Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Working Class Majority: America's Best Kept Secret

The United States is not a middle class society. Michael Zweig shows that the majority of Americans are actually working class and argues that recognizing this fact is essential if that majority is to achieve political influence and social strength. "Class," Zweig writes, "is primarily a matter of power, not income. " He goes beyond old formulations of class to explore ways in which class interacts with race and gender.Defining "working class" as those who have little control over the pace and content of their work and who do not supervise others, Zweig warns that by allowing this class to disappear into categories of middle class or consumers, we also allow those with the dominant power, capitalists, to vanish among the rich. Economic relations then appear as comparisons of income or lifestyle rather than as what they truly are contests of power, at work and in the larger society.Using personal interviews, solid research, and down-to-earth examples, Zweig looks at a number of important contemporary social problems: the growing inequality of income and wealth, welfare reform, globalization, the role of government, and the family values debate. He shows how, with class in mind, our understanding of these issues undergoes a radical shift.Believing that we must limit the power of capitalists to abuse workers, communities, and the environment, Zweig offers concrete ideas for the creation of a new working class politics in the United States. "
Knowledge discovery by means of inductive methods in wastewater treatment plannt data

Artificial intelligence techniques, including machine learning methods, and statistical techniques have shown promising results as decision support tools, because of their capabilities of knowledge discovery, heuristic reasoning and working with uncertain and qualitative information. Wastewater treatment plants are complex environmental processes that are difficult to manage and control. This paper discusses the qualitative and quantitative performance of several machine learning and statistical methods to discover knowledge patterns in data. The methods are tested and compared on a wastewater treatment data set. The methods used are: induction of decision trees, two different techniques of rule induction and two memorydbased learning methods: instancedbased learning and casedbased learning. All the knowledge patterns discovered by the different methods are compared in terms of predictive accuracy, the number of attributes and examples used, and the meaningfuldness to domain experts.
Comparisons of approximate and exact solutions for forward scattering

Various methods for analyses of scattering are mentioned and new approximate relationships are derived. Several numerical simulations of forward scattering using approximate estimations, physical optics and exact solutions for two-dimensional scattering are presented for far fields as well as near fields. That allows not only accuracy analyses but also conclusions about scattering and total fields in the presence of objects, which are important for many applications such as communications, radars and electromagnetic compatibility.
Altered surface membrane glycoproteins in Vinca alkaloid-resistant human leukemic lymphoblasts.

Abstract Starting with an established line of human leukemic lymphoblasts (CCRF-CEM), we have developed sublines with varying degrees of resistance to vinblastine by growth in the presence of sublethal concentrations of drug. The resistance of these sublines to vinblastine ranges from 10.6-fold to more than 2000-fold when compared with the sensitive parent cells. These vinblastine-resistant cells tend to form large aggregates in stationary suspension culture, suggesting the possibility of an alteration in the cell surface membrane. The surface glycoproteins of sensitive and vinblastine-resistant CCRF-CEM cells were examined by the galactose oxidase (with or without neuraminidase)-[ 3 H]borohydride procedure. It was found that a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 170,000 to 190,000 is present on the surface of the drug-resistant cells. This prominent glycoprotein appears to be related to the degree of resistance in that it increases in amount with increased resistance to vinblastine. This relationship obtains with cells up to 269 times more resistant to this drug than is the sensitive parent line. Further increases in the degrees of resistance apparently do not lead to greater amounts of this glycoprotein, suggesting that the changes in the cell surface seen with resistance are not absolute or are not all detectable by the surface-labeling method used in this study. Finally, cells selected for high resistance to 1-β-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine have a cell surface glycoprotein pattern similar to that of the sensitive parent line, indicating that the altered glycoprotein profile shown here is not a characteristic of resistance in general but is rather associated with resistance to such Vinca alkaloids as vinblastine.
Device-Related Thrombosis in Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device Support

Advanced heart failure therapy has been revolutionized with the advent of continuous-flow ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) which have improved both survival and quality of life. Despite this, support with CF-LVADs is frequently complicated, with 70% of recipients experiencing a major complication in the first year of durable support. The most concerning of these complications to emerge is device-related thrombosis, which is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Pathophysiology and diagnosis are multifaceted and complex, with pump-specific and patient-specific factors to be considered. Incidence estimates are evolving with increases seen in the past 2 years compared with earlier implant data. Evidence for treatment is limited to case series and reports, which are subject to significant publication bias. Finally, appropriate primary and secondary prophylaxis is imprecise with multiple antiplatelet and antithrombotic strategies described. This review seeks to summarize the current literature surrounding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of thrombosis in CF-LVAD recipients.
Morphological Study on Microvasculature of Left Ventricular Wall in Infant and Adult Yaks

