Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling and analysis of a single phase inverter system with PWM switch model

This paper proposed a generalized modeling methodology based on the PWM Switch Model for steady-state analysis and dynamic performance investigation of the single phase inverter. The motivation, algorithm and modeling methodology are presented. The developed models are verified against the switching models of both a half bridge dual buck inverter and a half bridge inverter in time domain to demonstrate the effectiveness of the modeling methodology. Input impedance of the half bridge inverter is also obtained for stability investigation of the cascaded two-stage power system.
Carnitine partially improves oxidative stress, acrosome integrity, and reproductive competence in doxorubicin‐treated rats

Doxorubicin has been largely used in anticancer therapy in adults, adolescents, and children. The efficacy of l‐carnitine as an antioxidant substance has been confirmed both in humans and rats. Carnitine, present in testis and epididymis, is involved in sperm maturation. It is also effective in infertility treatment. As a continuation of a previous study, we evaluated whether some spermatic qualitative parameters, DNA integrity, chromatin structure, and fertility status, could be ameliorated by the carnitine treatment in adult rats, which were subsequently exposed to doxorubicin at pre‐puberty. Pre‐pubertal male rats were distributed into four groups: Sham Control; Doxorubicin; l‐carnitine; l‐carnitine + Doxorubicin (l‐carnitine injected 1 h before doxorubicin). At 100 days of age, all groups were reassigned into two sets: One set was submitted to the evaluation of sperm motility, acrosome integrity, mitochondrial activity, sperm chromatin structure analysis (SCSA), and evaluation of the oxidative stress. The other set of rats was destined to the evaluation of reproductive competence. The percentage of spermatozoa with intact acrosome integrity was higher in the Carnitine+Doxorubicin group when compared with the Doxorubicin group. However, sperm motility and mitochondrial activity were not improved by carnitine pre‐treatment. Both values of malondialdehyde and nitrite (indirect measurement of nitric oxide) concentrations were statistically higher in the only doxorubicin‐treated group when compared to the Carnitine + Doxorubicin group. Fertility index and implantation rate were lower in Doxorubicin group, when compared to Carnitine + Doxorubicin group. Moreover, the percentage of spermatozoa with damaged DNA was higher in the Doxorubicin‐treated group when compared to the Carnitine+Doxorubicin group. l‐carnitine, when administered before doxorubicin, partially preserved the acrosome integrity, an important feature related to sperm fertilization ability that positively correlated with the reproductive competence and sperm DNA integrity at adulthood. In conclusion, l‐carnitine attenuated the long‐term alterations caused by doxorubicin in the germ cells and improved male reproductive capacity in adulthood.
Exploring registered nurses' attitudes towards postgraduate education in Australia: An overview of the literature

Background: Nursing education is designed to prepare competent nurses to meet the current and future health care needs of society. The nursing profession responds to changes in health care needs by exploring new methods for providing care, by changing educational emphases, and by establishing practice standards in new areas. Aim: This literature overview examines issues relating to postgraduate education for specialty nursing practice. Methods: For this literature review, the following computerised databases: CINAHL, PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, ERIC, BERA, Cochrane and PsycINFO were used to identify journal articles, books and book chapters using key search terms in various combinations. Whilst there was no time limit imposed upon this search, a guiding evaluation framework and specific criteria did necessarily and purposefully de-limit the review. Results: As this review sought to examine registered nurses’ attitudes towards postgraduate education for specialty practice, the literature search was informed by studies that assessed only participants’ acquisition of knowledge and skills as well as changes in attitudes and behaviours. The articles and reports extracted through the initial literature search, and subjected to the exclusion criteria, were then reviewed and categorised according to the three themes developed from the modification to Barr et al.’s Evaluative Framework. Conclusions: There are a number of issues associated with registered nurses’ attitudes to postgraduate education for specialty practice. The literature provides some insight into the benefits they perceive as accruing from such study.
Risk of cardiac pacemaker pocket infection in a tertiary care hospital

Background: The risk of pacemaker pocket infections (PPIs) is rare with good antisepsis techniques and use of advanced antibiotics. However, injudicious antibiotic usage leads to the rise of multidrug-resistant bacteria, which may cause PPI. Few reports exist about the microbial spectrum of the PPI from our country, prompting us to study the same. Methods: We conducted this retrospective observational study for 3 years (January 2013–February 2016) from all the patients with PPI. We collected the relevant clinical samples (blood and pus) for the microbial culture using a standard protocol. We included 100 samples collected from the medical staff and the hospital environment as a control sample. The data were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods and a P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Our data showed that 17 out of 160 (10.6%) patients had PPI. Coagulase negative Staphylococcus sp. was isolated in 7 (41.2%) patients, followed by Staphylococcus aureus in 4 patients (23.5%). Other isolated bacteria include multidrug-resistant Burkholderia cepacia (n = 3), Mycobacterium abscessus (n = 2) and polymicrobial infection in a single patient. One out of hundred surveillance samples grew B. cepacia. Conclusion: Our data revealed a high incidence of Gram-positive cocci causing PPI. Every hospital should formulate their antibiotic policy based on the pattern of the hospital flora and their drug sensitivity.
Body mass index changes over 3 years and effect of obesity on community mobility for persons with chronic spinal cord injury

