Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forging Paths through Hostile Territory: Intersections of Women's Identities Pursuing Post-Secondary Computing Education.

and technical aspects of computing tended to be perceived as more prestigious by the students and given more priority by faculty and instructors in computing programs women attended. This was particularly prominent in contexts where the gender divide in the program was most pronounced. Women in the programs themselves often adopted this social hierarchy of various types of computing disciplines. Anu, Tina, Xena and Stella explained that this hierarchy tended to establish a pecking order in their programs where students enrolled in programs that were more technical and abstract tended to get more respect from peers and faculty
A novel sidestream ultrasonic flow sensor for multiple breath washout in children

Inert gas multiple breath washout (MBW) for measuring Lung Clearance Index using mass spectrometry and 4% sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as the tracer gas has been shown to be sensitive for detecting early Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lung disease. However, mass spectrometry requires bulky equipment and is expensive to buy and maintain. A novel sidestream ultrasonic device may overcome this problem. The aims of this study were to assess the feasibility and clinical validity of measuring lung volume (functional residual capacity, FRC) and the LCI using the sidestream ultrasonic flow sensor in children and adolescents with CF in relation to spirometry and plain chest radiographs.
A Multi-Semester Comparison of Student Performance between Multiple Traditional and Online Sections of Two Management Courses

This multi-semester (eight semesters), multi-course study compared student performance in undergraduate online and traditional sections of “Organization and Management” with sample sizes of 380 and 213, respectively. Concurrent online and traditional sections of “Strategic Management” courses with sample sizes of 298 and 456, respectively, were also comparatively analyzed. Similar to previous research (Borthick & Jones, 2000; Gagne & Shepherd, 2001; Piccoli, Ahman, Ives, 2001), this study found no statistically significant difference in student performance between online and traditional classes in both management courses after examining eight semesters of data. However, this study found gender differences with both management courses.
O‐space imaging: Highly efficient parallel imaging using second‐order nonlinear fields as encoding gradients with no phase encoding

Recent improvements in parallel imaging have been driven by the use of greater numbers of independent surface coils placed so as to minimize aliasing along the phase‐encode direction(s). However, gains from increasing the number of coils diminish as coil coupling problems begin to dominate and the ratio of acceleration gain to expense for multiple receiver chains becomes prohibitive. In this work, we redesign the spatial‐encoding strategy in order to gain efficiency, achieving a gradient encoding scheme that is complementary to the spatial encoding provided by the receiver coils. This approach leads to “O‐space” imaging, wherein the gradient shapes are tailored to an existing surface coil array, making more efficient use of the spatial information contained in the coil profiles. In its simplest form, for each acquired echo the Z2 spherical harmonic is used to project the object onto sets of concentric rings, while the X and Y gradients are used to offset this projection within the imaging plane. The theory is presented, an algorithm is introduced for image reconstruction, and simulations reveal that O‐space encoding achieves high encoding efficiency compared to sensitivity encoding (SENSE) radial k‐space trajectories, and parallel imaging technique with localized gradients (PatLoc), suggesting that O‐space imaging holds great potential for accelerated scanning. Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Exploring Psychological wellbeing in a Sample of Australian Actors

Objective The objective of the current study was to explore what factors might impact the psychological wellbeing of adult, Australian professional actors. Method Twenty South Australian actors were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Ten were male and 10 female, ranging in age from 22 to 66 years old, with self‐reported professional experience ranging from 1 to 50 years. The participants were interviewed in‐depth about their experiences of being an actor, with a particular focus on wellbeing, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis, with numerous checks in place for methodological rigour. Results Two broad categories of themes were established; environmental and personal factors. Environmental factors included power, lifestyle, fringe‐dwelling, engagement, the tribe, and taking care of yourself. Personal factors included pursuit, strengths, the calling, precariousness and looking within. Conclusions Themes were considered in terms of contemporary wellbeing theory, along with clinical implications relating to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM5). Findings included: actors experience a range of threats to wellbeing, such as problems with autonomy, lack of environmental mastery, complex interpersonal relationships and high self‐criticism. Factors facilitating wellbeing include ongoing personal growth and a sense of purpose. The findings also suggest that actors are vulnerable to depression, generalised anxiety symptoms, vicarious trauma, and perfectionism.
Prevalence and clinical characteristics of intracerebral hemorrhages associated with clopidogrel.

