Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Heparin-induced skin lesions and other unusual sequelae of the heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome: a nested cohort study.

BACKGROUND Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is caused by platelet-activating, heparin-dependent IgG antibodies (HIT-IgG). Although HIT is known to predispose the patient to thrombosis, the relationship between the formation of HIT-IgG and various other unusual clinical sequelae putatively linked with the HIT syndrome, such as heparin-induced skin lesions and acute anaphylactoid reactions following treatment with an IV heparin bolus, is not clear. METHODS We used data from a clinical trial of postoperative heparin prophylaxis to compare the frequency of one or more predefined unusual clinical sequelae developing in 20 patients who formed platelet-activating HIT-IgG with 80 control patients who did not form HIT-IgG (nested cohort study). RESULTS Five of the 20 patients in whom HIT-IgG developed had one or more unusual clinical sequelae, compared with none of 80 control patients (25% vs 0%, respectively; odds ratio, infinity; 95% confidence interval, 4.3 to infinity; p < 0.001). The unusual complications included heparin-induced erythematous or necrotic skin lesions (n = 4), an anaphylactoid reaction following IV heparin bolus use (n = 1), and warfarin-associated venous limb ischemia (n = 1). Thrombocytopenia, as it is conventionally defined (ie, platelet count fall to < 150 x 10(9) cells/L) developed in only one of these five patients. CONCLUSIONS Certain unusual clinical sequelae, such as heparin-induced skin lesions, are strongly associated with the formation of HIT-IgG and should be considered as manifestations of the HIT syndrome, even in the absence of thrombocytopenia as conventionally defined.
Lipid Production from Nannochloropsis

Microalgae are sunlight-driven green cell factories for the production of potential bioactive products and biofuels. Nannochloropsis represents a genus of marine microalgae with high photosynthetic efficiency and can convert carbon dioxide to storage lipids mainly in the form of triacylglycerols and to the ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Recently, Nannochloropsis has received ever-increasing interests of both research and public communities. This review aims to provide an overview of biology and biotechnological potential of Nannochloropsis, with the emphasis on lipid production. The path forward for the further exploration of Nannochloropsis for lipid production with respect to both challenges and opportunities is also discussed.
Uncertainty relation for resolution in space, spatial frequency, and orientation optimized by two-dimensional visual cortical filters.

Two-dimensional spatial linear filters are constrained by general uncertainty relations that limit their attainable information resolution for orientation, spatial frequency, and two-dimensional (2D) spatial position. The theoretical lower limit for the joint entropy, or uncertainty, of these variables is achieved by an optimal 2D filter family whose spatial weighting functions are generated by exponentiated bivariate second-order polynomials with complex coefficients, the elliptic generalization of the one-dimensional elementary functions proposed in Gabor's famous theory of communication [J. Inst. Electr. Eng. 93, 429 (1946)]. The set includes filters with various orientation bandwidths, spatial-frequency bandwidths, and spatial dimensions, favoring the extraction of various kinds of information from an image. Each such filter occupies an irreducible quantal volume (corresponding to an independent datum) in a four-dimensional information hyperspace whose axes are interpretable as 2D visual space, orientation, and spatial frequency, and thus such a filter set could subserve an optimally efficient sampling of these variables. Evidence is presented that the 2D receptive-field profiles of simple cells in mammalian visual cortex are well described by members of this optimal 2D filter family, and thus such visual neurons could be said to optimize the general uncertainty relations for joint 2D-spatial-2D-spectral information resolution. The variety of their receptive-field dimensions and orientation and spatial-frequency bandwidths, and the correlations among these, reveal several underlying constraints, particularly in width/length aspect ratio and principal axis organization, suggesting a polar division of labor in occupying the quantal volumes of information hyperspace. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Self as a Container: Implications for Implicit Self-Esteem and Somatic Symptoms

If the self is a container, then it very much matters what is in that container. The authors borrow from this self-as-container spatial metaphor to suggest that individual differences in implicit self-esteem, based on a spatial compatibility task, should predict somatic symptoms such as muscle soreness, headaches, and breathing difficulties. Specifically, lower levels of implicit self-esteem, as measured by the Implicit Association Test, should predict a higher frequency and intensity of somatic symptoms. This prediction was investigated in two studies involving a total of 157 undergraduate participants. As predicted, correlations between implicit self-esteem and somatic complaints were robust and negative in direction, as measured by a questionnaire designed to tap anxious arousal (Study 2), momentary (Study 1) and daily (Study 2) reports of somatic symptoms, and informant reports (Study 2). The findings are consistent with spatial metaphor in suggesting that lower levels of implicit self-esteem are associated with tendencies to internalize negative evaluations, in turn biasing bodily symptom perception.
A Multi-Level Analysis of Organizational Justice Climate, Structure, and Employee Mental Health†

This study uses a sample of 483 employees to investigate how fairness assessments and organizational structure relate to employee mental health. The authors explain these effects using a social contagion framework, which describes the creation of group effects that would occur in addition to individual-level influences. They found that the interactive effects of distributive and procedural justice climates significantly influence individual feelings of both anxiety and depression. This effect goes beyond the main effects of justice at the individual level.
A clinical score to predict 6-month prognosis in elderly patients starting dialysis for end-stage renal disease.

