infection represents a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality. Although influenza is primarily considered a viral infection that results in pathology limited to the respiratory system, clinical reports suggest that influenza infection is frequently associated with a number of clinical syndromes that involve organ systems outside the respiratory tract. A comprehensive MEDLINE literature review of articles pertaining to extra‐pulmonary complications of influenza infection, using organ‐specific search terms, yielded 218 articles including case reports, epidemiologic investigations, and autopsy studies that were reviewed to determine the clinical involvement of other organs. The most frequently described clinical entities were viral myocarditis and viral encephalitis. Recognition of these extra‐pulmonary complications is critical to determining the true burden of influenza infection and initiating organ‐specific supportive care.
The Law, the Courts, and the Education of Behaviorally Disordered Students

In recent years, the judicial branch of the government has become increasingly involved with the educational affairs of exceptional students. The potential for lawsuits involving behaviorally disordered students is particularly great because management strategies are often used which violate student rights. School personnel need to be aware of acceptable practices in order to avoid litigation. This article reviews and synthesizes judicial rulings related to corporal punishment, behavior management strategies, suspension and expulsion, and residential placement. Recent court decisions are discussed and issues related to behaviorally disordered students' rights are examined. Finally, recommendations for practice are presented.
[Diagnosis and treatment of Sjogren's syndrome].

Filamentary Keratitis as Indication In their review on Sjögren’s syndrome (1), the authors Stefanski and co-workers highlighted the interdisciplinary care required for this serious chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease. In addition to subjective patient symptoms of eye irritations, including foreign body sensation, burning, stinging, and photophobia, objective signs can be very important for diagnosis; these include not only Schirmer’s test (as mentioned by the authors) but also superficial punctate keratitis and pronounced conditions of filamentary keratitis. For tearing deficiencies, as occur in sicca syndrome, not only a reduction of the aqueous phase of the tear film but also a disturbed lipid phase (meibomian gland dysfunction) and a reduced mucin phase (goblet cell dysfunction) should be taken into account (2). Despite intensive therapy with artificial tear drops, sicca syndrome can be so pronounced that it can lead to incapacity for work. DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2017. 0660a
Validation of the Visual Disability Questionnaire (VDQ) in India

Purpose. To validate visual disability questionnaire (VDQ) in patients with low vision in India, and explore whether the two latent traits “importance” and “difficulty” associated with performance of daily activities are valid and independent constructs. Methods. The VDQ consisting of 25 items was administered verbally to 137 subjects with low vision aged 16 to 89 years. Responses for each item were rated for importance and difficulty using a 5-category Likert scale. Rasch analysis was used to estimate interval measures of response ratings. Results. Subjects could discriminate only three response categories for importance and difficulty. Content validity was demonstrated by good separation indices for importance (4.24 and 2.59 for the item and person parameters, respectively) and difficulty ratings (7.64 and 3.33, respectively). High reliability scores were recorded for importance (0.95 and 0.87) and difficulty ratings (0.98 and 0.92). The most important items were “grooming” (1.15 logits) and “reading newspaper” (0.97 logits). Although “threading a needle” was the least important item (−2.79 logits), it was the most difficult task (3.13 logits). The least difficult item was moving around in familiar places (−2.51 logits). A poor correlation was observed between the item measures (r = −0.19, p = 0.34) and also between person measures (r = 0.18, p = 0.03) of importance and difficulty. Conclusions. The VDQ is a valid questionnaire with importance and difficulty ratings found to be independent constructs. This questionnaire could be used to prioritize the goals for rehabilitation intervention in patients with low vision.
Hydrogen bonds between short polar side chains and peptide backbone: Prevalence in proteins and effects on helix‐forming propensities

A survey of 322 proteins showed that the short polar (SP) side chains of four residues, Thr, Ser, Asp, and Asn, have a very strong tendency to form hydrogen bonds with neighboring backbone amides. Specifically, 32% of Thr, 29% of Ser, 26% of Asp, and 19% of Asn engage in such hydrogen bonds. When an SP residue caps the N terminal of a helix, the contribution to helix stability by a hydrogen bond with the amide of the N3 or N2 residue is well established. When an SP residue is in the middle of a helix, the side chain is unlikely to form hydrogen bonds with neighboring backbone amides for steric and geometric reasons. In essence the SP side chain competes with the backbone carbonyl for the same hydrogen‐bonding partner (i.e., the backbone amide) and thus SP residues tend to break backbone carbonyl‐amide hydrogen bonds. The proposition that this is the origin for the low propensities of SP residues in the middle of α helices (relative to those of nonpolar residues) was tested. The combined effects of restricting side‐chain rotamer conformations (documented by Creamer and Rose, Proc Acad Sci USA, 1992;89:5937–5941; Proteins, 1994;19:85–97) and excluding side‐ chain to backbone hydrogen bonds by the helix were quantitatively analyzed. These were found to correlate strongly with four experimentally determined scales of helix‐forming propensities. The correlation coefficients ranged from 0.72 to 0.87, which are comparable to those found for nonpolar residues (for which only the loss of side‐chain conformational entropy needs to be considered). Proteins 1999;34:497–507. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
PTCA: periprocedural platelet activation. Part II of the Duesseldorf PTCA platelet study (DPPS)

BACKGROUND Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) with its various manipulations could create a dangerous, sudden haemostatic response. This study was performed to investigate PTCA-induced periprocedural changes in platelet activation and its consequences. METHODS Twenty-five consecutive patients admitted for elective PTCA were preclassified as having or not having circulating activated platelets. Blood samples were taken for platelet activation marker analysis before, six times during and 2 h after PTCA. Intravascular platelet activation was analysed by flow cytometry to measure activation-dependent surface markers thrombospondin, P-selectin (CD62) and lysosomal GP53 (CD63). RESULTS PTCA was associated with a significant reduction of peripheral platelet count. The initiation of the PTCA procedure led to a significant loss of more than 50% of the degranulated, activated platelets. After PTCA, the number of degranulated, activated platelets uniformly increased. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that PTCA can induce consumption, particularly of preactivated platelets, and lead to sustained platelet activation after the procedure. This might explain why preactivated patients are at increased risk of suffering periprocedural ischaemic events and why increased thrombogenicity favours acute flow disruption and the progression of coronary stenosis at the lesion site.
Development of Genetic and Genomic Research Resources for Brachypodium distachyon, a New Model System for Grass Crop Research

Garvin, D. F. , Gu, Y. Q. , Hasterok, R. , Hazen, S. P., Jenkins, G. , Mockler, T. C. , Mur, L. A. J., Vogel, J. P. (2008). Development of genetic and genomic research resources for Brachypodium distachyon, a new model system for grass crop research. Crop Science, 48, S69-S84 journalsupplement: 1 IMPF: 01.32 RONO: 00