Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Occupational stress factors and alcohol-related behavior in urban transit operators.

BACKGROUND If alcohol consumption mitigates psychological and physiological aspects of the response to stressors, then alcohol consumption might be elevated for individuals exposed to high occupational stressors. Frequency of work stressors and reaction to those stressors were studied in relation to several alcohol-related outcomes. METHODS During the period 1993-1995, 1979 transit operators underwent medical examinations for commercial driver's license renewal. Questionnaire and interview data concerning occupational stress factors and alcohol-related outcomes were available for 1386 (70.2%) of the operators. RESULTS A positive association was found between the two job stressor-related measures and each of six alcohol-related outcomes. Of these 12 associations, ten were statistically significant. Individuals experiencing high self-reported frequency of job stressors and a higher perceived severity of those job stressors were more likely to drink and more likely to be heavy drinkers. They reported more consequences of alcohol consumption, reported increased consumption since beginning work as transit drivers, and were more likely to report drinking to deal with work stress. They also drank more, but this effect was not significant for either job stress measure. There was virtually no association between either stressor-related measure and alcohol dependency (CAGE). CONCLUSIONS Together with other published findings, these results suggest increased alcohol-related outcomes in the presence of work stressors. This conclusion has potential implications for worksite health promotion and job design. Because our findings are cross-sectional, further research is needed to clarify the causal nature of the work stressor-alcohol association. Further research also is needed to clarify the role of individual differences and context.
Is Safe Production an Oxymoron?

This research examines how organizations simultaneously manage their operations and occupational health and safety. Although both safety and operations scholars conduct research in the same operational settings, they have reached different, yet untested, conclusions about the relationship between creating a safe workplace and creating a productive workplace. The results from a series of 10 case studies show that it is possible to create safe and productive workplaces, but that many facilities fail at this task because of problems associated with the culture management creates and the practices management adopts.
Personal factors as a cause of differences in prescribing by general practitioners.

The quantity and identity of drugs prescribed under the National Health Service vary widely between different towns (Martin, 1957; Benjamin and Ash, 1964). The reasons are not well understood, but differences of morbidity and mortality in the towns are not solely responsible (Lee, 1964). The differences in prescribing between towns remain relatively stable over months and years, so that the rank order of towns with different rates or different costs of prescribing is fairly stable (Ministry of Health Reports, 1963). In any town, there is considerable variation between individual doctors, and there is some evidence that the behaviour of particular doctors is also fairly stable over periods of time. Doctors differ not only in how much and how often they prescribe but also in what they prescribe (Weatherall, 1964), and it is desirable to understand the origin of such differences. A study of all the prescriptions issued in one month in each of three industrial towns has already been reported (Lee, 1964; Lee, Draper, and Weatherall, 1965). Most of the practitioners concerned in that study who had over 1,000 patients on their N.H. S. lists were interviewed about various aspects of their practice. The present paper describes these inter views and their analysis in relation to the prescribing of the doctors interviewed.
Explicating Creativity and Design: The Nature and Meaningfulness of Work in Mad Men

Scholars have infrequently explored meaningful work of creative industries despite a resurgence of interest in meanings of work. To address this gap, we took as our starting point the award-winning drama Mad Men. Although other cultural artifacts engage the imagination, Mad Men is distinctive in its depiction of careers, work-life considerations, and moral dilemmas associated with the nature and meaning of work. We critically analyzed the discursive framing of creative directors’ work as well as attendant moral dilemmas, drawing out the ways in which characters describe good work and those who perform this work. We note three themes that construct a hierarchy of meaningful work, foreground the narrative practices of work, and articulate the processes whereby meaningful work discourses can be used to navigate workplace politics. In doing so, we depict the intersections of popular culture, work, and professionalism. Finally, we uncover reasons for this drama's popularity and fascination with creative directors’ work.
Adopted Youth in Residential Care: Prevalence Rate and Professional Training Needs

ABSTRACT Clinical program directors from 59 residential treatment facilities responded to an online survey addressing the representation of adopted youth currently being served by their organization, the extent to which adoption issues are incorporated into clinical intake and treatment processes, and the training needs of clinical staff related to adoption. Results indicated that adopted youth are disproportionately represented in these programs. Although constituting slightly more than 2% of the U.S. child population, 25–30% of youth currently enrolled in these programs were adopted. Clinical directors reported that most clinical staff had received at least a moderate level of training in adoption-related issues and typically integrated them into the assessment and treatment processes. However, they also viewed additional adoption-related training as important for their mental health staff. In addition, adopted youth were viewed by clinical directors as manifesting a higher rate of adjustment difficulties in a number of areas compared to nonadopted youth. Results are discussed in terms of risk factors associated with adoption and the need for adoption clinical training for mental health professionals in residential treatment centers.
Clinical performance of PET/CT in evaluation of cancer: additional value for diagnostic imaging and patient management.