Objective: To identify the prevalence of obesity in persons with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), determine change in body mass index (BMI) over time, and identify impact of obesity on community mobility. Design: Prospective three year longitudinal study. Setting: Outpatient clinic of rehabilitation center. Participants: Convenience sample of 222 persons with paraplegia between 2–20 years post SCI. Outcome Measures: BMI at baseline and three years; community mobility (daily wheelchair propulsion distance and velocity, average number of daily transfers and depression raises). Results: Participants were 34.1 (27.3, 40.3) years of age and median duration of SCI was 8.7 (3.2, 15.1) years. The SCI adjusted BMI classification identified 44% of participants as obese. BMI increased over time with 13% moving into a higher weight category. Median change in BMI was 0.46 (−0.92, 1.50) kg/m2 (z = −2.684, P = 0.007), and increased at a rate of 0.15 kg/m2/yr. Average BMI was negatively correlated with daily wheelchair propulsion distance (r = −0.179, P = 0.009), however there was no significant relationship with velocity, number of daily transfers or depression raises. Conclusion: The majority of participants with chronic SCI were overweight (23%) or obese (44%) and BMI increased by 0.46 kg/m2 over three years. Those with higher BMIs pushed their wheelchairs shorter distances, but other mobility measures were not impacted by body weight. Continued mobility activities with increasing body weight can increase risk for shoulder injury. Identifying persons who are obese allows for directed and timely health and mobility intervention.
ATP bioluminescence to establish a test procedure for hygiene testing of liners and tubes on farm level

When rubber equipment in a milking system ages, physical and chemical deterioration occurs and cracks, crevices, as well as deposits of organic and inorganic material is formed on the surface. Bacterial colonization can accumulate, especially on ageing rubber equipment and if the cleaning procedure is not functioning properly. Formation of biofilm in milking equipment could in turn cause bacterial contamination of bulk tank milk. ATP bioluminescence is a fast and easy way to determine the hygienic status of a surface based on its ATP content, and results are given in relative light units (RLU). The method measures both bacterial contamination as well as residues from other organic material. ATP bioluminescence has previously been assessed in order to investigate the hygienic status of milking equipment but large variations between measurements have been seen and correlations between RLU values and total bacterial count (CFU) have shown deviating results. The aim of this study was to use ATP bioluminescence to establish a test procedure for hygiene testing of liners and tubes that would give reliable and reproducible results. The study also aimed to investigate whether the hygienic status deteriorated as rubber liners and tubes aged and if it was possible to set thresholds for RLU values that could determine when liners should be replaced, based on their hygienic status. The study was carried out on three Swedish farms with milking parlours and the total study period was 7 months. To establish a standard test procedure, several sampling parameters were tested on one of the farms and the effect of each parameter on the obtained RLU values was assessed. The final test procedure was then used on the three farms as liners aged for at least 2400 milkings, and as tubes aged for up to 6 months. CFU was determined for comparison with RLU values on one farm during the whole study, and occasional samples for comparison between CFU and RLU were also taken on another farm. The results showed that RLU values were significantly affected by sampling location on the liner or tube, type of detergent and milk point in the parlour. Liners on the same cluster could show large variations in RLU values, making it difficult to obtain a high reproducibility between measurements. RLU values declined on all three farms when the equipment aged, which may have been due to seasonal effects or that detergent residues quenched the ATP readings. The results from the study indicated that liners and tubes can maintain a clean hygienic status despite ageing- if the cleaning procedure is efficient. There was a strong significant correlation between CFU and RLU (r=0.83, p<0.0001). The study also showed that RLU values are individual for each farm and that high RLU values can be obtained even when the number of CFU is low, due to other organic debris such as milk residues remaining in the equipment. Because of individual differences between farms, it was not possible to propose a general threshold RLU level indicating when aged milking equipment should be replaced.
Turnover intentions in a call center: The role of emotional dissonance, job resources, and job satisfaction