AIM The aim of this study was to develop and validate a prognostic score for 6-month mortality in elderly patients starting dialysis for end-stage renal disease. METHODS Using data from the French Rein registry, we developed a prognostic score in a training sample of 2500 patients aged 75 years or older who started dialysis between 2002 and 2006, which we validated in a similar sample of 1642 patients. Multivariate logistic regression with 500 bootstrap samples allowed us to select risk factors from 19 demographic and baseline clinical variables. RESULTS The overall 6-month mortality was 19%. Age was not associated with early mortality. Nine risk factors were selected and points assigned for the score were as follows: body mass index <18.5 kg/m2 (2 points), diabetes (1), congestive heart failure stages III to IV (2), peripheral vascular disease stages III to IV (2), dysrhythmia (1), active malignancy (1), severe behavioural disorder (2), total dependency for transfers (3) and unplanned dialysis (2). The median score was 2. Mortality rates ranged from 8% in the lowest risk group (0 point) to 70% in the highest risk group (> or =9 points) and 17% in the median group (2 points). Seventeen percent of all deaths occurred after withdrawal from dialysis, ranging from 0% for a score of 0-1 to 15% for a score of 7 or higher. CONCLUSIONS This simple clinical score effectively predicts short-term prognosis among elderly patients starting dialysis. It should help to illuminate clinical decision making, but cannot be used to withhold dialysis. It ought to only be used by nephrologists to facilitate the discussion with the patients and their families.
Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Peer Assessment: A Case for Student and Staff Development

This paper reports an action research project to evaluate an intervention designed to increase students' confidence in an undergraduate peer assessment of posters in Psychology. The intervention set out to maximize the benefits of peer assessment to student learning by explicitly developing and working with marking criteria, and improving the fairness and consistency of students' marking through a trial marking exercise. Evidence from qualitative evaluation questionnaires suggested that students' initial resistance to the peer assessment was transformed by their participation in these processes. After the intervention the range of marks used by students increased at the same time as variability significantly decreased. Quantitative and qualitative data from module appraisal forms completed by students also demonstrated increased transparency and greater confidence in the peer marking process compared with the year before. The study raises issues for student support and staff development in using peer assessment.
Functional Significance of Facilitation Between the Pronator Teres and Extensor Carpi Radialis in Humans: Studies with Electromyography and Electrical Neuromuscular Stimulation

Excitatory (facilitation) or inhibitory spinal reflex arcs (inhibition) mediated by group I afferent fibers from the muscle spindles (group Ia afferents) and Golgi tendon organs (group Ib afferents) among muscles in the human upper limb have been studied (Fig. 1) (Aymard et al., 1995; Baldissea et al., 1983; Cavallari & Katz, 1989; Cavallari et al., 1992; Creange et al., 1992; Day et al., 1984; Fujii et al., 2001; Katz et al., 1991; Kobayashi et al., 2000; Lourenco et al., 2007; Marchand-Pauvert et al., 2000; Miyasaka et al., 1995, 1996, 1998, 2007; Naito et al., 1996, 1998a, 2001; Naito, 2003, 2004; Nakano et al., 2005, 2006; Ogawa et al., 2005; PierrotDeseilligny & Mazevet, 2000; Rossi et al., 1995; Sato et al., 2002; Shinozaki et al., 2001; Suzuki et al., 2005, 2007; Wargon et al., 2006). These reflex arcs modulate motoneuron excitabilities to coordinate smooth muscular movements (Naito, 2003, 2004; Pierrot-Deseilligny et al., 1981; Rothwell, 1994; Tanaka, 1989). The facilitation must function for co-contraction of muscles and the inhibition for alternating or reciprocal contraction among muscles (Naito, 2003, 2004). Musculus (m.) pronator teres (PT) arises from the medial epicondyle of the humerus (humeral head) and the coronoid process of the ulna (ulnar head) and attaches on the lateral surface of the shaft of the radius (Basmajian, 1982; Jenkins, 2008; Standring et al., 2005). It is innervated by the median nerve. M. extensor carpi radialis longus (ECRL) arises mainly from the distal third of the supracondylar ridge of the humerus and attaches to the radial side of the dorsal aspect of the base of the second metacarpal. M. extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) arises mainly from the lateral epicondyle of the humerus and attaches on the radial side of the base of the third metacarpal. Both muscles (ECR) are innervated by the radial nerve. Most textbooks of anatomy describe that PT acts as a forearm pronator and ECR as a wrist extensor and abductor. Our previous studies have demonstrated facilitation between PT and ECR (ECRL, ECRB) in humans (Fig. 1) (Nakano et al., 2005, 2006). The facilitation seems to be mediated by group Ia afferents through a monosynaptic path. It is known that monosynaptic facilitation mediated by group Ia afferents is usually observed
MRI features of Lyme arthritis in children.