Observations on the microvasculature in the left ventricular wall of infant and adult yaks under light and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were presented. Moreover, the diameter of different microvasculature and the density of the capillaries in three layers of the ventricular myocardium were measured using Image Pro‐Plus 5.0. The results showed that the average luminal diameter of arterioles and precapillary arterioles in adult yak's hearts were, in most cases, larger than those in infant yaks. On the contrary, the diameters of the capillary in infant yak's hearts were larger than those in adult yaks. The density of capillary in the myocardium of adult yak's heart had significantly higher values (P<0.01) than those in infant yaks. Arterioles of yak's hearts were characterized by the bark‐like structure and the impressions of endothelial cell nuclei, and it always gave rise to capillary after three to four grades of embranchment. The outer surface of capillaries cast in infant yak's hearts was smooth, and no constrictions were found. This was different from adult yak that always had some constrictions. The capillary anastomosis of “H” and “Y” usually existed in the myocardium of both adult and infant yaks; however, those in infant yaks were not typical as in adult yaks in their shape. The peculiar arrangement of the venules in infant yak was a “baggy” or “bulgy” arrangement, while in the adult yak, they had a root‐like pattern. Our findings suggest that the patterns of microvasculature in yak's heart could be propitious to adapt better in their environment following their increase of age. Anat Rec 293:1519–1526, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Including Content-Based Methods in Peer-Assessment of Open-Response Questions

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are attracting the attention of a huge number of students all around the world. These courses include different types of assignments in order to evaluate the student's knowledge. However, these assignments are designed to allow a straightforward automatic evaluation. But, in this way it is not possible to evaluate some skills that would require answering open-response questions. Peer-assessment (the students are asked to assess other assignments), is an effective method to overcome the impossibility of having staff graders for this task. Additionally, students gain a deeper knowledge about the subject of the assignments that they have to read critically. However, the grades given by student-graders must be filtered to avoid bias due to a lack of experience in assessment tasks. There are a number of approaches to do this. In this paper we present a factorization approach that in addition to the grades given by graders is able to incorporate a representation of the contents of the responses given by students using a Vector Space Model of the assignments. So we fill the gap between peer-assessment and content-based methods that use a shallow linguistic processing. The paper includes a report of the results obtained using this approach in a real world dataset collected in 3 universities of Spain, A Coruña, Pablo de Olavide at Sevilla, and Oviedo at Gijón. The scores obtained by the method presented here were compared with those provided by the staff of these universities. We report a considerable improvement whenever we use the content-based approach. In any case, we conclude that there is no evidence that staff grading would have led to more accurate grading outcomes than the assessment produced by our models.
Additive Effects of Anesthetics and Theories of Anesthesia

The gas–hydrate theory of anesthesia proposed by Pauling and Miller suggests that either synergism or antagonism can occur when anesthetics are combined. Using MAC as a standard for depth of anesthesia, the properties of MAC fractions in combinations of anesthetics were evaluated and found to be additive, with the following exception: the combination of cyclopropane with nitrous oxide or ethylene produced antagonism. This result may be explained by competition of these agents for the same cavities in the hydrate structure.
Discordance between proxy-reported and observed assessment of functional ability of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To determine the level of agreement between parents and clinicians in rating dysfunction in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). METHODS A parent of each patient completed the Italian version of the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ). Subsequently, an examiner assessed, in a specially equipped room, the child's performance of tasks as described by the CHAQ. Demographic and clinical variables were recorded for all patients. RESULTS Seventy consecutive JIA patients and their parents were included. The mean proxy-reported and observed CHAQ score was 0.64+/-0.53 and 0.47+/-0.62 respectively, the difference ranging from -1.75 to 1.5. There were 30 cases (43%) of agreement (difference < or =0.25 CHAQ units) between the parent's and clinician's ratings, whereas in 40 cases (57%) there was discordance (difference >0.25 CHAQ units). In 30 cases the parent rated the child's functional ability as worse than that observed by the clinician (i.e. the parent underestimated the child's function), whereas in 10 cases the parent rated the child's functional ability as better than that observed by the clinician (i.e. overestimated the child's function). Multivariate regression analysis showed that children's functional ability was overestimated by parents with increasing erythrocyte sedimentation rate and global articular severity score and underestimated with increasing level of pain. Among the functional areas of the CHAQ, the level of agreement was poorest in the areas of eating and hygiene and was best for activities. CONCLUSIONS Discordance between proxy-reported and observed functional ability was frequent in our patients with JIA. The children's functional ability was overestimated by parents as the severity of arthritis increased and underestimated as the level of pain increased.
Rapid increases of gamma power in the auditory cortex following noise trauma in humans