Background Turnover intentions refer to employees’ intent to leave the organization and, within call centers, it can be influenced by factors such as relational variables or the perception of the quality of working life, which can be affected by emotional dissonance. This specific job demand to express emotions not felt is peculiar in call centers, and can influence job satisfaction and turnover intentions, a crucial problem among these working contexts. This study aims to detect, within the theoretical framework of the Job Demands-Resources Model, the role of emotional dissonance (job demand), and two resources, job autonomy and supervisors’ support, in the perception of job satisfaction and turnover intentions among an Italian call center. Method The study involved 318 call center agents of an Italian Telecommunication Company. Data analysis first performed descriptive statistics through SPSS 22. A path analysis was then performed through LISREL 8.72 and tested both direct and indirect effects. Results Results suggest the role of resources in fostering job satisfaction and in decreasing turnover intentions. Emotional dissonance reveals a negative relation with job satisfaction and a positive relation with turnover. Moreover, job satisfaction is negatively related with turnover and mediates the relationship between job resources and turnover. Conclusion This study contributes to extend the knowledge about the variables influencing turnover intentions, a crucial problem among call centers. Moreover, the study identifies theoretical considerations and practical implications to promote well-being among call center employees. To foster job satisfaction and reduce turnover intentions, in fact, it is important to make resources available, but also to offer specific training programs to make employees and supervisors aware about the consequences of emotional dissonance.
Short-term Oral Antibiotics Treatment Promotes Inflammatory Activation of Colonic Invariant Natural Killer T and Conventional CD4+ T Cells

The gut mucosa is continuously exposed to a vast community of microorganisms, collectively defined as microbiota, establishing a mutualistic relationship with the host and contributing to shape the immune system. Gut microbiota is acquired at birth, and its composition is relatively stable during the entire adult life. Intestinal dysbiosis, defined as a microbial imbalance of gut bacterial communities, can be caused by several factors, including bacterial infections and antibiotic use, and has been associated with an increased risk to develop or exacerbate immune-mediated pathologies, such as allergic reactions, asthma, and inflammatory bowel diseases. Still, the mechanisms by which antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis may lead to development of mucosal inflammation are still matter of debate. To this end, we aimed to evaluate the impact of antibiotic treatment on phenotype and functions of intestinal immune cell populations, including invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, a subset of lipid-specific T cells profoundly influenced by alterations on the commensal microbiota. To this aim, a cocktail of broad-spectrum antibiotics was administered for 2 weeks to otherwise healthy mice before re-colonization of the intestinal microbial community with oral gavage of eubiotic or dysbiotic mucosa-associated bacteria and luminal colonic content, followed or not by intestinal inflammation induction. Here. we showed that short-term antibiotic treatment alters frequency and functions of intestinal iNKT cells, even in the absence of intestinal inflammation. The presence of a dysbiotic microbiota after antibiotic treatment imprints colonic iNKT and CD4+ T cells toward a pro-inflammatory phenotype that collectively contributes to aggravate intestinal inflammation. Nonetheless, the inflammatory potential of the dysbiotic microbiota decreases over time opening the possibility to temporally intervene on the microbial composition to re-equilibrate dysbiosis, thus controlling concomitantly mucosal immune T cell activations.
Superior mesenteric artery margin in pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma

The aim of this study is trying to describe more details of superior mesenteric artery margin in pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, to evaluate biological and prognostic implications of tumor budding in this margin, and to provide more evidence for evaluation of R0 surgery in pancreaticoduodenectomy. 46 patients in 5-years period are included in this study. Immunochemistry and immunofluorescence are used to analyze tumor budding and epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Superior mesenteric artery margin might be described from four aspects including location, gross appearance, microscopic appearance and tumor budding. We find that 1mm rule for R1 surgery is more appropriate to predict prognosis (P = 0.009) than 0mm rule (P = 0.141). Expression of cytokeratin in tumor budding is significantly lower than primary tumor (P = 0.001), and it suggests that tumor budding may participate the procedure of epithelial–mesenchymal transition. High-grade tumor budding and decreasing cytokeratin of tumor budding correlate with distant metastasis and has negative influence on prognosis. So superior mesenteric artery margin might be not only an area that tumor cells may invade, but also a pathway for distant metastasis. It is necessary to evaluate superior mesenteric artery margin in pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancer.
Imaging molecular signatures for clinical detection of scleroderma in the hand by multispectral photoacoustic elastic tomography

