Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tendinopathy of tendo achillis.

study, however, 31% of 58 patients with this condition did not participate in vigorous physical activity. 3 In this article, we have concentrated on tendinopathy of the main body of tendo Achillis. We have not dealt with Haglund's condition, insertional tendinopathy, or with lesions of the myotendinous junction. Anatomy. The gastrocnemius muscle merges with the soleus to form tendo Achillis. 4 It has a round upper part and is relatively flat in its distal 4 cm. Its fibres spiral through 90°, increasing the release of stored energy during locomotion. 5 Tendo Achillis is enveloped by a paratenon, originating from the deep fascia of the leg, the fascia cruris. Blood flow in the tendon increases considerably with exercise, probably due to the marked rise in the negative tissue pressure
A Review of Political Skill: Current Research Trend and Directions for Future Research

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical research on the use of political skill in organizations and proposes some agendas for future research. Although political skill is a relatively new construct in organizational politics research, a large number of theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted. Five major themes were identified in previous research. These are: (a) definition and measurement of political skill; (b) political skill and stress management; (c) political skill and career success; (d) political skill and individual performance; and (e) political skill and leadership effectiveness. This review critically examines previous empirical studies in light of this theoretical background and points out that, although previous empirical studies support the theoretically assumed effects of political skills, they fail to confirm how and why these skills bring about these effects. Based on this examination, the author suggests the examination of mediators and dimensional differences derived from theory that can lead to more effective exploration of the impact of political skill. In addition, several issues for future research are proposed, which may provide useful insights for both literature and practice.
SENC (Spanish efavirenz vs. nevirapine comparison) trial: A randomized, open-label study in HIV-infected naive individuals

Abstract PURPOSE: A randomized, open-label, pilot study was undertaken to explore the antiviral activity and tolerability of two nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), nevirapine (NVP) and efavirenz (EFV). METHOD: HIV-infected antiretroviral-naive adults with CD4 counts >100 cells/mm3 and detectable plasma HIV RNA below 100,000 copies/mL were randomized to receive didanosine (ddI) and stavudine (d4T) plus either NVP or EFV. Assessments were made every 12 weeks. Primary endpoints were the proportion of patients reaching plasma HIV RNA <50 copies/mL and/or developing NNRTI-related toxicities leading to drug discontinuation. Baseline characteristics were comparable for participants in the EFV (n = 31) and NVP arms (n = 36). RESULTS: At 48 weeks, 23/31 (74%) patients in the EFV group and 23/36 (64%) in the NVP group had <50 HIV RNA copies/mL (intention-to-treat analysis). Adverse events led to NNRTI discontinuation in 4 and 3 patients in the EFV and NVP arms, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between groups regarding any primary endpoint. NVP and EFV along with two NRTIs may be equally well tolerated and effective at achieving <50 HIV RNA copies/mL in naive patients with CD4 counts >100 cells/mm3 and HIV RNA <105 copies/mL. CONCLUSION: A much larger study is needed to demonstrate any significant differences between NVP and EFV, if they exist at all.
On hypotheses testing for ergodic processes

We address three problems of statistical analysis of time series: goodness-of-fit (or identity) testing, process discrimination, and the change point problem. For each of the problems we construct a test that is asymptotically accurate for the case when the data is generated by stationary ergodic processes. All problems are solved in a similar way by using empirical estimates of the distributional distance between the processes.
Factors Affecting Perceived Effectiveness of Local E-Government in Egypt

An important area of e-government research is how different stakeholders perceive the impact and the use of e-government systems on the different channels of governmental services. The objective of this article is to examine the perceived effectiveness of local e-government systems through a survey of directors in different Egyptian cities. The approach to accomplish this objective is to conduct exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis to determine what factors explain e-government effectiveness. This research adopts a model that uses the citizen-initiated contacts with government literature as a way for understanding e-government effectiveness. Results of an exploratory factor analysis reveal that e-government effectiveness is explained by management capacity, security and privacy, and collaboration. These factors were then analyzed through regression models that indicated that management capacity and security and privacy influenced e-government effectiveness. However, there was no evidence that collaboration had a statistically significant impact on e-government effectiveness. This paper fits into the theme of the special issue since it suggests strategies to better design e-government technology for local governments in Egypt through changes in security, privacy, and management capacity.
Insertion, Deletion, or Substitution? Normalizing Text Messages without Pre-categorization nor Supervision