UNLABELLED This study assessed the clinical performance of a combined PET/CT system using (18)F-FDG in oncologic patients. METHODS (18)F-FDG PET/CT was used to evaluate 204 patients with 586 suspicious lesions. All patients had available follow-up data, enabling assessment of the clinical significance of hybrid PET/CT findings. Differences in interpretation between PET, CT, and fused PET/CT data were prospectively documented for detection, localization, and characterization of each evaluated site. The additional value of PET/CT for data interpretation over that of separate PET and CT was classified into several criteria, including change in lesion characterization to either definitely benign or definitely malignant, precise anatomic localization of malignant (18)F-FDG uptake, and retrospective lesion detection on PET and CT. The clinical impact of information provided by PET/CT on patient management was assessed on the basis of follow-up data concerning further diagnostic or therapeutic approach. Analysis of data was performed for the whole study population, for different types of cancer, and for different anatomic sites. RESULTS PET/CT provided additional information over the separate interpretation of PET and CT in 99 patients (49%) with 178 sites (30%). PET/CT improved characterization of equivocal lesions as definitely benign in 10% of sites and as definitely malignant in 5% of sites. It precisely defined the anatomic location of malignant (18)F-FDG uptake in 6%, and it led to retrospective lesion detection on PET or CT in 8%. The results of PET/CT had an impact on the management of 28 patients (14%). Hybrid PET/CT data obviated the need for further evaluation in 5 patients, guided further diagnostic procedures in 7 patients, and assisted in planning therapy for 16 patients. CONCLUSION Hybrid PET/CT improves the diagnostic interpretation of (18)F-FDG PET and CT in cancer patients and has an impact on both diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of patient management.
Promoting positive development in middle childhood : the influence of child characteristics, parents, schools, and neighbourhoods

From a strengths-based approach, the current study explored how individual child characteristics and social resources within children’s families, schools, and neighbourhoods singularly and collectively predicted five dimensions of resilience in middle childhood: optimism, self-efficacy, interpersonal sensitivity, and relationships with peers, and relationships with adults. Specifically, this study explored the relative influence of four child characteristics (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, self-concept, positive behaviour), three parenting characteristics (parent support, parent knowledge, dinner with an adult family member), two school characteristics (school adult support, school connectedness), and two neighbourhood characteristics (neighbourhood adult support, neighbourhood safe places) on these dimensions of resilience. Based on the literature, it was hypothesized that individual assets (i.e., characteristics within the child) would explain children’s resilience better than ecological assets (i.e., characteristics within the child’s environment), but that multiple resources within children’s social environments (particularly, supportive adults) would predict higher resilience. Data were collected from 1,250 children ages 9 to 13 (grades 4-7) attending 23 elementary schools in 7 school districts in British Columbia, Canada. All variables were obtained via child self-report with the exception of the positive behavior variable, which was obtained via teacher-report. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses revealed, as expected, that child characteristics were stronger predictors of resilience than contextual factors, even after controlling for children’s age, gender, ESL status, and lone parent status. However, practices within families, schools, and neighbourhoods continued to predict children’s resilience even after accounting for child characteristics. Jointly, adult supportiveness at each level of context was also associated with greater resilience in children. This study concludes that during middle childhood, characteristics within the child (i.e.,
Association of Elevated Free Fatty Acids During Late Pregnancy With Preterm Delivery

