Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soluble CD40 Ligand in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Possible Pathogenic Role of the Interaction Between Platelets and Endothelial Cells

Background—Inflammatory processes seem to be involved in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). CD40 ligand (L) may promote inflammation and thrombus formation, and we hypothesized that CD40L could be involved in the pathogenesis of PAH. Methods and Results—Several significant findings were revealed when examining the possible role of CD40L in PAH. (1) Patients with primary (n=13) and secondary (n=11) PAH but not those with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (n=8) had increased plasma levels of soluble (s) CD40L compared with control subjects (n=8). (2) PAH patients using warfarin had markedly lower sCD40L levels than those without such therapy. (3) sCD40L levels were higher in arterial (femoral artery) compared with mixed venous blood (pulmonary artery), suggesting enhanced release or reduced clearance in the pulmonary vasculature. (4) Platelets from PAH patients showed enhanced spontaneous and SFLLRN-stimulated release of sCD40L compared with control subjects. (5) In vitro, recombinant sCD40L induced monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 and interleukin-8 gene expression in endothelial cells, and plasma levels of these chemokines were raised in all PAH groups, significantly correlated to sCD40L and hemodynamic parameters. (6) Although prostacyclin therapy (3 months) showed clinical benefit, this therapy had no effect on sCD40L and increased MCP-1 levels in PAH patients, and prostacyclin enhanced MCP-1 in CD40L-stimulated endothelial cells. Conclusions—Our findings suggest a role for CD40L in the pathogenesis of PAH, possibly operating through an interaction between platelets and endothelial cells involving chemokine-related mechanisms.
Noninvasive Prediction of Fracture Risk in Patients with Metastatic Cancer to the Spine

Purpose: Skeletal metastases affect up to 85% of breast cancer patients by the time of their death. This prospective in vivo study evaluated the diagnostic performance of computed tomography–based structural rigidity analysis (CTRA) to predict vertebral fracture risk in breast cancer patients with skeletal metastasis and in comparison with the current standard of care. Experimental Design: Torso CT scans of 94 women with vertebral metastatic breast cancer were obtained as part of routine screening for lung and liver metastases. The load-bearing capacity (LBC) and axial (EA) and bending (EI) rigidities of vertebrae T8 to L5 were calculated from CT images. The LBC was normalized by patient body mass index (BMI) to account for height and mass variations. Vertebral fracture risk was also calculated using the current radiographic-based criteria based on lesion size and location. The actual occurrence of a new vertebral fracture was assessed radiographically over the ensuing 4 months. Results: Eleven vertebral fractures occurred in 10 patients. The structural parameters EA, EI, LBC, and LBC/BMI were all 100% sensitive and 55%, 53%, 44%, and 70% specific to predict fracture risk, respectively. Although radiographic criteria correctly predicted all fracture cases (100% sensitive), only 48 of the 236 spinal segments that did not have a fracture were correctly predicted not to fracture (20% specific). Conclusions: CTRA, using CT scans as part of routine screening for lung and liver metastasis, is shown to be as sensitive as, and significantly more specific than, the current radiographic criteria for predicting vertebral fracture in breast cancer patients with skeletal metastasis. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(24):7676–83)
The critical role of subjectivity at the item level in a test of spoken English: variability in rater estimations

I DECLARATION . II ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . III TABLE OF CONTENTS . V LIST OF TABLES . IX LIST OF FIGURES . XI CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY . 1 1.2. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY . 5 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS . 7 1.4. STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS . 8 1.5. USING SIMILAR TERMINOLOGIES . 10 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW . 12 2.
Diameters , centers , and approximating trees of δ-hyperbolic geodesic spaces and graphs ∗ [ Extended Abstract ]