OBJECTIVE Oligoarthritis is the most common manifestation of late Lyme disease in children. Considerable overlap can occur in the clinical presentation of Lyme arthritis and acute septic arthritis. Early differentiation is critical, given the disparate therapeutic implications; Lyme arthritis is treated with outpatient oral antibiotics, while septic arthritis requires hospitalization, IV antibiotics, and, often, surgical drainage. We wanted to identify MRI features that may distinguish Lyme arthritis from septic arthritis in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS Knee MR images in 11 children with Lyme arthritis and 7 with septic arthritis, with a mean age 10.6 years old and 11.7 years old, respectively, were reviewed by a radiologist blinded to the final diagnosis. Joint effusion size, synovial thickness, adenopathy, subcutaneous, marrow, and muscle edema on MRI; and clinical parameters including age, sex, fever, WBC, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and joint fluid WBC in the two patient groups were compared using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS Subcutaneous edema was seen in all septic arthritis patients but in only one of 11 patients with Lyme arthritis (p < 0.01). Myositis and adenopathy were present in all Lyme arthritis patients and two of seven patients with septic arthritis (both p < 0.01). No significant difference was present in synovial thickness, marrow edema, or joint fluid size. There were no statistically significant differences in the clinical parameters assessed. CONCLUSION Our results identified three MRI features, specifically, myositis, adenopathy, and lack of subcutaneous edema, that strongly suggest the diagnosis of Lyme arthritis rather than septic arthritis in children with acute inflammation of the knee. Awareness of these characteristic MRI features may avoid unnecessary invasive procedures and cost.
Personal and Contextual Factors Associated With Students’ Cheating in Science

The authors conducted a correlational study to investigate the relations among seventh-grade Turkish students’ cheating behavior, academic self-efficacy beliefs, usage of self-handicapping strategies, personal goal orientations, and classroom goal structures specific to the science domain. The Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales was administered to 1,950 seventh-grade students enrolled in 12 public schools. The authors conducted hierarchical linear modeling analyses to measure to what extent personal and contextual factors can be used to predict students’ cheating behavior. Analyses revealed that although students’ cheating behavior was positively predicted by performance-approach goals, it was negatively predicted by mastery goals. Students who used more self-handicapping strategies and who were less self-efficacious were also more likely to demonstrate cheating behavior. The authors found that the mastery goal–structured science-learning environment, in which understanding the material and self-improvement was emphasized, discouraged cheating.
The application of rapid kinetic techniques to the transport of thymidine and 3‐O‐methylglucose into mammalian cells in suspension culture

Techniques are described by which the transport of nutrients into mammalian cells in suspension can be measured at intervals of 1.5 seconds. By application of these techniques, the existence of a saturable (Km = 85 μM), non‐concentrative, transport system for thymidine was demonstrated in Novikoff rat hepatoma cells depleted of ATP. At concentrations of thymidine less than the Km, this system operated at velocities sufficient to nearly completely equilibrate intra‐ and extra‐cellular thymidine pools within 8 seconds. In phosphorylating cells, the transport system operated with similar rapidity, so that intracellular phosphorylation was rate‐limiting for the incorporation of thymidine into nucleotides. Uptake of 3‐O‐methylglucose occurred at comparable velocities, attaining 90% of equilibrium between internal and external pools within 25 seconds. Uptake of cytosine by simple diffusion was 100 times slower.
Do Transposed-Letter Similarity Effects Occur at a Prelexical Phonological Level?

Nonwords created by transposing two letters (e.g., RELOVUTION) are very effective at activating the lexical representation of their base words (Perea & Lupker, 2004). In the present study, we examined whether the nature of transposed-letter (TL) similarity effects was purely orthographic or whether it could also have a phonological component. Specifically, we examined transposed-letter similarity effects for nonwords created by transposing two nonadjacent letters (e.g., relovución–REVOLUCIÓN) in a masked form priming experiment using the lexical decision task (Experiment 1). The controls were (a) a pseudohomophone of the transposed-letter prime (relobución–REVOLUCIÓN; note that B and V are pronounced as /b/ in Spanish) or (b) an orthographic control (relodución–REVOLUCIÓN). Results showed a similar advantage of the TL nonword condition over the phonological and the orthographic control conditions. Experiment 2 showed a masked phonological priming effect when the letter positions in the prime were in the right order. In a third experiment, using a single-presentation lexical decision task, TL nonwords produced longer latencies than the orthographic and phonological controls, whereas there was only a small phonological effect restricted to the error data. These results suggest that TL similarity effects are orthographic—rather than phonological—in nature.
Greek surgical patients’ satisfaction related to perioperative anesthetic services in an academic institute