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between moderately elevated maternal plasma free fatty acids (FFAs) during late pregnancy and preterm delivery. METHODS: In a prospective observational cohort with 523 healthy pregnant women, fasting plasma FFAs were measured during the third trimester. Socioeconomic, demographic, and anthropometric measures were collected at entry to prenatal care, and pregnancy outcomes were abstracted from medical record at delivery. RESULTS: After control for confounders including prepregnant body mass index (multiple logistic regression analysis), women who had moderately elevated plasma FFAs (in the highest tertile), showed a greater than threefold increased risk of preterm delivery (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 3.49, 95% (CI) 1.73–7.03, P<. 001). The associations persisted in women who had spontaneous preterm delivery (AOR 2.35, 95% CI 1.05–5.28, P<.05) and after excluding women with gestational diabetes mellitus and preeclampsia (AOR 3.30, 95% CI 1.38–7.87, P<.01). Additional stratified analyses showed that the association of high maternal FFAs and increased risk of preterm delivery was independent of prepregnant obesity. CONCLUSION: Elevated fasting plasma FFA levels at 30 weeks of gestation were associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery. This effect was independent of prepregnant obesity and several other known risk factors for preterm delivery, including cigarette smoking, ethnicity, and prior preterm delivery. These data may have important clinical significance because they provide a possible link between preterm delivery and high lipid levels, a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II
Fast Monitoring of Indoor Bioaerosol Concentrations with ATP Bioluminescence Assay Using an Electrostatic Rod-Type Sampler

A culture-based colony counting method is the most widely used analytical technique for monitoring bioaerosols in both indoor and outdoor environments. However, this method requires several days for colony formation. In this study, our goal was fast monitoring (Sampling: 3 min, Detection: < 1 min) of indoor bioaerosol concentrations with ATP bioluminescence assay using a bioaerosol sampler. For this purpose, a novel hand-held electrostatic rod-type sampler (110 mm wide, 115 mm long, and 200 mm tall) was developed and used with a commercial luminometer, which employs the Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence method. The sampler consisted of a wire-rod type charger and a cylindrical collector, and was operated with an applied voltage of 4.5 kV and a sampling flow rate of 150.7 lpm. Its performance was tested using Staphylococcus epidermidis which was aerosolized with an atomizer. Bioaerosol concentrations were measured using ATP bioluminescence method with our sampler and compared with the culture-based method using Andersen cascade impactor under controlled laboratory conditions. Indoor bioaerosol concentrations were also measured using both methods in various indoor environments. A linear correlation was obtained between both methods in lab-tests and field-tests. Our proposed sampler with ATP bioluminescence method may be effective for fast monitoring of indoor bioaerosol concentrations.
The work of John Nash in game theory

Harold W. Kuhn, Department of Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA John C. Harsanyi, The Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA Reinhard Selten, Department of Economics, University of Bonn, Adenauerallee 24-42, D-53113 Bonn, Germany Jo rgen W. Weibull, 1 Department of Economics, Stockholm University, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden Eric van Damme, Center for Economic Research, Tilburg University, 5037 AB Tilburg, The Netherlands John. F. Nash, Jr., Department of Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA Peter Hammerstein, Max-Planck-Institure fu r Verhaltensphysiologie, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany
Evaluating Protein Similarity from Coarse Structures

To unscramble the relationship between protein function and protein structure, it is essential to assess the protein similarity from different aspects. Although many methods have been proposed for protein structure alignment or comparison, alternative similarity measures are still strongly demanded due to the requirement of fast screening and query in large-scale structure databases. In this paper, we first formulate a novel representation of a protein structure, i.e., feature sequence of surface (FSS). Then, a new score scheme is developed to measure the similarity between two representations. To verify the proposed method, numerical experiments are conducted in four different protein data sets. We also classify SARS coronavirus to verify the effectiveness of the new method. Furthermore, preliminary results of fast classification of the whole CATH v2.5. 1 database based on the new macrostructure similarity are given as a pilot study. We demonstrate that the proposed approach to measure the similarities between protein structures is simple to implement, computationally efficient, and surprisingly fast. In addition, the method itself provides a new and quantitative tool to view a protein structure.
Directed Evolution of Xylose Isomerase for Improved Xylose Catabolism and Fermentation in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT The heterologous expression of a highly functional xylose isomerase pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae would have significant advantages for ethanol yield, since the pathway bypasses cofactor requirements found in the traditionally used oxidoreductase pathways. However, nearly all reported xylose isomerase-based pathways in S. cerevisiae suffer from poor ethanol productivity, low xylose consumption rates, and poor cell growth compared with an oxidoreductase pathway and, additionally, often require adaptive strain evolution. Here, we report on the directed evolution of the Piromyces sp. xylose isomerase (encoded by xylA) for use in yeast. After three rounds of mutagenesis and growth-based screening, we isolated a variant containing six mutations (E15D, E114G, E129D, T142S, A177T, and V433I) that exhibited a 77% increase in enzymatic activity. When expressed in a minimally engineered yeast host containing a gre3 knockout and tal1 and XKS1 overexpression, the strain expressing this mutant enzyme improved its aerobic growth rate by 61-fold and both ethanol production and xylose consumption rates by nearly 8-fold. Moreover, the mutant enzyme enabled ethanol production by these yeasts under oxygen-limited fermentation conditions, unlike the wild-type enzyme. Under microaerobic conditions, the ethanol production rates of the strain expressing the mutant xylose isomerase were considerably higher than previously reported values for yeast harboring a xylose isomerase pathway and were also comparable to those of the strains harboring an oxidoreductase pathway. Consequently, this study shows the potential to evolve a xylose isomerase pathway for more efficient xylose utilization.
The Consequences of School Environment and Locus of Control on Adulthood Deviant Behavior