δ-Hyperbolic metric spaces have been defined by M. Gromov in 1987 via a simple 4-point condition: for any four points u, v, w, x, the two larger of the distance sums d(u, v)+ d(w, x), d(u, w) + d(v, x), d(u, x) + d(v, w) differ by at most 2δ. They play an important role in geometric group theory, geometry of negatively curved spaces, and have recently become of interest in several domains of computer science. Given a finite set S of points of a δ-hyperbolic space, we present simple and fast methods for approximating the diameter of S with an additive error 2δ and computing an approximate radius and center of a smallest enclosing ball for S with an additive error 3δ. These algorithms run in linear time for classical hyperbolic spaces and for δ-hyperbolic graphs and networks. Furthermore, we show that for δ-hyperbolic graphs G = (V, E) with uniformly bounded degrees of vertices, the exact center of S can be computed in linear time O(|E|). We also provide a simple construction of distance approximating trees of δ-hyperbolic graphs G = (V, E) on n vertices with an additive error O(δ log2 n). This construction has an additive error comparable with that given by M. Gromov for n-point δ-hyperbolic spaces, but can be implemented in linear time O(|E|) (instead of O(n)). Finally, we establish that several geometrically defined classes of graphs have bounded hyperbolicity.
Introducing family medicine in a pluralistic health care system: how patients and doctors see it.

BACKGROUND The health care systems in many countries are focused on specialist care. In those countries that have recently changed to a primary care-based system, some doctors and patients were dissatisfied with the change. OBJECTIVE To explore the opinions of the general public and the doctors on the change to a family medicine (FM)-based health care system. METHODS Qualitative study with focus groups of doctors working in different practice settings. Quantitative study with questionnaires sent to all doctors registered in Hong Kong and a telephone survey targeting the general public aged ≥18. RESULTS Doctors in the focus groups generally supported a FM-based health care system. They were concerned that there were not enough family doctors for such a system and the patients' current free choice of any doctor for primary care would impede its success. Thousand six hundred and forty-seven adults took part in the telephone survey (response rate 67.6%) and 2310 doctors (22.8%) responded to the questionnaire. Nearly 95% of the general public respondents agreed to the FM system though only 66.3% of them had ever heard of the term family doctor. About 65% of the doctors supported this system but only 33% agreed that the system would work. The specialist-doctors were less supportive of mandatory referral than the non-specialists, while the public was equally divided on this issue. CONCLUSIONS The public accepts the FM-based system but needs education on the benefits of primary health care. Direct access to the specialist would be the greatest barrier. Government involvements are essential for the reform.
A generating set direct search augmented Lagrangian algorithm for optimization with a combination of general and linear constraints

We consider the solution of nonlinear programs in the case where derivatives of the objective function and nonlinear constraints are unavailable. To solve such problems, we propose an adaptation of a method due to Conn, Gould, Sartenaer, and Toint that proceeds by approximately minimizing a succession of linearly constrained augmented Lagrangians. Our modification is to use a 3 derivative-free generating set direct search algorithm to solve the linearly constrained subproblems. The stopping criterion proposed by Conn, Gould, Sartenaer and Toint for the approximate solution of the subproblems requires explicit knowledge of derivatives. Such information is presumed absent in the generating set search method we employ. Instead, we show that stationarity results for linearly constrained generating set search methods provide a derivative-free stopping criterion, based on a step-length control parameter, that is sufficient to preserve the convergence properties of the original augmented Lagrangian algorithm.
A second‐order BGK scheme for the equations of radiation hydrodynamics

We present a second‐order BGK scheme for the equations of multidimensional radiation hydrodynamics (RHE) in zero diffusion limit by using the generalized Maxwellian (Comput. Fluids 2000; 29:917–933) and the second‐order BGK scheme for the Euler equations (J. Comput. Phys. 1993; 109:53–66; Gas Kinetic Scheme for Unsteady Compressible Flow Simulations. Lecture Note Series 1998‐03. Von Kárman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, 1998). This extends a (first‐order) kinetic flux vector splitting scheme (KFVS) for RHE (Tang and Wu (2000)) to a second‐order BGK scheme. Several one‐ and two‐dimensional numerical examples demonstrate improvement of the scheme in accuracy and resolution compared with the KFVS scheme (Tang and Wu (2000)) and the first‐order BGK scheme. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A quinine-activated cationic conductance in vertebrate taste receptor cells