Tinnitus is an auditory perception in the absence of any external sound source. It has been suggested that tinnitus is related to enhanced synchronization of neuronal activity in the auditory cortex. Usually a hearing damage can be identified suggesting auditory deprivation to central auditory regions to be fundamental for neurophysiological processes related to tinnitus. Until now, human research has been conducted on patients with chronic tinnitus (> 6 months). However, neuronal activity accompanying auditory deprivation and putatively tinnitus may not remain constant over time, making it difficult to directly relate outcomes of current animal studies (acute tinnitus) to chronic tinnitus in humans, and vice versa. We investigated 14 amateur rock musicians who frequently reported a short‐term tinnitus immediately after band practice. Magnetoencephalographic resting‐state recordings, audiometry and tinnitus testing were performed at two separate occasions: with and without previous exposure to loud music. Analyses revealed that transient tinnitus was accompanied by temporary hearing loss in both ears and increased gamma activity in the right auditory cortex in 13 out of 14 cases. Additionally, tinnitus frequency was strongly correlated to hearing loss. Analogous to animal studies, our results show for the first time in humans that noise trauma leads rapidly to increased neuronal synchrony in the auditory cortex. Importantly, the strongly right‐lateralized effect implies that it does not reflect tinnitus percept per se. This could rather have been triggered by greater discontinuities of hearing loss at high frequencies that were particularly pronounced in the left ear.
Inhibiting Myosin Light Chain Kinase Induces Apoptosis In Vitro and In Vivo

ABSTRACT Previous short-term studies have correlated an increase in the phosphorylation of the 20-kDa light chain of myosin II (MLC20) with blebbing in apoptotic cells. We have found that this increase in MLC20 phosphorylation is rapidly followed by MLC20 dephosphorylation when cells are stimulated with various apoptotic agents. MLC20 dephosphorylation is not a consequence of apoptosis because MLC20 dephosphorylation precedes caspase activation when cells are stimulated with a proapoptotic agent or when myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) is inhibited pharmacologically or by microinjecting an inhibitory antibody to MLCK. Moreover, blocking caspase activation increased cell survival when MLCK is inhibited or when cells are treated with tumor necrosis factor alpha. Depolymerizing actin filaments or detaching cells, processes that destabilize the cytoskeleton, or inhibiting myosin ATPase activity also resulted in MLC20 dephosphorylation and cell death. In vivo experiments showed that inhibiting MLCK increased the number of apoptotic cells and retarded the growth of mammary cancer cells in mice. Thus, MLC20 dephosphorylation occurs during physiological cell death and prolonged MLC20 dephosphorylation can trigger apoptosis.
New diagnostic index for sarcopenia in patients with cardiovascular diseases

Background Sarcopenia is an aging and disease-related syndrome characterized by progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, with the risk of frailty and poor quality of life. Sarcopenia is diagnosed by a decrease in skeletal muscle index (SMI) and reduction of either handgrip strength or gait speed. However, measurement of SMI is difficult for general physicians because it requires special equipment for bioelectrical impedance assay or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to explore a novel, simple diagnostic method of sarcopenia evaluation in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Methods We retrospectively investigated 132 inpatients with CVD (age: 72±12 years, age range: 27–93 years, males: 61%) Binomial logistic regression and correlation analyses were used to assess the associations of sarcopenia with simple physical data and biomarkers, including muscle-related inflammation makers and nutritional markers. Results Sarcopenia was present in 29.5% of the study population. Serum concentrations of adiponectin and sialic acid were significantly higher in sarcopenic than non-sarcopenic CVD patients. Stepwise multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis revealed that adiponectin, sialic acid, sex, age, and body mass index were independent factors for sarcopenia detection. Sarcopenia index, obtained from the diagnostic regression formula for sarcopenia detection including the five independent factors, indicated a high accuracy in ROC curve analysis (sensitivity 94.9%, specificity 69.9%) and the cutoff value for sarcopenia detection was -1.6134. Sarcopenia index had a significant correlation with the conventional diagnostic parameters of sarcopenia. Conclusions Our new sarcopenia index using simple parameters would be useful for diagnosing sarcopenia in CVD patients.
Score test variable screening