ABSTRACT We examine the long-term effect of school environment on individual deviant behavior. Specifically, we contrast the effects of school deviance and students’ perception of school deviance on personal deviance later in life. Using longitudinal data from four waves of more than 3,100 participants in the Kaplan Longitudinal and Multigenerational Study, we are able to show that school deviance in 7th grade has only a short-term effect on individual deviance. However, when students perceive a lack of deviance in their school at 7th grade, it decreased their personal deviance in their mid-forties if they were both deviant in 7th grade and reported an external locus of control.
Operating time and blood loss during laparoscopic‐assisted vaginal hysterectomy with in situ morcellation

Objective. To develop a regression‐based prediction equation for operative time and estimated blood loss in laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) for large uteri, as required, by combined laparoscopic in situ and vaginal morcellation. Design. Prospective study (Canadian Task Force classification II‐1). Setting. University‐affiliated hospitals. Sample. Fifty‐six patients who underwent LAVH. Methods. Evaluation of all patients who had LAVH with laparoscopic in situ morcellation and vaginal morcellation during a 2‐year period. Main outcome measures. Operative time, estimated blood loss, total uterine weight by laparoscopic or vaginal morcellation, complications and length of hospital stay. Results. Mean operative time was 133 ± 22 minutes, and mean blood loss 133 ± 101ml. Mean uterine weight was 383 ± 187g by laparoscopic and 251 ± 103g by vaginal morcellation. Greater total uterine weight and morcellation were associated with longer operative times. Blood loss correlated with uterine weight when vaginal morcellation was also used. A regression equation is presented for estimating the likely operating time and blood loss. Conclusions. An increase in the operative time and a higher blood loss can be expected as the uterine weight increases and can be predicted taking morcellation methods into account.
Building searchable collections of enterprise speech data

We have applied speech recognition and text-mining technologies to a set of recorded outbound marketing calls and analyzed the results. Since speaker-independent speech recognition technology results in a significantly lower recognition rate than that found when the recognizer is trained for a particular speaker, we applied a number of post-processing algorithms to the output of the recognizer to render it suitable for the Textract text mining system. We indexed the call transcripts using a search engine and used Textract and associated Java technologies to place the relevant terms for each document in a relational database. Following a search query, we generated a thumbnail display of the results of each call with the salient terms highlighted. We illustrate these results and discuss their utility. We took the results of these experiments and continued this analysis on a set of talks and presentations. We describe a distinct document genre based on the note-taking concept of document content, and propose a significant new method for measuring speech recognition accuracy. This procedure is generally relevant to the problem of capturing meetings and talks and providing a searchable index of these presentations on the web.
Measuring control plane latency in SDN-enabled switches

Timely interaction between an SDN controller and switches is crucial to many SDN applications---e.g., fast rerouting during link failure and fine-grained traffic engineering in data centers. However, it is not well understood how the control plane in SDN switches impacts these applications. To this end, we conduct a comprehensive measurement study using four types of production SDN switches. Our measurements show that control actions, such as rule installation, have surprisingly high latency, due to both software implementation inefficiencies and fundamental traits of switch hardware.
Allogeneic haematopoietic transplantation for Richter's syndrome

This study evaluated the efficacy of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (AlloBMT) in eight patients who had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) in Richter's transformation. Five patients were in resistant relapse and three others were in sensitive or untreated relapse. Three out of eight patients (38%) were alive and in remission at 14 months, 47 months and 67 months respectively. Two of these three patients, including one with an unrelated‐donor transplant and a prior, unsuccessful autologous transplantation, received a non‐myeloablative preparative regimen. These data suggest that, compared with conventional chemotherapy, AlloBMT improves the prognosis for patients with Richter's syndrome. Further study of a larger number of patients is needed to confirm these results .