The chincona alkaloid quinine is known to be a bitter tasting substance for various vertebrates. We examined the effects of quinine on isolated taste receptor cells from the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). Membrane currents were recorded by whole-cell recording, while quinine hydrochloride was applied extracellularly from a puffer pipette. At the resting potential (-77 +/- 9 mV, mean +/- SD, n = 49 cells), taste cells generated inward currents in response to quinine stimulation (> 1 mM), indicating a depolarizing response in the taste cells. Two types of current responses were observed; a newly found quinine-activated cationic conductance and a previously reported blocking effect of quinine on K+ conductances. The cationic current was isolated from the K+ current by using a Cs(+)-containing patch pipette. The relative permeabilities (Pion) of the quinine-activated cationic conductance were: PNa/PK/PCs = 1:0.5:0.42. The quinine dose-response relation was described by the Hill equation with the K1/2 of 3.6 mM and Hill coefficient of 5.3. When extracellular [Ca2+] (1.8 mM) was reduced to nominally free, the conductance was enhanced by about sixfold. This property is consistent with observations on quinine responses recorded from the gustatory nerve, in vivo. The quinine-induced cationic current was decreased with an application of 8-bromo-cAMP. We conclude that the bitter substance quinine activates a cation channel in taste receptor cells and this channel plays an important role in bitter taste transduction.
Organizational structure and CEO dominance

We explore the effects of chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) personal dominance—an idiosyncratic character trait strongly associated with a desire for influence and control—on two fundamental organizational design decisions: the CEO’s span of control (1) and her delegation of responsibilities as reflected in the appointment of a chief operating officer (COO) (2). Linking three original measures of CEO dominance based on quarterly earnings calls with manually collected data on span of control and COO positions for a sample of CEOs presiding over large US corporations, we demonstrate that CEOs who are high in dominance have a significantly larger personal span of control and delegate fewer decision rights than less-dominant CEOs. We discuss implications of our findings and future questions from an organizational design perspective.
True Friends Let You Down: Benchmarking Social Graph Anonymization Schemes

Greater demand for social graph data among researchers and analysts has fueled an increase in such datasets being published. Consequently, concerns about privacy breach have also risen steadily. To mitigate privacy risks a myriad of social graph anonymization schemes have been proposed. Anonymizing high dimensional data is a very hard problem and conventionally it is considered unwise to publish graph data even without identifiers. Often the schemes proposed provide no proof of efficacy and are designed to defeat only a narrow set of attacks. To facilitate benchmarking of perturbation-based social graph anonymization schemes we propose a machine learning framework which provides a quick and automated platform to evaluate and compare the schemes. We present a mechanism to train the framework without ground truth. We present graph structure based node features that can be easily tuned to accommodate weak or strong adversaries as well as node and edge attributes. The framework provides a granular graph structure-based metric to capture the likelihood of a node being re-identified. We conduct a thorough analysis of the effect of graph perturbation on anonymity achieved and utility preserved using publicly available real world social graphs. To this end we analyze six popular graph perturbation schemes including those promising k-anonymity. Our techniques automate weeding out poor anonymization schemes. Experiments show that it is hard to provide anonymity while preserving utility whereas some schemes destroy utility without providing much anonymity. All useful anonymization schemes leave a fraction a true edges intact and these true friends lead to the re-identification of nodes.
The Effect of Life Transitions and Emotions on Food Choices in Older Adults