BACKGROUND As clopidogrel is being increasingly used, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) associated with clopidogrel are expected to increase. We assessed the prevalence and clinical characteristics of of ICH with clopidogrel in a consecutive series of patients in two hospitals. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medication history of 204 patients (112 in one hospital and 92 in another - both individually consecutive) admitted with ICH. We identified the patients who were using clopidogrel prior to ICH occurrence. The etiology of the ICH was categorized on the basis of clinical history and diagnostic imaging, and outcome was subsequently evaluated. RESULTS A total of 8 (4%) of the 204 patients were using clopidogrel prior to onset of ICH. Clopidogrel was the only medication in 3 patients and was used with aspirin or warfarin in 3 and 2 patients, respectively. Aspirin or warfarin was the only medication in 23 (%) and 14 (%) patients associated with ICH, respectively. The hematoma was located in the basal ganglia (n=2), lobes (n=2), thalamus (n=1), intraventricular (n=2), and cerebellar (n=2). One patient had secondary intraventricular extension. All patients using a combination of clopidogrel and warfarin prior to ICH died. CONCLUSION The prevalence of ICH associated with clopidogrel is approximating the prevalence of aspirin- or warfarin-associated ICH. The mortality with clopidogrel related ICH appears to be high particularly when in combination with another antithrombotic agent.
Apothecia and ascospores of Lobaria oregana and Lobaria pulmonaria investigated

Apothecia of Lobaria oregana and L. pulmonaria emerge in late spring and discharge ascospores throughout the year. Most populations have a few fertile thalli, although the proportion of fertile thalli usually is less than 25 percent. Ascospores fail to germinate in water or on water agar but do germinate on agar containing an adsorbant and either a sugar or the sugar-alcohol ribitol. It is postulated that the ascospores of these species contain an autoinhibitor that must be removed before germination. Widespread ascospore germination in the presence of an adsorbant in Peltigera aphthosa, P. membranacea, and Pseudocyphellaria anthraspis, as well as in Lobaria, suggest that this phenomenon might be widespread in the Peltigerales.
Infiltrative Hepatocellular Carcinoma

AbstractData on infiltrative hepatocellular carcinoma (iHCC) receiving hepatectomy are unclear. Our study assessed the outcomes, effects of anatomical resection, and prognostic factors in a cohort of Chinese patients with iHCC undergoing hepatectomy.Data from 47 patients with iHCC undergoing hepatectomy were analyzed in a retrospective study. Independent prognostic factors of overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were identified using univariate and multivariate analyses. Correlations between microvascular invasion (MVI) and clinicopathological features were assessed using the &khgr;2 test, Student t test, or the Mann–Whitney U test. Survival outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.The median OS was 27.37 months and the 1-year RFS rate were 61.7%. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level was not a specific parameter in iHCC patients undergoing hepatectomy. Anatomic resection was significantly associated with increased RFS (P = 0.007). Patients showing MVI were observed with decreased RFS (P < 0.001). A high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level was significantly associated with decreased OS and RFS (P = 0.003 and P = 0.020, respectively). MVI was shown correlated with the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and LDH. Subgroup analysis indicated that in mild MVI group, survival outcome was significantly more favorable in patients with high LDH level (P = 0.019). iHCC patients are related with higher MVI rate and patients may still derive survival benefit from anatomic resection at early and intermediate stages. MVI classification could be used to identify iHCC patients with a poorer survival, especially those with a high preoperative LDH level.
Assessment of nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation in in-vitro matured human oocytes.