Most text message normalization approaches are based on supervised learning and rely on human labeled training data. In addition, the nonstandard words are often categorized into different types and specific models are designed to tackle each type. In this paper, we propose a unified letter transformation approach that requires neither pre-categorization nor human supervision. Our approach models the generation process from the dictionary words to nonstandard tokens under a sequence labeling framework, where each letter in the dictionary word can be retained, removed, or substituted by other letters/digits. To avoid the expensive and time consuming hand labeling process, we automatically collected a large set of noisy training pairs using a novel web-based approach and performed character-level alignment for model training. Experiments on both Twitter and SMS messages show that our system significantly outperformed the state-of-the-art deletion-based abbreviation system and the jazzy spell checker (absolute accuracy gain of 21.69% and 18.16% over jazzy spell checker on the two test sets respectively).
Using E-mail for Personal Relationships

Do the gender differences found when men and women maintain personal relationships in person and on the phone also emerge when they use electronic mail? Alternately, does e-mail change these ways of interacting? The authors explore the types of relationships women and men maintain by e-mail, differences in their e-mail use locally and at a distance, and differences in the contents of messages they send. The findings are based on qualitative and quantitative data collected during a 4-year period. These data suggest that using e-mail to communicate with relatives and friends replicates preexisting gender differences. Compared to men, women find e-mail contact with friends and family more gratifying. Women are more likely than men to maintain kin relationships by e-mail. They are more likely than men to use e-mail to keep in touch with people who live far away. Women's messages sent to people far away are more filled with personal content and are more likely to be exchanged in intense burst. The fit between women's expressive styles and the features of e-mail seems to be making it especially easy for women to expand their distant social networks.
Characterization and Prediction of Lysine (K)-Acetyl-Transferase Specific Acetylation Sites*

Lysine acetylation is a well-studied post-translational modification on both histone and nonhistone proteins. More than 2000 acetylated proteins and 4000 lysine acetylation sites have been identified by large scale mass spectrometry or traditional experimental methods. Although over 20 lysine (K)-acetyl-transferases (KATs) have been characterized, which KAT is responsible for a given protein or lysine site acetylation is mostly unknown. In this work, we collected KAT-specific acetylation sites manually and analyzed sequence features surrounding the acetylated lysine of substrates from three main KAT families (CBP/p300, GCN5/PCAF, and the MYST family). We found that each of the three KAT families acetylates lysines with different sequence features. Based on these differences, we developed a computer program, Acetylation Set Enrichment Based method to predict which KAT-families are responsible for acetylation of a given protein or lysine site. Finally, we evaluated the efficiency of our method, and experimentally detected four proteins that were predicted to be acetylated by two KAT families when one representative member of the KAT family is over expressed. We conclude that our approach, combined with more traditional experimental methods, may be useful for identifying KAT families responsible for acetylated substrates proteome-wide.
Energization-dependent endogenous activation of proton conductance in skeletal muscle mitochondria

Leak of protons into the mitochondrial matrix during substrate oxidation partially uncouples electron transport from phosphorylation of ADP, but the functions and source of basal and inducible proton leak in vivo remain controversial. In the present study we describe an endogenous activation of proton conductance in mitochondria isolated from rat and mouse skeletal muscle following addition of respiratory substrate. This endogenous activation increased with time, required a high membrane potential and was diminished by high concentrations of serum albumin. Inhibition of this endogenous activation by GDP [classically considered specific for UCPs (uncoupling proteins)], carboxyatractylate and bongkrekate (considered specific for the adenine nucleotide translocase) was examined in skeletal muscle mitochondria from wild-type and Ucp3-knockout mice. Proton conductance through endogenously activated UCP3 was calculated as the difference in leak between mitochondria from wild-type and Ucp3-knockout mice, and was found to be inhibited by carboxyatractylate and bongkrekate, but not GDP. Proton conductance in mitochondria from Ucp3-knockout mice was strongly inhibited by carboxyatractylate, bongkrekate and partially by GDP. We conclude the following: (i) at high protonmotive force, an endogenously generated activator stimulates proton conductance catalysed partly by UCP3 and partly by the adenine nucleotide translocase; (ii) GDP is not a specific inhibitor of UCP3, but also inhibits proton translocation by the adenine nucleotide translocase; and (iii) the inhibition of UCP3 by carboxyatractylate and bongkrekate is likely to be indirect, acting through the adenine nucleotide translocase.
Culture optimization for the emergent zooplanktonic model organism Oikopleura dioica