Variable screening has emerged as a crucial first step in the analysis of high‐throughput data, but existing procedures can be computationally cumbersome, difficult to justify theoretically, or inapplicable to certain types of analyses. Motivated by a high‐dimensional censored quantile regression problem in multiple myeloma genomics, this article makes three contributions. First, we establish a score test‐based screening framework, which is widely applicable, extremely computationally efficient, and relatively simple to justify. Secondly, we propose a resampling‐based procedure for selecting the number of variables to retain after screening according to the principle of reproducibility. Finally, we propose a new iterative score test screening method which is closely related to sparse regression. In simulations we apply our methods to four different regression models and show that they can outperform existing procedures. We also apply score test screening to an analysis of gene expression data from multiple myeloma patients using a censored quantile regression model to identify high‐risk genes.
Drug Use among Inner-City African American Women: The Process of Managing Loss

The grounded theory study described in this article investigated illicit drug use in the lives of 32 drug-using women living in two inner-city neighborhoods of a large metropolitan U.S. city. The underlying purpose was to describe the process of how life situations and events influenced the onset of drug use and changes in drug-using behaviors. Analysis of in-depth interviews revealed several themes. The basic social process, managing loss, was identified. Painful feelings of loss resulted from the separation of someone or something from the lives of participants and included death or desertion of a significant other, loss of child custody, and rejection by a significant other. Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse resulted in a loss of ability to give and receive love and trust in oneself or others. Losses resulted in an escalation of drug use. Findings have implications for interventions to assist women in dealing with drug use, violence in their lives, self-care, and parenting.
Partially covered vs uncovered sphincterotome and post-endoscopic sphincterotomy bleeding.

AIM To prospectively compare partially covered vs uncovered sphincterotome use on post-endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy (ES) hemorrhage and other complications. METHODS All patients referred for therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) were randomly assigned to undergo ES either with a partially covered or an uncovered sphincterotome. Both patient and technical risk factors contributing to the development of post-ES bleeding were recorded and analyzed. The characteristics of bleeding was recorded during and after ES. Other complications were also compared. RESULTS Three-hundred and eighty-seven patients were recruited in this study; 194 patients underwent ES with a partially covered sphincterotome and 193 with conventional uncovered sphincterotome. No statistical difference was noted in the baseline characteristics and risk factors for post-ES induced hemorrhage between the 2 groups. No significant difference in the incidence and pattern of visible bleeding rates was found between the 2 groups (immediate bleeding in 24 patients with the partially covered sphincterotome vs 19 patients with the uncovered sphincterotome, P = 0.418). Delayed bleeding was observed in 2 patients with a partially covered sphincterotome and in 1 patient with an uncovered sphincterotome (P = 0.62). No statistical difference was noted in the rate of other complications. CONCLUSION The partially covered sphincterotome was not associated with a lower frequency of bleeding. Also, there was no difference in the incidence of other significant complications between the 2 types of sphincterotome.
Total-Variance Reduction Via Thresholding: Application to Cepstral Analysis

We consider a vector of independent normal random variables with unknown means but known variances. Our problem is to reduce the total variance of these random variables by exploiting the a priori information that a significant proportion of them have "small" means. We show that thresholding is an effective means of solving this problem and propose two schemes for threshold selection: one based on a uniformly most powerful unbiased test and another on a Bayesian information criterion selection rule. Reduction of the total variance of estimated spectra, obtained by cepstral analysis, can be cast in the above mathematical framework, and we use it as an example application throughout this paper. We show via numerical simulation that the use of the simple thresholding method, proposed here, in cepstral analysis can achieve significant reductions of total variance
Social interactions in an online self-management program for rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: To evaluate social interactions among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), participating in an empirically based, cognitive-behavioural, self-management (SM), and peer-support program, delivered in an online format. Methods: Thirty individuals with RA were recruited online. Subjects were a subset of participants in the treatment arm of a waiting-list controlled study testing the effectiveness of a 10-week, online, SM education and peer support program. Primary outcomes were process variables describing social activity in the online environment during active treatment. Qualitative review of discussion board posts was undertaken to gain insight into participants' perceptions of social interactions. Results: Participants spent a large proportion of logged-in time accessing educational materials and community-level activity was vibrant, with members utilizing the discussion board and e-mail. The Chat feature was less well-used. Discussion board posts regarding RAHelp were very positive, especially in regard to perceived supportiveness and bonding among participants, and a sense of feeling uniquely understood by others who have RA. Concern arose in response to periods in which the discussion board was `too quiet. ' Discussion: Our work complements the emerging literature supporting acceptance and utility of Internet-based programming as a venue for SM education and social interaction among individuals with chronic illness.