Background Patient satisfaction is an increasingly appreciated measure of outcome for health care procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Greek surgical patients’ satisfaction with perioperative anesthetic services and to determine which factors maximize satisfaction level through all phases of perioperative care. Methods Adult Greek patients admitted for elective surgery in an academic hospital were included in the study. Three separate questionnaires were constructed: Q1 (patients who underwent general anesthesia alone or combined with epidural) and Q2 (patients who received regional anesthesia alone) covered perioperative anesthetic care; Q3 covered postoperative analgesia services in the ward (patient-controlled analgesia or epidural analgesia) provided by our anesthesiologist-centered analgesia care team. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used separately for each questionnaire, and extracted factors were entered into multiple logistic regression with patient satisfaction as the dependent binary variable. Statistical significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results Three hundred and forty-five patients were included. Q1 questionnaire (answered by 282 patients) included four dimensions: communication with the anesthesiologist, sense of cold/shivering, pain, and nausea. Q2 questionnaire (answered by 63 patients) included three dimensions: communication with the anesthesiologist, sense of cold/shivering, and nausea/anxiety. Q3 questionnaire (answered by 237 patients) included five dimensions: anesthesiologist intervention upon symptoms, pain, care by the anesthesiologist/physical activity, nausea/vomiting, and anesthesiologist behavior. The communication dimension score in Q1 and Q2, sense of shivering in Q2, and pain management and anesthesiologist behavior dimension scores in Q3 were significantly associated with patient satisfaction. Overall satisfaction rates were high (according to the questionnaire, the observed percentage was in the range of 96.3%–98.6%). Conclusion Greek surgical patients reported high satisfaction with perioperative anesthesia care. Interaction between patient and anesthesiologists during all periods of study, absence of shivering in regional anesthesia, and adequate postoperative pain control in the ward were significant predictors of patient satisfaction in the present Greek surgical population.
Current recognition and management of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome among tertiary Chinese intensive care physicians

This survey was designed to clarify the current understanding and clinical management of intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH)/abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) among intensive care physicians in tertiary Chinese hospitals. A postal twenty-question questionnaire was sent to 141 physicians in different intensive care units (ICUs). A total of 108 (76.6%) questionnaires were returned. Among these, three quarters worked in combined medical-surgical ICUs and nearly 80% had primary training in internal or emergency medicine. Average ICU beds, annual admission, ICU length of stay, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II score, and mortality were 18.2 beds, 764.5 cases, 8.3 d, 19.4, and 21.1%, respectively. Of the respondents, 30.6% never measured intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). Although the vast majority of the ICUs adopted the exclusively transvesicular method, the overwhelming majority (88.0%) only measured IAP when there was a clinical suspicion of IAH/ACS and only 29.3% measured either often or routinely. Moreover, 84.0% used the wrong priming saline volume while 88.0% zeroed at reference points which were not in consistence with the standard method for IAP monitoring recommended by the World Society of Abdominal Compartment Syndrome. ACS was suspected mainly when there was a distended abdomen (92%), worsening oliguria (80%), and increased ventilatory support requirement (68%). Common causes for IAH/ACS were “third-spacing from massive volume resuscitation in different settings” (88%), “intra-abdominal bleeding”, and “liver failure with ascites” (52% for both). Though 60% respondents would recommend surgical decompression when the IAP exceeded 25 mmHg, accompanied by signs of organ dysfunction, nearly three quarters of respondents preferred diuresis and dialysis. A total of 68% of respondents would recommend paracentesis in the treatment for ACS. In conclusion, urgent systematic education is absolutely necessary for most intensive care physicians in China to help to establish clear diagnostic criteria and appropriate management for these common, but life-threatening, diseases.
Atmospheric Response to the Gulf Stream: Seasonal Variations*

Abstract The atmospheric response to the Gulf Stream front in sea surface temperature is investigated using high-resolution data from satellite observations and operational analysis and forecast. Two types of atmospheric response are observed with different seasonality and spatial distribution. In winter, surface wind convergence is strong over the Gulf Stream proper between Cape Hatteras and the Great Banks, consistent with atmospheric pressure adjustments to sea surface temperature gradients. The surface convergence is accompanied by enhanced precipitation and the frequent occurrence of midlevel clouds. Local evaporation and precipitation are roughly in balance over the Florida Current and the western Gulf Stream proper. In summer, strong precipitation, enhanced high clouds, and increased lightning flash rate are observed over the Florida Current and the western Gulf Stream proper, without seasonal surface convergence enhancement. For the precipitation maximum over the Florida Current, local evaporation.