Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Absorption of plutonium compounds in the respiratory tract

In order to optimise the monitoring of potentially exposed workers, it is desirable to determine specific values of absorption for the compounds handled. This study derives specific values of absorption rates for different chemical forms of plutonium from in vitro and animal (monkeys, dogs, mice, rats) experiments, and from human contamination cases. Different published experimental data have been reinterpreted here to derive values for the absorption parameters, fr, sr and ss, used in the human respiratory tract model currently adopted by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The consequences of the use of these values were investigated by calculating related committed effective doses per unit intake. Average and median estimates were calculated for fr, sr, and ss for each plutonium compound, that can be used as default values for specific chemical forms instead of the current reference types. Nevertheless, it was shown that the use of the current ICRP reference absorption types provides reasonable approximations. Moreover, this work provides estimates of the variability in pulmonary absorption and, therefore, facilitates analyses of the uncertainties associated with assessments, either from bioassay measurements or from prospective calculations, of intake and dose.
[Cough and neuromuscular diseases. Noninvasive airway secretion management].

Respiratory problems are the main cause of death in some neuromuscular diseases (NMDs), and both patients and their caregivers are aware of their importance. It is thus somewhat paradoxical that, until very recently, important aspects of NMDs have remained undervalued even by specialists, including those in pneumology services. Currently, however, awareness is increasing among both neurologists and pulmonologists. Indeed, in many cases respiratory care services already provide an adequate level of care. Unfortunately, the respiratory problems in NMDs are still considered an “emerging” question in public health systems and they receive little specific funding. This situation generates clear discrimination against NMD patients in comparison with those suffering from other illnesses whose management is also difficult and costly but who already benefit from well-established social services and health care. To address current deficiencies, patient associations and pulmonologists involved in treating NMDs need to set themselves the immediate objective of establishing specialized units of the type that already enjoy a long tradition in other countries.
University of Huddersfield Repository Genotyping human ancient mtDNA control and coding region polymorphisms with a multiplexed Single-Base-Extension assay: the singular maternal history of the Tyrolean Iceman

Background: Progress in the field of human ancient DNA studies has been severely restricted due to the myriad sources of potential contamination, and because of the pronounced difficulty in identifying authentic results. Improving the robustness of human aDNA results is a necessary pre-requisite to vigorously testing hypotheses about human evolution in Europe, including possible admixture with Neanderthals. This study approaches the problem of distinguishing between authentic and contaminating sequences from common European mtDNA haplogroups by applying a multiplexed Single-Base-Extension assay, containing both control and coding region sites, to DNA extracted from the Tyrolean Iceman. Results: The multiplex assay developed for this study was able to confirm that the Iceman's mtDNA belongs to a new European mtDNA clade with a very limited distribution amongst modern data sets. Controlled contamination experiments show that the correct results are returned by the multiplex assay even in the presence of substantial amounts of exogenous DNA. The overall level of discrimination achieved by targeting both control and coding region polymorphisms in a single reaction provides a methodology capable of dealing with most cases of homoplasy prevalent in European haplogroups. Conclusion: The new genotyping results for the Iceman confirm the extreme fallibility of human aDNA studies in general, even when authenticated by independent replication. The sensitivity and accuracy of the multiplex Single-Base-Extension methodology forms part of an emerging suite of alternative techniques for the accurate retrieval of ancient DNA sequences from both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. The contamination of laboratories remains a pressing concern in aDNA studies, both in the pre and post-PCR environments, and the adoption of a forensic style assessment of a priori risks would significantly improve the credibility of results.
Elevated Plasma Neopterin Levels in Alzheimer Disease

We assessed plasma neopterin level as a marker of inflammation in Alzheimer disease (AD). Plasma neopterin levels were higher in 51 patients with AD (9.3 ± 5.9 ng/mL) than in 38 age-matched control subjects (6.3 ± 2.6 ng/ml, p = 0.002). There was no correlation between neopterin levels and Mini-Mental State Examination score or duration of disease; there was a weak association between neopterin level and age (r = 0.26, p = 0.02). Although measurement of plasma neopterin levels is not useful for diagnosis, this assay may provide guidance for the development of anti-inflammatory treatment strategies for AD.
The Effects of Workforce Trends and Changes on Organizational Recruiting: A Practical Perspective

As a workforce evolves, it is important for employers to consider how trends and changes in the workforce have implications for organizational processes such as recruiting, selecting, training, and rewarding a cohort of workers (Costanza & Finkelstein, 2015). This article examines the practical aspects of workforce changes on organizations’ recruitment efforts. Particularly in the face of recruiting shortages, it is important to understand how to best to develop a large and qualified pool of applicants.
Passing sequences towards field goals and penalty corners in men's field hockey