Scleroderma (SD) is a rare autoimmune disease, which is divided into 2 categories: the localized SD and systemic SD. The localized SD mainly causes skin thickening of the fingers, whereas the systemic SD can further affect the blood vessels and internal organs. In this pilot study, the multispectral photoacoustic elastic tomography (PAET) imaging technique was used to recover the quantitative physiological and elastic properties of biological tissues for the diagnosis of SD. Three healthy subjects and 3 SD patients were recruited and clinically examined by a rheumatologist, and then their hand/fingers were scanned by both magnetic resonance imaging and our home‐made photoacoustic imaging system. Physiological parameters including oxygen saturation (STO2), deoxy‐hemoglobin (Hb) and oxy‐hemoglobin (HbO2) concentrations and mechanical properties such as bulk elastic modulus images were reconstructed using the developed PAET reconstruction method. Our imaging results demonstrated that the physiological and elastic parameters exhibit striking differences between the SD and normal fingers, indicating that these biomarkers can serve as molecular signatures for early detection of SD. These quantitative physiological properties and bulk modulus may also pave a new path for improved understanding the pathological mechanism of SD.
Testing the Growth Rate Hypothesis in Vascular Plants with Above- and Below-Ground Biomass

The growth rate hypothesis (GRH) proposes that higher growth rate (the rate of change in biomass per unit biomass, μ) is associated with higher P concentration and lower C∶P and N∶P ratios. However, the applicability of the GRH to vascular plants is not well-studied and few studies have been done on belowground biomass. Here we showed that, for aboveground, belowground and total biomass of three study species, μ was positively correlated with N∶C under N limitation and positively correlated with P∶C under P limitation. However, the N∶P ratio was a unimodal function of μ, increasing for small values of μ, reaching a maximum, and then decreasing. The range of variations in μ was positively correlated with variation in C∶N∶P stoichiometry. Furthermore, μ and C∶N∶P ranges for aboveground biomass were negatively correlated with those for belowground. Our results confirm the well-known association of growth rate with tissue concentration of the limiting nutrient and provide empirical support for recent theoretical formulations.
The effectiveness and cost‐effectiveness of community‐based support for adolescents receiving antiretroviral treatment: an operational research study in South Africa

Adolescents and youth receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) in sub‐Saharan Africa have high attrition and inadequate ART outcomes, and evaluations of interventions improving ART outcomes amongst adolescents are very limited. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3c is to substantially increase the health workforce in developing countries. We measured the effectiveness and cost‐effectiveness of community‐based support (CBS) provided by lay health workers for adolescents and youth receiving ART in South Africa.
Lercanidipine in the Management of Hypertension: An Update

Calcium channel blockers (CCBs), particularly dihydropyridine-CCBs, (DHP-CCBs), have an established role in antihypertensive therapy, either as monotherapy or in combination with other antihypertensive drugs. Two hundred and fifty-one papers published in PubMed in English between January 1, 1990, and October 31, 2016, were identified using the keyword “lercanidipine. ” Lercanidipine is a lipophilic third-generation DHP-CCB, characterized by high vascular selectivity and persistence in the smooth muscle cell membranes. Lercanidipine is devoid of sympathetic activation, and unlike the first and second generation of DHP-CCBs, it dilates both the afferent and the efferent glomerular arteries, while preserving the intraglomerular pressure. In addition, lercanidipine prevents renal damage induced by angiotensin II and demonstrates anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-atherogenic properties through an increasing bioavailability of endothelial nitric oxide. It is associated with a regression of microvascular structural modifications in hypertensive patients. The efficacy of lercanidipine has been demonstrated in patients with different degrees of hypertension, in the young and elderly and in patients with isolated systolic hypertension. In patients with diabetes and renal impairment, lercanidipine displays a renal protection with a significant decrease of microalbuminuria and improvement of creatinine clearance. Lercanidipine is well tolerated and is associated with a very low rate of adverse events, particularly ankle edema, compared with amlodipine and nifedipine. In conclusion, lercanidipine produces a sustained blood pressure-lowering activity with a high rate of responder/normalized patients, associated with a favorable tolerability profile.
Ergodic-theoretic implementations of the Roth density-increment argument

We exhibit proofs of two ergodic-theoretic results in the study of multiple recurrence using an analog of the density-increment argument of Roth and Gowers: Furstenberg's Multiple Recurrence Theorem (which implies Szemer\'edi's Theorem), and a two-dimensional special case of Furstenberg and Katznelson's multidimensional version of this theorem. The second of these requires also an analog of some recent finitary work by Shkredov. Many proofs of these multiple recurrence theorems are now known, but our main goal is to shed some further light on the heuristic correspondence principle that has grown up between the ergodic-theoretic and combinatorial aspects of multiple recurrence and Szemer\'edi's Theorem. Focusing on the density-increment strategy highlights several close points of connection between these settings.