Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lower Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein Content of Tracheal Aspirates in Very Low Birth Weight Infants Who Develop Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

Since parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) secreted by pulmonary alveolar type II cells is a key physiologic paracrine factor in maintaining alveolar homeostasis, we hypothesized that its levels in the tracheal aspirates (TA) of ventilated very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) would correlate with the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Therefore, we examined whether TA PTHrP content during the first week of life correlates with the later development of BPD. Forty VLBWI [birth weight, 943 ± 302 g (mean ± SD); gestational age, 27 ± 2 wk; 21 males and 19 females], who were ventilated for respiratory distress syndrome, were studied. The TA were collected once daily until the infants were extubated and immediately frozen at –70°C for subsequent assays for PTHrP and matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8), a previously described, nonspecific TA biomarker for BPD. The levels of these proteins were correlated with the later development of BPD. PTHrP in the TA during the first week of life was significantly lower in those infants who developed BPD (12/40) than among those who did not (28/40). The PTHrP levels also correlated with the duration of mechanical ventilation needed in these infants. In contrast, MMP-8 levels did not correlate with BPD. We conclude that lower TA PTHrP content during the first week of life in ventilated VLBWI inversely correlates with prolonged ventilation and the later development of BPD.
A novel mature B‐cell line (DOBIL‐6) producing both parathyroid hormone‐related protein and interleukin‐6 from a myeloma patient presenting with hypercalcaemia

A novel human EBV‐negative B‐cell line, designated DOBIL‐6, was established from a patient with non‐secretary myeloma. The DOBIL‐6 cell has cytoplasmic γ protein and expresses CD19, 20, 38, 45RO, VLA‐4 and PCA‐1 antigens, but lacks CD10, 45RA and VLA5 antigens. Chromosome analysis showed that DOBIL‐6 cells had many complex structural abnormalities, including t(11;14) (q13;q32), which were consistent with that of the fresh tumour cells. Interestingly, abundant interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and parathyroid hormone‐related protein (PTHrP) accumulated in the culture supernatant of DOBIL‐6 cells. Hypercalcaemia and splenomegaly associated with plasma cell proliferations which resulted in the expansion of the light zones in the follicles were observed in DOBIL‐6 transplanted nude mice. RT‐PCR analysis detected mRNA for PTHrP, and IL‐6 as well as its receptor (GP80) in DOBIL‐6 cells. Treatment of the DOBIL‐6 cells with neutralizing anti‐IL‐6 antibody inhibited their growth in a dose‐dependent manner, whereas the addition of exogenous IL‐6 stimulated it in serum‐depleted conditions. These findings suggest that both IL‐6 and PTHrP are produced in DOBIL‐6 cells, and that IL‐6 promotes its growth by an autocrine mechanism. Since IL‐6 is known to stimulate not only the growth of B‐cell neoplasms but also osteoclastic bone resorption by cooperating with PTHrP, this simultaneous production of IL‐6 and PTHrP might be synergistically linked and play a role in the development of hypercalcaemia of the patient. The DOBIL‐6 cell is a useful tool to clarify the mechanism of hypercalcaemia associated with mature B‐cell neoplasms.
MIT Sloan School of Management

: In this paper we report on the results of a study of the effort and motivations of individuals to contributing to the creation of Free/Open Source software. We used a Web-based survey, administered to 684 software developers in 287 F/OSS projects, to learn what lies behind the effort put into such projects. Academic theorizing on individual motivations for participating in F/OSS projects has posited that external motivational factors in the form of extrinsic benefits (e.g. : better jobs, career advancement) are the main drivers of effort. We find in contrast, that enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and most pervasive driver. We also find that user need, intellectual stimulation derived from writing code, and improving programming skills are top motivators for project participation. A majority of our respondents are skilled and experienced professionals working in IT-related jobs, with approximately 40 percent being paid to participate in the F/OSS project.
CatchUp! Capturing and replaying refactorings to support API evolution

Library developers who have to evolve a library to accommodate changing requirements often face a dilemma: Either they implement a clean, efficient solution but risk breaking client code, or they maintain compatibility with client code, but pay with increased design complexity and thus higher maintenance costs over time. We address this dilemma by presenting a lightweight approach for evolving application programming interfaces (APIs), which does not depend on version control or configuration management systems. Instead, we capture API refactoring actions as a developer evolves an API. Users of the API can then replay the refactorings to bring their client software components up to date. We present CatchUp! , an implementation of our approach that captures and replays refactoring actions within an integrated development environment semi-automatically. Our experiments suggest that our approach could be valuable in practice.
Generalizing time-frequency importance functions across noises, talkers, and phonemes