The pan-global marine appendicularian, Oikopleura dioica, shows considerable promise as a candidate model organism for cross-disciplinary research ranging from chordate genetics and evolution to molecular ecology research. This urochordate, has a simplified anatomical organization, remains transparent throughout an exceptionally short life cycle of less than 1 week and exhibits high fecundity. At 70 Mb, the compact, sequenced genome ranks among the smallest known metazoan genomes, with both gene regulatory and intronic regions highly reduced in size. The organism occupies an important trophic role in marine ecosystems and is a significant contributor to global vertical carbon flux. Among the short list of bona fide biological model organisms, all share the property that they are amenable to long-term maintenance in laboratory cultures. Here, we tested diet regimes, spawn densities and dilutions and seawater treatment, leading to optimization of a detailed culture protocol that permits sustainable long-term maintenance of O. dioica, allowing continuous, uninterrupted production of source material for experimentation. The culture protocol can be quickly adapted in both coastal and inland laboratories and should promote rapid development of the many original research perspectives the animal offers.
Validação da Versão Brasileira da Escala de Atitudes de Carreira Sem-Fronteiras

The concept of a boundaryless career refers to the different degrees of physical and psychological mobility an individual faces throughout successive employment situations. The present article aimed to explore the factorial structure of the BCAS in a Brazilian sample. It was composed by three studies conducted with two independent samples: 1) pilot, 2) validation and 3) group comparison. Participants were 446 Brazilian professionals divded into two independent samples. The final version of the scale was composed of 10 items, had KMO of 0.82, and the explained variance was 63.3%. The reliability (Cronbach´s alpha) of the general scale (0.77), of the psychological mobility subscale (0.88) and of the physical mobility subscale (0.79) were favorable. The Brazilian version of the BCAS is presented as a valuable tool in the assessment and monitoring of interventions in career counseling and career planning.
Is Infusion of Subhypnotic Propofol as Effective as Dexamethasone in Prevention of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting Related to Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy? A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background. Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of common complications in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of subhypnotic (1 mg/kg/h) infusion of propofol with dexamethasone on PONV in patients undergoing LC. Methods. A total of 120 patients were included in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients were randomly assigned to 3 groups; patients of group dexamethasone (group D) were administrated 8 mg dexamethasone before induction of anesthesia, patients of group propofol (group P) were infused to subhypnotic (1 mg/kg/h) propofol during operation and patients of group control (group C) were applied infusion of 10% intralipid. The incidence of PONV and needs for rescue analgesic and antiemetic were recorded in the first 24 h postoperatively. Results. In the 0–24 h, the incidence of PONV was significantly lower in the group D and group P compared with the group C (37.5%, 40%, and 72.5%, resp.). There was no significant difference in the incidence of PONV and use of antiemetics and analgesic between group D and group P. Conclusion. We concluded that infusion of propofol 1 mg/kg/h is as effective as dexamethasone for the prevention of PONV during the first 24 hours after anesthesia in patients undergoing LC.
Preserved Antilipolytic Insulin Action Is Associated with a Less Atherogenic Plasma Lipid Profile in Healthy Centenarians

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have demonstrated that centenarians have a preserved glucose tolerance and insulin action and a more favorable body composition and fat distribution than aged subjects. The strong relationship among glucose tolerance, insulin action, plasma lipid concentration, and lipoprotein metabolism would lead to the hypothesis that healthy centenarians may also have a less atherogenic profile than aged subjects less than 100 years old.
Toxic effect of nickel on hemoglobin concentration of Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri in spiked sediments of trout farms.

Toxicity and uptake data for Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri generated by nickel in systems using three natural sediments (trout farms: El Oyamel, El Truchón, and El Potrero), are presented. Nickel uptake and hemoglobin concentration were studied in L. hoffmeisteri exposed to spiked sediments. Nickel concentration and its toxic effect on hemoglobin were used as indicators of exposure. Sediment texture was also considered. Hemoglobin concentration decreased after treatment with nickel. The hemoglobin concentration test indicated a response to the bioavailability of nickel. This investigation clearly documents that sediments of El Truchón, El Oyamel, and El Potrero exhibit a toxicity potential. These results suggest the usefulness of diversity of bioassays for evaluating the toxicity of sediments polluted with heavy metals.
Invariance of Weight Distributions in Rectified MLPs