In times of product abundance and information overload, new marketing approaches have to be found in order to successfully launch food products on the market. Results of this dissertation confirm life transitions as “moments of change” – namely those times when preference changes in older adults occur more often. Moreover, positive life transitions have been found to increase the likelihood of making novel choices. Implications of these findings are relevant for the marketing of new products, consumer segmentation, and for policy makers in the context of enabling behavior change.
Examining the Relationship Between Gifted Behavior Rating Scores and Student Academic Performance

iii DEDICATION . iv LIST OF TABLES . viii LIST OF FIGURES . ix Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 History of Gifted Education . 1 Statement of the Problem . 2 Purpose of the Study . 4 Research Questions . 5 Significance of the Study . 5 Definition of Terms.5 Summary . 6 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 8 Introduction to the Literature Review . 8 Conceptual Framework . 9 Historical Conceptualization of Giftedness . 14 Talent Development Approach . 18 Underrepresentation in Gifted Education . 22 Barriers in gifted education . 22 Policy perspectives.25 Cultural proficiency . 28 Culturally responsive teaching . 31
Optical and Near-Infrared Imaging of Infrared-Excess Palomar-Green Quasars

Ground-based high spatial resolution (FWHM < 0.″3–0.″8) optical and near-infrared imaging (0.4–2.2 μm) is presented for a complete sample of optically selected Palomar-Green QSOs with far-infrared excesses at least as great as those of "warm" AGN-like ultraluminous infrared galaxies (Lir/LBBB > 0.46). In all cases, the host galaxies of the QSOs were detected, and most have discernible two-dimensional structure. The QSO host galaxies and the QSO nuclei are similar in magnitude at H band. H-band luminosities of the hosts range from 0.5–7.5 L*, with a mean of 2.3 L*, and are consistent with those found in ultraluminous infrared galaxies. Both the QSO nuclei and the host galaxies have near-infrared excesses, which may be the result of dust associated with the nucleus and of recent dusty star formation in the host. These results suggest that some, but not all, optically selected QSOs may have evolved from an infrared active state triggered by the merger of two similarly sized L* galaxies, in a manner similar to that of the ultraluminous infrared galaxies.
Four sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Belgian general practice: first results (2013–2014) of a nationwide continuing surveillance study

Objectives To describe and explore data from the surveillance of chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhoea and genital warts by the Belgian Network of Sentinel General Practices (SGP) over the first 2 years (2013 and 2014) and to estimate the incidence of these 4 sexually transmitted infections (STIs). A special focus is put on data quality. Design Retrospective observational study. Setting General practices from the nationwide representative SGP network. Outcome measures Agreement between data distributions by year, agreement between SGP-based incidence and incidence based on mandatory notification, missingness of patient age or gender and incompleteness of sexual risk history of patients. Results 306 new STI episodes were reported from 298 patients, corresponding with an episode-based incidence of 91.9/100 000 (95% CI 81.9 to 102.8) general practice patients, with almost half of it due to chlamydia. The incidence of chlamydia in men was significantly higher in 2014 than in 2013. Population characteristics were similarly distributed in 2013 and 2014. The SGP-based incidence of gonorrhoea and syphilis in Flanders were in agreement with the incidence based on mandatory notification of cases. Patient age or gender was missing from 35 episodes (11.4%). Independent determinants of missingness of patient age or gender were the Flemish region (OR 3.46; 95% CI 1.02 to 11.73) and genital warts infection (OR 2.23; 95% CI 1.07 to 4.63). An incomplete sexual risk history was reported for 54.6% STI episodes. The odds for an incomplete sexual history were higher for older patients (OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.06 to 2.76) and for patients infected with syphilis, gonorrhoea or co-infection(s) (OR 1.71; 95% CI 1.03 to 2.83). Conclusions Incompleteness of reports about patients with STI sexual risk histories is important from the perspective of quality of data and of quality of care. Together with the low rates of both HIV testing and discussion of partner notification, this suggests that a general practice guideline is needed.
Nonnegative Decomposition of Multivariate Information

Of the various attempts to generalize information theory to multiple variables, the most widely utilized, interaction information, suffers from the problem that it is sometimes negative. Here we reconsider from first principles the general structure of the information that a set of sources provides about a given variable. We begin with a new definition of redundancy as the minimum information that any source provides about each possible outcome of the variable, averaged over all possible outcomes. We then show how this measure of redundancy induces a lattice over sets of sources that clarifies the general structure of multivariate information. Finally, we use this redundancy lattice to propose a definition of partial information atoms that exhaustively decompose the Shannon information in a multivariate system in terms of the redundancy between synergies of subsets of the sources. Unlike interaction information, the atoms of our partial information decomposition are never negative and always support a clear interpretation as informational quantities. Our analysis also demonstrates how the negativity of interaction information can be explained by its confounding of redundancy and synergy.
Customers' Responses to Crowded Restaurant Environments: Cross-Cultural Differences Between American and Chinese

ABSTRACT The study aims at demonstrating cultural differences between Americans and Chinese in terms of customer's perceptions and satisfaction of crowded environments within the context of restaurant settings. It has been noted that culture has a substantial impact on customer affection and judgment, and crowding in service environments is a critical antecedent of customer satisfaction. Considering these main themes, this study examined how cultural differences play a role in predicting customer satisfaction within the crowded restaurant setting. With the use of customers from the two different cultures in an experimental study, participants' responses to similarly crowded environments in a restaurant were compared. It is revealed that customer perceptions of crowdedness negatively influence their satisfaction, but the relationships vary depending on customer's cultural background. Cultural differences also appear to be substantial in predicting customer satisfaction.
Utilization of CT Pulmonary Angiography in Suspected Pulmonary Embolism in a Major Urban Emergency Department

Objectives. We conducted a study to answer 3 questions: (1) is CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) overutilized in suspected pulmonary embolism (PE)? (2) What alternative diagnoses are provided by CTPA? (3) Can CTPA be used to evaluate right ventricular dilatation (RVD)? Methods. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical information of 231 consecutive emergency department patients who underwent CTPA for suspected PE over a one-year period. Results. The mean age of our patients was 53 years, and 58.4% were women. The prevalence of PE was 20.7%. Among the 136 patients with low clinical probability of PE, a d-dimer test was done in 54.4%, and it was normal in 24.3%; none of these patients had PE. The most common alternative findings on CTPA were emphysema (7.6%), pneumonia (7%), atelectasis (5.5%), bronchiectasis (3.8%), and congestive heart failure (3.3%). The sensitivity and negative predictive value of CTPA for (RVD) was 92% and 80%, respectively. Conclusions. PE could have been excluded without CTPA in ~1 out of 4 patients with low clinical probability of PE, if a formal assessment of probability and d-dimer test had been done. In patients without PE, CTPA did not provide an alternative diagnosis in 65%. In patients with PE, CTPA showed the potential to evaluate RVD.
The brain's orienting response: An event‐related functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation

An important function of the brain's orienting response is to enable the evaluation of novel, environmental events in order to prepare for potential behavioral action. Here, we assessed the event‐related hemodynamic (erfMRI) correlates of this phenomenon using unexpected (i.e., novel) environmental sounds presented within the context of an auditory novelty oddball paradigm. In ERP investigations of the novelty oddball, repetition of the identical novel sound leads to habituation of the novelty P3, an ERP sign of the orienting response. Repetition also leads to an enhancement of a subsequent positivity that appears to reflect semantic analysis of the environmental sounds. In this adaptation for erfMRI recording, frequent tones were intermixed randomly with infrequent target tones and equally infrequent novel, environmental sounds. Subjects responded via speeded button press to targets. To assess habituation, some of the environmental sounds were repeated two blocks after their initial presentation. As expected, novel sounds and target tones led to activation of widespread, but somewhat different, neural networks. Contrary to expectation, however, there were no significant areas in which activation was reduced in response to second compared to first presentations of the novel sounds. Conversely, novel sounds relative to target tones engendered activity in the inferior frontal gyrus (BA 45) consistent with semantic analysis of these events. We conclude that a key concomitant of the orienting response is the extraction of meaning, thereby enabling one to determine the significance of the environmental perturbation and take appropriate goal‐directed action. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.