Modern field hockey relies on effective game play within well-structured ball movement as its multidimensional factors in contributing field goals and penalty corners. Therefore, the objective of the study was to analyse the effect of passing sequences (longer passing sequence and shorter passing sequence) towards field goals and penalty corners in men’s field hockey. Passing sequence referred to how many touches or passing made towards obtaining field goals or penalty corners won by the attacking team. Longer passing sequence was passing made more than five times, meanwhile shorter passing sequence was passing made less than four times. Analysis of 24 footages/ video taken from World Hockey League Semi Finals at Johor Bahru, 2013, including 8 countries (Germany, Argentina, England, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Pakistan, and South Africa) competing to qualify for World Cup 2014. The analytical process focused on two different passing sequences in attacking on field goals and penalty corners in men’s field hockey. Two reliability tests, (intra and inter observer test) were conducted on researcher before going through the analysis process. All the footage/video were analysed by using computerized analysis software (SPORTCODE ELITE). A Wilcoxon Signed Ranked Test was deemed the appropriate statistical method to determine the effect of this study. Results showed that there were significant different between shorter passing and longer passing sequence towards field goals when, (z = -4.05, p < .05), and the median for shorter passing sequences is greater than that of the longer passing sequences towards field goals. Meanwhile, for penalty corners, the data also showed that shorter passing sequences were more effective and beneficial in men’s field hockey when ( z = -4.29, p < .05), and the median for shorter passing sequences is greater than that of the longer passing sequences towards penalty corners. Moreover other findings from this study also support that shorter passing sequence is more effective during attacking in men’s field hockey when shown that D penetration more often occurred compare to longer passing sequence (z = -4.28, p < .05). It is important for all team to use an effective tactical play during attacking task especially for sports which emphasize on striking invasion like field hockey. Furthermore, in this modern field hockey, less sequence of passing suit with quick movement to obtain field goals or penalty corners before the opponent reorganize their defend. These findings could be used to support any level of field hockey coaches to implement during training as to improve and enhance their team attacking ability during competition. Further research could to be conducted on the correlation between passing sequence and basics skills performance in field hockey.
Oncogenes, anti-oncogenes and the immune response to cancer : a mathematical model

We develop a mathematical model for the initial growth of a tumour after a mutation in which either an oncogene is expressed or an anti-oncogene (i.e. tumour suppressor gene) is lost. Our model incorporates mitotic control by several biochemicals, with quite different regulatory characteristics, and we consider mutations affecting the cellular response to these control mechanisms. Our mathematical representation of these mutations reflects the current understanding of the roles of oncogenes and anti-oncogenes in controlling cell proliferation. Numerical solutions of our model, for biologically relevant parameter values, show that the different types of mutations have quite different effects. Mutations affecting the cell response to chemical regulators, or resulting in autonomy from such regulators, cause an advancing wave of tumour cells and a receding wave of normal cells. By contrast, mutations affecting the production of a mitotic regulator cause a slow localized increase in the numbers of both normal and mutant cells. We extend our model to investigate the possible effects of an immune response to cancer by including a first order removal of mutant cells. When this removal rate exceeds a critical value, the immune system can suppress tumour growth; we derive an expression for this critical value as a function of the parameters characterizing the mutation. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of the immune response after an oncogenic mutation depends crucially on the way in which the mutation affects the biochemical control of cell division.
Analysis of Heuristics for Stochastic Programming: Results for Hierarchical Scheduling Problems

Certain multistage decision problems that arise frequently in operations management planning and control allow a natural formulation as multistage stochastic programs. In job shop scheduling, for example, the first stage could correspond to the acquisition of resources subject to probabilistic information about the jobs to be processed, and the second stage to the actual allocation of the resources to the jobs given deterministic information about their processing requirements. For two simple versions of this two-stage hierarchical scheduling problem, we describe heuristic solution methods and show that their performance is asymptotically optimal both in expectation and in probability.
A Novel ZVS Range Enhancement Technique of a High-Voltage Dual Active Bridge Converter Using Series Injection

In this paper, a novel technique is proposed to extend the region of zero voltage switching (ZVS) of a dual active bridge (DAB) dc–dc converter using an auxiliary series injection transformer. The series voltage injection by the series transformer helps us to maintain ZVS by controlling the reactive power flow through the main converter of the DAB. A model for the series compensation is developed to compute the phase angle of the series voltage to obtain the optimum efficiency over the entire region of operation. The proposed technique is validated through simulations and the corresponding converter loss reduction is presented. The system is implemented on a high-voltage hardware with <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$6$</tex-math></inline-formula>kV-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$270$</tex-math></inline-formula>V DAB using 10-kV SiC <sc>mosfet</sc>-based converter in the primary and 1200-V SiC <sc>mosfet</sc> on the secondary side of the transformer and the corresponding results are presented.
Sparse Bayesian learning approach for streaming signal recovery