BACKGROUND With improved prospects for the use of human oocyte in-vitro maturation in assisted reproductive technologies, the need to define more clearly the coordination of nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation has arisen. METHODS Immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy were used to evaluate cell cycle-dependent modifications in chromatin and microtubules in human germinal vesicle oocytes (n = 455) undergoing in-vitro maturation. RESULTS Four distinct classes of germinal vesicle stage oocytes were identified based on the expression of G2/interphase characteristics, but, of these, only one class of oocytes was competent to complete meiotic progression to metaphase-II in vitro. The majority of germinal vesicle stage oocytes resumed meiosis within 6 h (88.9%) of culture and exhibited an accelerated pace of progression to metaphase-II (66.7%) over 24 h, but in general were unable to maintain meiotic arrest and defaulted into interphase within 24 h of polar body emission. Characterization of microtubule dynamics and chromatin phosphorylation demonstrates specific cell cycle deficiencies in in-vitro matured human oocytes. CONCLUSION This work forms a basis for future studies aimed at optimizing nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation during in-vitro maturation.
E-nose application to food industry production

Food companies worldwide must constantly engage in product development to stay competitive, cover existing markets, explore new markets, and meet key consumer requirements. This ongoing development places high demands on achieving quality at all levels, particularly in terms of food safety, integrity, quality, nutrition, and other health effects. Food product research is required to convert the initial product idea into a formulation for upscaling production with ensured significant results. Sensory evaluation is an effective component of the whole process. It is especially important in the last step in the development of new products to ensure product acceptance. In that stage, measurements of product aroma play an important role in ensuring that consumer expectations are satisfied. To this end, the electronic nose (e-nose) can be a useful tool to achieve this purpose. The e-nose is a combination of various sensors used to detect gases by generating signals for an analysis system. Our research group has investigated the scent factor in some foodstuff and attempted to develop e-noses based on low-cost technology and compact size. In this paper, we present a summary of our research to date on applications of the e-nose in the food industry.
Melatonin limits paclitaxel‐induced mitochondrial dysfunction in vitro and protects against paclitaxel‐induced neuropathic pain in the rat

Chemotherapy‐induced neuropathic pain is a debilitating and common side effect of cancer treatment. Mitochondrial dysfunction associated with oxidative stress in peripheral nerves has been implicated in the underlying mechanism. We investigated the potential of melatonin, a potent antioxidant that preferentially acts within mitochondria, to reduce mitochondrial damage and neuropathic pain resulting from the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel. In vitro, paclitaxel caused a 50% reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential and metabolic rate, independent of concentration (20‐100 μmol/L). Mitochondrial volume was increased dose‐dependently by paclitaxel (200% increase at 100 μmol/L). These effects were prevented by co‐treatment with 1 μmol/L melatonin. Paclitaxel cytotoxicity against cancer cells was not affected by co‐exposure to 1 μmol/L melatonin of either the breast cancer cell line MCF‐7 or the ovarian carcinoma cell line A2780. In a rat model of paclitaxel‐induced painful peripheral neuropathy, pretreatment with oral melatonin (5/10/50 mg/kg), given as a daily bolus dose, was protective, dose‐dependently limiting development of mechanical hypersensitivity (19/43/47% difference from paclitaxel control, respectively). Melatonin (10 mg/kg/day) was similarly effective when administered continuously in drinking water (39% difference). Melatonin also reduced paclitaxel‐induced elevated 8‐isoprostane F2α levels in peripheral nerves (by 22% in sciatic; 41% in saphenous) and limited paclitaxel‐induced reduction in C‐fibre activity‐dependent slowing (by 64%). Notably, melatonin limited the development of mechanical hypersensitivity in both male and female animals (by 50/41%, respectively), and an additive effect was found when melatonin was given with the current treatment, duloxetine (75/62% difference, respectively). Melatonin is therefore a potential treatment to limit the development of painful neuropathy resulting from chemotherapy treatment.
Initial Accuracy of HIV Rapid Test Kits Stored in Suboptimal Conditions and Validity of Delayed Reading of Oral Fluid Tests

Objectives To evaluate the effect of storing commonly used rapid diagnostic tests above manufacturer-recommended temperature (at 37°C), and the accuracy of delayed reading of oral fluid kits with relevance to HIV self-testing programmes. Design A quality assurance study of OraQuick (OraSure), Determine HIV 1/2™ (Alere) and Uni-Gold™ (Recombigen®). Methods Consecutive adults (≥18y) attending Ndirande Health Centre in urban Blantyre, Malawi in January to April 2012 underwent HIV testing with two of each of the three rapid diagnostic test kits stored for 28 days at either 18°C (optimally-stored) or at 37°C (pre-incubated). Used OraQuick test kits were stored in a laboratory for delayed day 1 and subsequent monthly re-reading was undertaken for one year. Results Of 378 individuals who underwent parallel testing, 5 (1.3%) were dropped from the final analysis due to discordant or missing reference standard results (optimally-stored Determine and Uni-Gold). Compared to the diagnostic reference standard, OraQuick had a sensitivity of 97.2% (95% CI: 93.6–99.6). There were 7 false negative results among all test kits stored at 37°C and three false negatives among optimally stored kits. Excellent agreement between pre-incubated tests and optimally-stored tests with Kappa values of 1.00 for Determine and Uni-Gold; and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.95; 1.00) for OraQuick were observed. There was high visual stability on re-reading of OraQuick, with only 1/375 pre-incubated and 1/371 optimally-stored OraQuick kits changing from the initial result over 12 months. Conclusion Erroneous results observed during HIV testing in low income settings are likely to be due to factors other than suboptimal storage conditions. Re-reading returned OraQuick kits may offer a convenient and accurate quality assurance approach, including in HIV self-testing programmes.
A lower bound on the independence number of arbitrary hypergraphs

We present a lower bound on the independence number of arbitrary hypergraphs in terms of the degree vectors. The degree vector of a vertex v is given by d(v) = (d 1 (v); d 2 (v); : : :) where d m (v) is the number of edges of size m containing v. We deene a function f with the property that any hypergraph H = (V; E) satisses (H) P v2V f(d(v)). This lower bound is sharp when H is a matching, and it generalizes known bounds of Caro/Wei and Caro/Tuza for ordinary graphs and uniform hypergraphs. Furthermore, an algorithm for computing independent sets of size as guaranteed by the lower bound is given. c
Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer Patients: An Evolving Role in Patient Prognosis and Disease Progression

In this paper, we examine the role of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in breast cancer. CTCs are tumor cells present in the peripheral blood. They are found in many different carcinomas but are not present in patients with benign disease. Recent advances in theories regarding metastasis support the role of early release of tumor cells in the neoplastic process. Furthermore, it has been found that phenotypic variation exists between the primary tumor and CTCs. Of particular interest is the incongruency found between primary tumor and CTC HER2 status in both metastatic and early breast cancer. Overall, CTCs have been shown to be a poor prognostic marker in metastatic breast cancer. CTCs in early breast cancer are not as well studied, however, several studies suggest that the presence of CTCs in early breast cancer may also suggest a poorer prognosis. Studies are currently underway looking at the use of CTC level monitoring in order to guide changes in therapy.
A nonlinear tracking method of computing net joint torques for human movement

Determining individual muscles forces from human performance has greatly depended on the quality of inverse dynamics solutions, as muscle force decomposition remains the only feasible approach for determining muscle forces non-invasively in human movement. However, legitimate questions about the accuracy of inverse dynamics arise, with resultant torques/forces failing to drive a forward model through the observations from which they were derived. While optimization of forward dynamics to match experimental data is considered more accurate, the simplicity and low computational costs of inverse methods are favored over the large computing requirements of optimization. In this paper, an evolution in the inverse methods for computing accurate and reliable torques is presented, whereby the relative speed of inverse dynamics is combined with the desired accuracy of forward dynamics. This method is based on developing a nonlinear tracker that determines the net muscle torques which accurately follow clinically observed kinematics and ground reaction forces. The results show that the method is robust and can produce accurate estimates of the joint torques during movement. The method outlined here is a necessary first step to solving the muscle force indeterminancy problem more efficiently.
Growth and substrate consumption of Nitrobacter agilis cells immobilized in carrageenan: Part 1. Dynamic modeling