Listeners can reliably identify speech in noisy conditions, although it is generally not known what specific features of speech are used to do this. We utilize a recently introduced data-driven framework to identify these features. By analyzing listening-test results involving the same speech utterance mixed with many different noise instances, the framework is able to compute the importance of each time-frequency point in the utterance to its intelligibility. This paper shows that a trained model resulting from this framework can generalize to new conditions, successfully predicting the intelligibility of novel mixtures. First, it can generalize to novel noise instances after being trained on mixtures involving the same speech utterance but different noises. Second, it can generalize to novel talkers after being trained on mixtures involving the same syllables produced by different talkers in different noises. Finally, it can generalize to novel phonemes, after being trained on mixtures involving different consonants produced by the same or different talkers in different noises. Aligning the clean utterances in time and then propagating this alignment to the features used in the intelligibility prediction improves this generalization performance further.
Detection and Localization of Network Black Holes

Internet backbone networks are under constant flux, struggling to keep up with increasing demand. The pace of technology change often outstrips the deployment of associated fault monitoring capabilities that are built into today's IP protocols and routers. Moreover, some of these new technologies cross networking layers, raising the potential for unanticipated interactions and service disruptions that the built-in monitoring systems cannot detect. In such instances, failures may cause data packets to be silently dropped inside the network without triggering any alarms or responses (e.g., the failure is not routed around). So-called "silent failures" or "black holes" represent a critical threat to today's rapidly evolving networks. In this paper, we present a simple and effective method to detect and diagnose such silent failures. Our method uses active measurement between edge routers to raise alarms whenever end-to-end connectivity is disrupted, regardless of the cause. These alarms feed localization agents that employ spatial correlation techniques to isolate the root-cause of failure. Using data from two real systems deployed on sections of a tier-I ISP network, we successfully detect and localize three known black holes. Further, we present simulation results demonstrating that our system accurately and precisely (both greater than 80% according to our metrics) localizes a variety of failures classes.
Coagulase-negative staphylococci in multiple blood cultures: strain relatedness and determinants of same-strain bacteremia

The frequency of strain relatedness was determined among randomly selected patients with coagulase-negative staphylococcal infections as determined in multiple blood cultures by plasmid typing, determination of species, and antibiotyping. Strain relatedness was demonstrated in 21 of 47 episodes of bacteremia (44.7%) among 34 patients, with a similar percentage among patients with two or one positive blood culture in 24 h (14 of 30 [46.7%] versus 7 of 17 [41.2%], respectively). Same-strain bacteremia was more frequent in cases of infection among patients with a corresponding fever (15 of 21 [71.4%]), among patients infected with organisms from an identifiable source (7 of 9 [77.8%]) and with non-Staphylococcus epidermidis species (9 of 11 [81.8%]), and among patients with nosocomially acquired infections (18 of 36 [50%]). Comparing episodes with or without strain relatedness, no difference was noted in the time to growth (2.1 +/- 1.4 versus 1.9 +/- 0.9 days, respectively), in bacterial growth in two culture bottles (5 of 14 [35.7%] versus 8 of 24 [33.3%], respectively), and in the presence of additional negative blood cultures (9 of 21 [42.9%] versus 11 of 26 [42.3%], respectively). The antibiotypes of all related strains and 7 of 44 (15.9%) unrelated pairs were identical. These findings demonstrate that coagulase-negative staphylococci from multiple blood cultures are frequently unrelated, suggesting a high prevalence of contamination. In the absence of precise measures for demonstrating strain relatedness, the combination of a clinical assessment with antibiotype determination appears to be a suitable alternative.
The impact of depression and anxiety on the quality of life in nonmetastatic breast cancer patients in postoperative evaluation

Aims To evaluate the impact of psychiatric comorbidities on the quality of life of early stage breast cancer subjects, in the first post-surgery week, the prevalence of those psychiatric disorders in this group, the correlation between pain and adjustment disorders and between the STAI-X1 (State Trait Anxiety Inventory 1) and BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) scales and the psychopathological findings. Patients and methods We conducted a clinical study at the Ocological Institute “Ioan Chiricuţă” Cluj-Napoca on a group of 56 patients (mean age 53.51 years old) with nonmetastatic breast cancer, who underwent surgical intervention in the week prior to the psychiatric evaluation. Patients received a complete psychiatric evaluation during their hospitalization. The STAI-X1, BDI, Numeric Rating Scale and QLQ 30 (Quality of Life Questionnaire 30) plus BR 23 (Breast 23) questionnaires were administered. Results The prevalence of adjustment disorders in the group was 28.58%. The psychiatric diagnosis significantly and inversely correlated with the emotional functioning, the cognitive functioning and future perspective. The existence of psychiatric disorders significantly and directly correlated with fatigue, pain, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, arm symptoms and global health status. Conclusions Depression and anxiety have an important prevalence in the breast cancer population and they significantly alter the quality of life of these patients and caregivers by reducing their functional abilities and by generating a higher level of symptomatology and subjective sufferance.
Performance Tuning of Matrix Multiplication in OpenCL on Different GPUs and CPUs

OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a framework for general-purpose parallel programming. Programs written in OpenCL are functionally portable across multiple processors including CPUs, GPUs, and also FPGAs. Using an auto-tuning technique makes performance of OpenCL programs also portable on different processors. We have developed an auto-tuning system with a code generator for fast matrix multiply kernels in OpenCL. This paper presents results of performance evaluation of DGEMM (double-precision general matrix multiply) and SGEMM (single-precision GEMM) implementations by using the auto-tuning system. Performance evaluations are conducted on two AMD GPUs (Tahiti and Cayman), two NVIDIA GPUs (Kepler and Fermi), and two CPUs (Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Bulldozer). Our GEMM implementations on the AMD GPUs show higher performance than the highly tuned vendor library while the implementations on the NVIDIA GPUs are comparable.
Client satisfaction in a feasibility study comparing face-to-face interviews with telepsychiatry

We carried out a pilot study comparing satisfaction levels between psychiatric patients seen face to face (FTF) and those seen via videoconference. Patients who consented were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group received services in person (FTF from the visiting psychiatrist) while the other was seen using videoconferencing at 128 kbit/s. One psychiatrist provided all the FTF and videoconferencing assessment and follow-up visits. A total of 24 subjects were recruited. Three of the subjects (13%) did not attend their appointments and two subjects in each group were lost to follow-up. Thus there were nine in the FTF group and eight in the videoconferencing group. The two groups were similar in most respects. Patient satisfaction with the services was assessed using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8), completed four months after the initial consultation. The mean scores were 25.3 in the FTF group and 21.6 in the videoconferencing group. Although there was a trend in favour of the FTF service, the difference was not significant. Patient satisfaction is only one component of evaluation. The efficacy of telepsychiatry must also be measured relative to that of conventional, FTF care before policy makers can decide how extensively telepsychiatry should be implemented.
Converting enzyme inhibitor improves forearm reactive hyperemia in essential hypertension.

Endothelial function is known to be impaired in essential hypertensive patients. In this study, we examined whether antihypertensive drugs improve forearm vasodilatory response to reactive hyperemia in 26 patients with essential hypertension (62 +/- 2 years) without diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, or cerebrovascular disease. Antihypertensive drugs were never given or were discontinued for at least 4 weeks before the study. Patients were treated with monotherapy of either temocapril (2 or 4 mg, n = 15) or amlodipine (2.5 or 5 mg, n = 11) for 6 months. Forearm blood flow was measured by strain-gauge plethysmography. Vasodilator response to the release of upper arm compression at 300 mm Hg for 5 minutes and to sublingual administration of nitroglycerin (0.3 mg) were assessed. Changes of forearm blood flow response to reactive hyperemia were significantly less in hypertensive patients (99 +/- 18%) than in age-matched normotensive control subjects (150 +/- 22%, P < .01, n = 39). Blood pressure (mm Hg) was similarly decreased by the treatment with temocapril (160 +/- 4/94 +/- 2 to 139 +/- 3/83 +/- 3, P < .001) or amlodipine (165 +/- 5/94 +/- 3 to 141 +/- 4/82 +/- 3, P < .001). Response to nitroglycerin was not changed by either drug. Forearm vasodilatory response to reactive hyperemia was improved by temocapril (102 +/- 20% to 168 +/- 25%, P < .01) but not by amlodipine (97 +/- 16% to 114 +/- 14%, NS). These results indicate that the treatment with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor temocapril improved forearm vasodilatory response to reactive hyperemia, suggesting its beneficial effect on endothelial function.
No adverse effects of transgenic maize on population dynamics of endophytic Bacillus subtilis strain B916‐gfp

Endophytic bacterial communities play a key role in promoting plant growth and combating plant diseases. However, little is known about their population dynamics in plant tissues and bulk soil, especially in transgenic crops. This study investigated the colonization of transgenic maize harboring the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cry1Ah gene by Bacillus subtilis strain B916‐gfp present in plant tissues and soil. Bt and nontransgenic maize were inoculated with B916‐gfp by seed soaking, or root irrigation under both laboratory greenhouse and field conditions. During the growing season, B916‐gfp colonized transgenic as well as nontransgenic plants by both inoculation methods. No differences were observed in B916‐gfp population size between transgenic and nontransgenic plants, except at one or two time points in the roots and stems that did not persist over the examination period. Furthermore, planting transgenic maize did not affect the number of B916‐gfp in bulk soil in either laboratory or field trials. These results indicate that transgenic modification of maize with the cry1Ah gene has no influence on colonization by the endophytic bacteria B916‐gfp present in the plant and in bulk soil.
Assessment of the severity of partial volume effects and the performance of two template-based correction methods in a SPECT/CT phantom experiment

We investigated the severity of partial volume effects (PVE), which may occur in SPECT/CT studies, and the performance of two template-based correction techniques. A hybrid SPECT/CT system was used to scan a thorax phantom that included lungs, a heart insert and six cylindrical containers of different sizes and activity concentrations. This phantom configuration allowed us to have non-uniform background activity and a combination of spill-in and spill-out effects for several compartments. The reconstruction with corrections for attenuation, scatter and resolution loss but not PVE correction accurately recovered absolute activities in large organs. However, the activities inside segmented 17–120 mL containers were underestimated by 20%–40%. After applying our PVE correction to the data pertaining to six small containers, the accuracy of the recovered total activity improved with errors ranging between 3% and 22% (non-iterative method) and between 5% and 15% (method with an iteratively updated background activity). While the non-iterative template-based algorithm demonstrated slightly better accuracy for cases with less severe PVE than the iterative algorithm, it underperformed in situations with considerable spill out and/or mixture of spill-in and spill-out effects.
Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance for Yield and Yield Related Traits in Barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) Germplasm

: Sixty four barley genotypes were tested in 8x8 simple lattice design at Atsbi, Ofla and Quiha environments in Tigray region, in 2009/10. The overall objective was to study the extent of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance among the said genotypes. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) study revealed that there was a significant difference (p< 0.001) among the genotypes for all the characters studied except for 1000-kernel weight at Quiha which was significant (p<0.05) and plant height was non-significant at Atsbi and Ofla. High phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) were recorded for number of productive tillers/m and number of kernels/spike across locations. High GCV along with high 2 heritability and genetic advance was obtained from number of productive tillers/m and number of kernels/spike 2 across locations.
Vanishing geodesic distance on spaces of submanifolds and diffeomorphisms

The L 2 -metric or Fubini-Study metric on the non-linear Grassmannian of all submanifolds of type M in a Riemannian man- ifold (N;g) induces geodesic distance 0. We discuss another metric which involves the mean curvature and shows that its geodesic dis- tance is a good topological metric. The vanishing phenomenon for the geodesic distance holds also for all difieomorphism groups for the L 2 -metric.
Virtual reality exposure therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: a methodological review using CONSORT guidelines.

CONTEXT Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) is an extension of traditional exposure therapy and has been used to treat a variety of anxiety disorders. VRET utilizes a computer-generated virtual environment to present fear-relevant stimuli. Recent studies have evaluated the use of VRET for treatment of PTSD; however, a systematic evaluation of the methodological quality of these studies has yet to be conducted. OBJECTIVES This review aims to (a) identify treatment outcome studies examining the use of VRET for the treatment of PTSD and (b) appraise the methodological quality of each study using the 2010 Consolidating Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement and its 2008 extension for nonpharmacologic interventions. METHODS Two independent assessors conducted a database search (PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL, Google Scholar) of studies published between January 1990 and June 2013 that reported outcome data comparing VRET with another type of treatment or a control condition. Next, a CONSORT quality appraisal of each study was completed. RESULTS The search yielded nine unique studies. The CONSORT appraisal revealed that the methodological quality of studies examining VRET as a treatment for PTSD was variable. CONCLUSION Although preliminary findings suggest some positive results for VRET as a form of exposure treatment for PTSD, additional research using well-specified randomization procedures, assessor blinding, and monitoring of treatment adherence is warranted. Movement toward greater standardization of treatment manuals, virtual environments, and equipment would further facilitate interpretation and consolidation of this literature.
Managerial Discretion and Corporate Governance Mechanism: A Case Study of Public Limited Firms of Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of board independence, CEO duality (managerial discretion) and corporate governance mechanism on firm performance measured through accounting-base measures i.e. return on assets as well as market-based measure i.e. Tobin’s Q among Pakistan's KSE-listed non-financial firms from 2011 to 2021. The study used software (STATA 12) to analyze the data of 172 firms using the Generalized Method of Movements as well as Random Effect and Fixed Effect regression models to test how each corporate governance and managerial discretion variables contributes to the firm performance. Data was extracted from the annual reports, database, and websites of KSE-listed firms. The presence of board independence contributes positively to firm performance. The study highlights that although CEO duality has no impact on firm performance, but presence of board independence controls the managerial discretion provided by CEO duality and offer the necessary resources as well as monitoring the control the managerial discretion and improve firm performance. This article makes a significant theoretical contribution by synthesizing and extending key governance theories to offer a nuanced understanding of the intricate dynamics within corporate governance (CG), particularly in the specific context of KSE-registered non-financial firms in Pakistan. This research contributes actionable insights that span governance improvement, informed decision-making, regulatory considerations, and strategic performance enhancement, offering practical benefits for the diverse stakeholders in the corporate governance landscape.