We discuss the reconstruction of streaming signals from compressive measurements. We propose to use an algorithm based on sparse Bayesian learning to reconstruct the streaming signal over small shifting intervals. The proposed algorithm utilizes the previous estimates to improve the accuracy of the signal estimate and the speed of the recovery algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve better signal-to-error ratios compared with the existing l1-homotopy based recovery algorithm.
Harmonious passion as an explanation of the relation between signature strengths’ use and well-being at work: Test of an intervention program

Using signature strengths at work has been shown to influence workers’ optimal functioning and well-being. However, little is known about the processes through which signature strengths lead to positive outcomes. The present research thus aimed at exploring the role of having a harmonious passion in the relation between using signature strengths and well-being. For this purpose, an intervention was developed where participants (n = 186) completed three activities aiming at developing their knowledge and use of their signature strengths at work. The results showed (1) that the intervention successfully increased participants’ use of their signature strengths, (2) that participants from the experimental group reported a higher use of their signature strengths at the end of the study than participants from the control group, and (3) that increases in the use of signature strengths reported by participants from the experimental group were related to increases in harmonious passion, which in turn led to higher levels of well-being.
Effect of an occupational intervention on printing in children with economic disadvantages.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether an occupational therapy intervention improved an academic outcome (D'Nealian printing) in a school setting. The study specifically examined improvement in printing skills in economically disadvantaged first graders who were at risk academically and socially. The intervention was based on an occupational framework including biomechanical, sensorimotor, and teaching-learning strategies. METHOD The final sample consisted of 59 first-grade children from a low socioeconomic urban elementary school-based health center who were randomly assigned to an occupational therapy intervention or a control condition. In addition to regular academic instruction, the intervention group received 10 weeks of training twice a week for 30-minute sessions. The control group received only regular academic instruction. Subjects were pretested and posttested on the Minnesota Handwriting Test, which assesses legibility, space, line, size, and form (the main variables in this study) as well as speed. RESULTS Multivariate analysis of variance confirmed that the gain scores in the occupational therapy intervention group were significantly greater than those in the control group. The Hotelling-Lawley Trace value was 0.606, with F(5, 53) = 6.43, p < . 0001). The estimated effect size (eta2) was . 378, with an observed power of . 994. Largest gains for the intervention group were in the areas of space, line, and size. CONCLUSION The intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in scores on the posttest of the Minnesota Handwriting Test when compared to the scores of the control group. Occupational intervention was effective in improving the academic outcome of printing in children who are economically disadvantaged.
S4: Small State and Small Stretch Routing Protocol for Large Wireless Sensor Networks

Routing protocols for wireless sensor networks must address the challenges of reliable packet delivery at increasingly large scale and highly constrained node resources. Attempts to limit node state can result in undesirable worst-case routing performance, as measured by stretch, which is the ratio of the hop count of the selected path to that of the optimal path. We present a new routing protocol, Small State and Small Stretch (S4), which jointly minimizes the state and stretch. S4 uses a combination of beacon distance-vector based global routing state and scoped distance-vector based local routing state to achieve a worst-case stretch of 3 using O(√N) routing state per node in an N-node network. Its average routing stretch is close to 1. S4 further incorporates local failure recovery to achieve resilience to dynamic topology changes. We use multiple simulation environments to assess performance claims at scale, and use experiments in a 42-node wireless sensor network testbed to evaluate performance under realistic RF and failure dynamics. The results show that S4 achieves scalability, efficiency, and resilience in a wide range of scenarios.
Intrinsic conflict between management and leadership

Organizational conflict manifests in misalignment of individuals and groups, and is often discussed in terms of the effect that leadership and management have on the state of affairs. It is built-in for any organization, yet its root causes are not fully understood. It is not uncommon to characterize leadership/management conflicts in terms of the style or personality type of the individuals involved; however, conflicting leadership and management objectives that are not style or personality dependent may also be a significant factor. If conflict is actually disagreement about the role-driven management objectives and leadership objectives at hand, rather than being based on style and personality, knowing how objectives-driven conflict manifests would be valuable to an organization for identifying the root cause of the conflict. The researcher posited that a portion of organizational conflicts may be predestined by way of conflicting objectives that are intrinsic to management and leadership, and defined a perspective that utilized the historical bases for leadership and management to illuminate the possibilities. A Delphi study was conducted, which iteratively utilized a diverse group of industry experts to explore the roles, objectives, and actions of leaders and managers from a practitioner perspective. Although the study found that organizations can be in conflict due to conflicting management objectives and leadership objectives, the interchange of ideas during the study led to the conclusion that the nature of the objectives is largely conditional or subjective rather than predestined, and therefore the conflicts are also conditional or subjective.
Performance of the pediatric glasgow coma scale in children with blunt head trauma.