The modeling of the growth of Nitrobacter agilis cell immobilized in κ‐carrageenan is presented. A detailed description is given of the modeling of internal diffusion and growth of cells in the support matrix in addition to external mass transfer resistance. The model predicts the substrate and biomass profiles in the support as well as the macroscopic oxygen consumption rate of the immobilized biocatalyst in time. The model is tested by experiments with continuously operated airlift loop reactors containing cells immobilized in κ‐carrageenan. The model describes experimental data very well. It is clearly shown that external mass transfer may not be neglected. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis of the parameters at their values during the experiments revealed that apart from the radius of the spheres and the substrate bulk concentration, the external mass transfer resistance coefficient is the most sensitive parameter for our case.
Soluble L‐Selectin and Neutrophil Derived Oxidative Stress After Pacing Induced Myocardial Ischemia in Chronic Stable Coronary Artery Disease

We studied the effect of atrial pacing induced myocardial ischemia on levels of soluble L‐selectin (sL‐selectin) and generation of neu‐trophil derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) in 10 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and sta‐ble angina and in six individuals without CAD. Myocardial ischemia was measured metabolically by lac‐tate sampling from the coronary sinus (CS) and arterial blood at each pacing step. Before each pacing step, at peak pacing and shortly after cessation, plasma concentrations of sL‐selectin and generation of ROS using the chemiluminescence method were measured in CS and femoral artery blood. Baseline sL‐selectin levels in CS samples were significantly lower in the CAD compared to the control group (547 ± 80 vs 836 ± 82 ng/mL, P = 0.03). At peak pacing, nine often patients with CAD developed myocardial ischemia (lac‐tate extraction ratio at rest 28%± 7%, at peak pacing ‐16%± 6%). In these patients, luminol‐enhanced chemiluminescence (CL, 0.88 ± 0.45 vs 3.9 ± 0.9 cpm × 105, P = 0.09) and levels of sL‐selectin (547 ± 80 vs 764 ± 86 ng/mL, P ‐ 0.03) from naive neutrophils increased significantly in CS blood suggesting a po‐tent in vivo activation of neutrophils. In control patients, incremental pacing caused neither myocardial ischemia nor a significant change of chemiluminescence or of sL‐selectin levels. In conclusion, myocar‐dial ischemia induced by pacing tachycardia is able to activate neutrophils in patients with chronic sta‐ble coronary artery disease leading to increased generation of ROS and shedding of L‐selectin into the coronary circulation.
Base-Victim Compression: An Opportunistic Cache Compression Architecture

The memory wall has motivated many enhancements to cache management policies aimed at reducing misses. Cache compression has been proposed to increase effective cache capacity, which potentially reduces capacity and conflict misses. However, complexity in cache compression implementations could increase cache power and access latency. On the other hand, advanced cache replacement mechanisms use heuristics to reduce misses, leading to significant performance gains. Both cache compression and replacement policies should collaborate to improve performance. In this paper, we demonstrate that cache compression and replacement policies can interact negatively. In many workloads, performance gains from replacement policies are lost due to the need to alter the replacement policy to accommodate compression. This leads to sub-optimal replacement policies that could lose performance compared to an uncompressed cache. We introduce a novel, opportunistic cache compression mechanism, Base-Victim, based on an efficient cache design. Our compression architecture improves performance on top of advanced cache replacement policies, and guarantees a hit rate at least as high as that of an uncompressed cache. For cache-sensitive applications, Base-Victim achieves an average 7.3% performance gain for single-threaded workloads, and 8.7% gain for four-thread multi-program workload mixes.