An interesting approach to analyzing neural networks that has received renewed attention is to examine the equivalent kernel of the neural network. This is based on the fact that a fully connected feedforward network with one hidden layer, a certain weight distribution, an activation function, and an infinite number of neurons can be viewed as a mapping into a Hilbert space. We derive the equivalent kernels of MLPs with ReLU or Leaky ReLU activations for all rotationally-invariant weight distributions, generalizing a previous result that required Gaussian weight distributions. Additionally, the Central Limit Theorem is used to show that for certain activation functions, kernels corresponding to layers with weight distributions having $0$ mean and finite absolute third moment are asymptotically universal, and are well approximated by the kernel corresponding to layers with spherical Gaussian weights. In deep networks, as depth increases the equivalent kernel approaches a pathological fixed point, which can be used to argue why training randomly initialized networks can be difficult. Our results also have implications for weight initialization.
Intravenous self-administration of morphine and cocaine: a comparative study.

The aim of the present study was to estimate differences between patterns of morphine and cocaine use in Sprague-Dawley rats. This was done by first developing a set of conditions under which both drugs would be consistently self-administered over time. Subsequently rats were studied in groups of three, with only one rat actively self-administering morphine or cocaine while others two receiving yoked injections of either the drug or saline. With the exception of the 0.056, 0.1, 0.3 and 1.0 mg/kg/inj. training-dose regimens, intravenous (i.v.)self-administration of morphine was acquired at the dose of 0.56 mg/kg/inj. and subsequently maintained by rats. In contrast to morphine self-administration, rats rapidly acquired cocaine self-administration behavior at either the 0.3 or 0.56 injection dose and showed typical inverted U-shaped dose-response curves with maximal responding occurring at the injection dose of 0.3 mg/kg. With the "yoked" pairs of subjects, the rate of responding of the animal actually self-administering the drug was significantly higher than that of a paired animal which passively received injection whenever the first animal self-administered the drug. Thus, both morphine and cocaine served as a positive reinforcer of self-administration behavior under the fixed ratio 5 schedule of reinforcement. However, the 0.56 mg/kg injection dose of morphine resulted in an acquisition curve that was markedly, temporally delayed relative to the injection dose of cocaine. Finally, cocaine maintained higher rates of responding for its delivery than morphine. These differences between self-administration patterns of morphine and cocaine may provide significant information about the nature of drug reinforcement and dependence.
Aberrant interleukin-2 receptor-mediated blastoformation of peripheral blood lymphocytes in a severe major depressive episode

Background. We examined interleukin-2 (IL-2) related immune pathways in depression to elucidate mechanisms underlying various immunological disturbances associated with depression. Methods. Subjects comprised 35 unmedicated patients with a major depressive episode without psychotic features and 36 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. The immune parameters examined included the numbers of B and T cells, IL-2 receptor-mediated blastoformation (IL-2R-mediated blastoformation), IL-2 production and expression of the IL-2 receptor α-subunit. Results. The patients with a severe episode showed significantly lower IL-2R-mediated blastoformation than the controls. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between IL-2R-mediated blastoformation and the severity of depression at the time of entry. Conclusion. The reduced IL-2R-mediated blastoformation may partly explain several previously reported abnormal immune functions associated with depression.
The Hausdorff dimension of graphs of Weierstrass functions

The Weierstrass nowhere differentiable function, and functions constructed from similar infinite series, have been studied often as examples of functions whose graph is a fractal. Though there is a simple formula for the Hausdorff dimension of the graph which is widely accepted, it has not been rigorously proved to hold. We prove that if arbitrary phases are included in each term of the summation for the Weierstrass function, the Hausdorff dimension of the graph of the function has the conjectured value for almost every sequence of phases. The argument extends to a much wider class of Weierstrass-like functions.
Substance Abuse Treatment and the Stages of Change: Selecting and Planning Interventions

A widely adopted practitioner resource and course text, this book shows how to apply knowledge about behavior change in general -- and the stages-of-change model in particular -- to make substance abuse treatment more effective. The authors are leaders in the field who describe ways to tailor interventions for clients with varying levels of motivation or readiness to change. They draw on cutting-edge theory and research to explain what works (and what doesn't work) at different stages of change. Rich clinical examples illustrate the "whats," "whys," and "how-tos" of using the stages-of-change model to inform treatment planning and intervention for individuals, groups, couples, and families.