OBJECTIVES To compare the accuracy of a pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score in preverbal children with blunt head trauma with the standard GCS score in older children. METHODS The authors prospectively enrolled children younger than 18 years with blunt head trauma. Patients were divided into cohorts of those 2 years and younger and those older than 2 years. The authors assigned a pediatric GCS score to the younger cohort and the standard GCS score to the older cohort. Outcomes were 1) traumatic brain injury (TBI) on computed tomography (CT) scan or 2) TBI in need of acute intervention. The authors created and compared receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves between the age cohorts for the association of GCS scores and TBI. RESULTS The authors enrolled 2,043 children, and 327 were 2 years and younger. Among these 327, 15 (7.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.4% to 12.4%) of 194 who underwent imaging with CT had TBI visible and nine (2.8%; 95% CI = 1.3% to 5.2%) had TBI needing acute intervention. In children older than 2 years, 83 (7.7%; 95% CI = 6.2% to 9.5%) of the 1,077 who underwent imaging with CT had TBI visible and 96 (5.6%; 95% CI = 4.6% to 6.8%) had TBI needing acute intervention. For the pediatric GCS in children 2 years and younger, the area under the ROC curve was 0.72 (95% CI = 0.56 to 0.87) for TBI on CT scan and 0.97 (95% CI = 0.94 to 1.00) for TBI needing acute intervention. For the standard GCS in older children, the area under the ROC curve was 0.82 (95% CI = 0.76 to 0.87) for TBI on CT scan and 0.87 (95% CI = 0.83 to 0.92) for TBI needing acute intervention. CONCLUSIONS This pediatric GCS for children 2 years and younger compares favorably with the standard GCS in the evaluation of children with blunt head trauma. The pediatric GCS is particularly accurate in evaluating preverbal children with blunt head trauma with regard to the need for acute intervention.
Long noncoding RNA DANCR promotes invasion of prostate cancer through epigenetically silencing expression of TIMP2/3

LncRNA DANCR suppresses differentiation of epithelial cells, however, its function in prostate cancer development is still unknown. In the present study, we found the expression of DANCR increases in prostate cancer tissues and cells compared to normal prostate tissues and cells, moreover, DANCR promotes invasion and migration of prostate cancer cells in vitro and metastasis of tumor xenografts in nude mice. Mechanistically, we found that TIMP2/3, which are critical metastasis inhibitor of prostate cancer, were down-regulated by DANCR synergistically with EZH2 through epigenetically silencing their promoter by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. In addition, we further investigated whether DANCR is regulated by the differentiation-promoting androgen-androgen receptor (AR) pathway and found that DANCR expression is repressed by androgen-AR; furthermore, DANCR impedes the upregulation of TIMP2/3 and the suppression of invasion and migration by androgen-AR. On the other hand, interestingly, we found that in prostate cancer cells DANCR knockdown decreased the promotion of invasion and migration by the treatment of enzalutamide, which is an AR inhibitor. In summary, our results indicate that DANCR promotes prostate cancer invasion and metastasis through repressing the expression of TIMP2/3, and suggest that DANCR could be a potential target for preventing prostate cancer metastasis, and knockdown DANCR may lessen the potential side effect of AR inhibitor.
Teucrium Plant Species as Natural Sources of Novel Anticancer Compounds: Antiproliferative, Proapoptotic and Antioxidant Properties

This study deals with total phenolic content, antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity of methanolic extracts from different Teucrium species and the effect on the prooxidant/antioxidant status in HCT-116 cells. The total phenolic content of the extracts was measured spectrophotometricaly and the obtained results ranged from 56.62 mg/g to 172.50 mg GA/g. The antiproliferative activity of methanolic extracts from different Teucrium species was determined using MTT cell viability assay, where IC50 value was used as a parameter for cytotoxicity. The type of cell death was explored by fluorescence microscopy using the acridin orange/ethidium bromide method. MTT assay showed that all extracts significantly reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, with very low IC50 values. The highest content of phenolic compounds and the best cytotoxic activity on HCT-116 cells after 24 h of exposure was in T. chamaedrys extract, with IC50 values of 5.48 × 10−9 μg/mL. After 72 h, methanolic extract of T. arduini appeared to have the best cytotoxic activity on HCT-116, with IC50 values of 0.37 μg/mL. Treatments caused typical apoptotic morphological changes in HCT-116 cells and showed a high percentage of apoptotic cells. The results of the presented research indicate that some Teucrium extracts are a very rich source of phenols, which may directly contribute to high antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity.