Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Spiritual Therapy on Marital Satisfaction among Addicts in Treatment Period

Background and Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of spiritual therapy on marital satisfaction among addicts in treatment period. Materials and Methods: The research design is semi experimental. In order to achieve this goal, among addicts in treatment period, 30 people (15 people in the experimental group and 15 in the control group) who had the lowest score in the marital satisfaction questionnaire were selected by purposive sampling . Marital satisfaction test was used as pre-test and post-test. Then, 10 sessions for the experimental group on spiritual healing were held each week for 2 sessions of 80 minutes. After the last session, both groups were asked to answer the questionnaires again . Finally, the obtained data were analyzed using covariance analysis. Findings: The results showed that spiritual therapy affects the marital satisfaction among addicts in treatment period, but the effect of this method on marital satisfaction is small. Ethical Considerations: After explaining the goals of the study, informed consent was obtained. The questionnaires were anonymous and convinced participants that their information would remain confidential and results would be published totally. Conclusion: These results showed that spiritual therapy sessions have an effect on increasing marital satisfaction. Cite this article as: Molayi H, Dortaj F. Effect of Spiritual Therapy on Marital Satisfaction among Addicts in Treatment Period. Med Ethics J. 2018; 12(43): e15.
The Political Cost of War Mobilization in Democracies and Dictatorships

Recent research concludes fighting or losing an interstate war is not costlier for democratic leaders than dictators, which implies most of our institutional explanations for differences in conflict behavior across regime type rest on empirically tenuous assumptions. I argue military mobilization, a fundamental but often overlooked aspect of war, should be costlier for democrats than dictators. Waging interstate war is associated with higher military spending and, often, lower social spending. Variation across regime type in the representation of the general public, civilian elite, and military in leaders’ winning coalitions should make democrats more likely than dictators to lose power given wartime patterns of government spending. This argument finds support during the period from 1950 to 2001. My findings provide microfoundations for a number of existing empirical results and suggest that differences in the conflict behavior of democracies and dictatorships should be largest when waging war requires a significant mobilization effort.
Causal relationship between construction flows and GDP: evidence from Hong Kong

Granger causality methodology is used to investigate lead-lag relationships between construction activity and aggregate economy. Using data from Hong Kong, the results of this paper suggest strongly that the GDP tends to lead the construction flow not vice versa. Our finding is contrary to the view that construction is more volatile than the GDP. However, our results show that the construction volatility after 1990 is smaller than that in the period 1983-1989, a result that is particularly important for policymakers in that it is the macroeconomic policy of government that affects output, and influences the construction activity, and not vice versa.
Wood, animals and human beings as reservoirs for human Cryptococcus neoformans infection.

Cryptococcus neoformanswas first cultivated by Sanfelice from fermenting peach juice in 1894. At the same time, Busse and Buschke reported, separately, the first case of human disease caused by this yeast. During the next years, the fungus was isolated only from lesions or secretions of men or animals. In 1951, Emmons reported the isolation of C. neoformans from soils of Virginia and, in 1955, demonstrated that virulent strains of C. neoformans were found commonly and abundantly in pigeon manure under roosting sites. Since cryptococcosis is not contagious, and virulent strains of C. neoformans are not isolated from skin, mucosa or feces of man with sufficient frequency to support the concept of an endogenous source of infection, Emmons concluded that the exposure of men and animals to pigeon excreta could explain adequately the epidemiology of cryptococcosis [1]. This saprophytic source of C. neoformans has been recognized in many areas of the world, but many questions about the ecology of C. neoformans and the epidemiology of cryptococcosis still remain unanswered. C. neoformans, the anamorph of Filobasidiella neoformans, is an encapsulated basidiomycetous yeast with two varieties - var. neoformans (serotypes A, D, and AD) and var. gattii (serotypes B and C) - with distinct life cycles, physiology, ecology and genetics [2,3]. Infection caused by C. neoformans var. gattii is restricted to some geographical areas, mainly tropical and subtropical regions, occurring predominantly in non-immunocompromised individuals [4,5], whereas reported cases of opportunistic cryptococcosis throughout the world are usually due to C. neoformans var. neoformans. In nature, C. neoformans var. gattii has been isolated from plant debris of Eucalyptus trees in some endemic areas of cryptococcosis due to the variety gattii [6], but it has not been demonstrated in avian droppings and soils contaminated by avian excreta, the major saprophytic source of C. neoformans var. neoformans. The ecology of C. neoformans was recently reviewed by Sorrell and Ellis [7]. Human infection by C. neoformansis thought to be acquired by inhalation of airborne propagules from an environmental source [3]. However, evidences for an epidemiological association between exposure to saprophytic sources of C. neoformans and human infection are circumstantial. C. neoformans yeast cells in soils and in avian nesting areas possess minimal capsule, may be smaller than 2 µm, and are easily aerosolized. On the other hand, basidiospores of F. neoformans, which have been demonstrated to be pathogenic in animal experiments, have characteristics that favor them to be more readily deposited in the lungs than the yeast cells: they are smaller (1.8 x 2.5 µm in diameter), easily aerosolized, and much more resistant to desiccation than yeast cells [8]. Human infection and exposure to natural sources of C. neoformans var. neoformans
Acoustic scene classification with matrix factorization for unsupervised feature learning

In this paper we study the use of unsupervised feature learning for acoustic scene classification (ASC). The acoustic environment recordings are represented by time-frequency images from which we learn features in an unsupervised manner. After a set of preprocessing and pooling steps, the images are decomposed using matrix factorization methods. By decomposing the data on a learned dictionary, we use the projection coefficients as features for classification. An experimental evaluation is done on a large ASC dataset to study popular matrix factorization methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) as well as some of their extensions including sparse, kernel based and convolutive variants. The results show the compared variants lead to significant improvement compared to the state-of-the-art results in ASC.
Elevated skin autofluorescence is strongly associated with foot ulcers in patients with diabetes: a cross-sectional, observational study of Chinese subjects

ObjectiveThis study was designed to evaluate the association between skin autofluorescence (AF), an indicator of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), and foot ulcers in subjects with diabetes.MethodsIn this study, 195 Chinese diabetic subjects were examined. Their feet were examined regardless of whether an ulcer was present or not. Skin AF was measured with an AGE reader. Demographic characteristics and blood data were recorded.ResultsThe mean values of skin AF were 2.29±0.47 for subjects without foot ulcers, and 2.80±0.69 for those with foot ulcers, a significant difference (P<0.05). Skin AF was strongly correlated with age and duration of diabetes. After adjusting for these factors, multivariate logistic regression showed that skin AF was independently associated with foot ulcerations.ConclusionsSkin AF is independently associated with diabetic foot ulcerations. It might be a useful screening method for foot ulceration risk of diabetic patients.
Analysis of oxidative status and biochemical parameters in adult patients with sickle cell anemia treated with hydroxyurea, Ceará, Brazil

Background Sickle cell anemia is a hemoglobinopathy caused by a mutation that results in the production of an abnormal hemoglobin molecule, hemoglobin S (Hb S). This is responsible for profound physiological changes, such as the sickling of red blood cells. Several studies have shown that hydroxyurea protects against vaso-occlusive crises. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the oxidative stress associated with biochemical parameters in patients with sickle cell anemia treated with hydroxyurea. Methods The study was conducted with 20 male and 25 female patients at the Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio. The patients were divided into two groups: a study group (n = 12), patients with sickle cell anemia who were receiving hydroxyurea and a control group (n = 33) of sickle cell anemia patients not submitted to hydroxyurea treatment. The biochemical parameters analyzed were ferritin, transferrin, and serum iron. Glutathione was measured in its reduced form to analyze the oxidative state. Results The results showed insignificant increases in the levels of serum iron, transferrin and ferritin in patients treated with hydroxyurea when compared with those who did not take the medication. However, the glutathione levels were significantly higher in patients taking hydroxyurea than in controls. Conclusions These results indicate that hydroxyurea possibly acts as an antioxidant by increasing glutathione levels.
Web Query Automatic Expansion Based on Tolerance Rough Set

Much effort has been made to provide tools for searching information on the Web. As a result, many Web search engines are available for user to utilize the rich Web resources. However, due to the enormous size of the Web and low precision of user queries, results returned from present Web search engines are not always satisfactory. One approach to resolve this problem is by expanding the query using "correlated" terms. In this paper, a method for expansion query based on tolerance rough set is presented, which made use of the term co-occurrence to enrich description of Web query. Experiments on the proposal approach were performed. The precision comparison between the proposal system and the well-known Web search engine-Google on a collection of 5,000 Web pages was presented. As a result, improvement of the results precision was achieved by using tolerance classes
Bortezomib before and after autologous stem cell transplantation overcomes the negative prognostic impact of renal impairment in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma: a subgroup analysis from the HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4 trial

Renal impairment is frequent in patients with multiple myeloma and is correlated with an inferior prognosis. This analysis evaluates the prognostic role of renal impairment in patients with myeloma treated with bortezomib before and after autologous stem cell transplantation within a prospective randomized phase III trial. Eight hundred and twenty-seven newly diagnosed myeloma patients in the HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4 trial were randomized to receive three cycles of vincristine, adriamycin, dexamethasone (VAD) or bortezomib, adriamycin, dexamethasone (PAD) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation and maintenance with thalidomide 50 mg daily (VAD-arm) or bortezomib 1.3 mg/m2 every 2 weeks (PAD-arm). Baseline serum creatinine was less than 2 mg/dL (Durie-Salmon-stage A) in 746 patients and 2 mg/dL or higher (stage B) in 81. In myeloma patients with a baseline creatinine ≥2 mg/dL the renal response rate was 63% in the VAD-arm and 81% in the PAD-arm (P=0.31). The overall myeloma response rate was 64% in the VAD-arm versus 89% in the PAD-arm with 13% complete responses in the VAD-arm versus 36% in the PAD-arm (P=0.01). Overall survival at 3 years for patients with a baseline creatinine ≥2 mg/dL was 34% in the VAD-arm versus 74% in the PAD-arm (P<0.001) with a progression-free survival rate at 3 years of 16% in the VAD-arm versus 48% in the PAD-arm (P=0.004). Overall and progression-free survival rates in the PAD-arm were similar in patients with a baseline creatinine ≥2 mg/dL or <2 mg/dL. We conclude that a bortezomib-containing treatment before and after autologous stem cell transplantation overcomes the negative prognostic impact of renal impairment in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The trial was registered at www.trialregister. nl as NTR213 and at www.controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN 64455289
QUANTITATIVE BOUNDS FOR HURWITZ STABLE POLYNOMIALS UNDER MULTIPLIER TRANSFORMATIONS SPUR FINAL PAPER

We extend results of Borcea and Brändén to quantitatively bound the movement of the zeros of Hurwitz stable polynomials under linear multiplier operators. For a multiplier operator T on polynomials of degree up to n, we show that the ratio between the maximal real part of the zeros of a Hurwitz stable polynomial f and that of its transform T [f ] is minimized for the polynomial (z + 1). For T operating on polynomials of all degrees, we use the classical PólyaSchur theorem to derive an asymptotic formula for the maximal real part of the zeros of T [(z+1)], and consider the action of T on classes of entire functions. We develop interlacing controls on the transformations of real-rooted polynomials. On the basis of numerical evidence, we conjecture several further quantitative controls on the zeros of Hurwitz stable polynomials under multiplier operators.
Cycle Length Restitution in Sinoatrial Node Cells: A Theory for Understanding Spontaneous Action Potential Dynamics

Normal heart rhythm (sinus rhythm) is governed by the sinoatrial node, a specialized and highly heterogeneous collection of spontaneously active myocytes in the right atrium. Sinoatrial node dysfunction, characterized by slow and/or asynchronous pacemaker activity and even failure, is associated with cardiovascular disease (e.g. heart failure, atrial fibrillation). While tremendous progress has been made in understanding the molecular and ionic basis of automaticity in sinoatrial node cells, the dynamics governing sinoatrial nodel cell synchrony and overall pacemaker function remain unclear. Here, a well-validated computational model of the mouse sinoatrial node cell is used to test the hypothesis that sinoatrial node cell dynamics reflect an inherent restitution property (cycle length restitution) that may give rise to a wide range of behavior from regular periodicity to highly complex, irregular activation. Computer simulations are performed to determine the cycle length restitution curve in the computational model using a newly defined voltage pulse protocol. The ability of the restitution curve to predict sinoatrial node cell dynamics (e.g., the emergence of irregular spontaneous activity) and susceptibility to termination is evaluated. Finally, ionic and tissue level factors (e.g. ion channel conductances, ion concentrations, cell-to-cell coupling) that influence restitution and sinoatrial node cell dynamics are explored. Together, these findings suggest that cycle length restitution may be a useful tool for analyzing cell dynamics and dysfunction in the sinoatrial node.
Object Pointing: A Complement to Bitmap Pointing in GUIs

Pointing has been conceptualized and implemented so far as the act of selecting pixels in bitmap displays. We show that the current technique, which we call bitmap pointing (BMP), is often sub-optimal as it requires continuous information from the mouse while the system often just needs the discrete specification of objects. The paper introduces object pointing (OP), a novel interaction technique based on a special screen cursor that skips empty spaces, thus drastically reducing the waste of input information. We report data from 1D and 2D Fitts' law experiments showing that OP outperforms BMP and that the performance facilitation increases with the task's index of difficulty. We discuss the implementation of OP in current interfaces.
Overcoming Overhang: Agency Costs, Investment and the Option to Repurchase Debt

The presence of risky debt in a firm’s capital structure can le ad to inefficient investment decisions when managers act in the interest of shareholders. Based on this agency cost perspective, I describe the market for debt repurchases and examine whether debt repurchase activity is consistent with a firm’s desire to mitigate debt overhang. I pres ent an agency model of debt which demonstrates that when a firm faces a debt overhang problem, t he value of a reduction in debt can outweigh the cost of the repurchase and increase the welfare of both stockholders and bondholders. Using a sample of debt repurchases initiated by U.S. firms ove r the period 1996 to 2004, I find evidence consistent with the agency cost model of corporate debt policy. Specifically, I find that firms are more likely to repurchase outstanding debt either b y open market transactions or tender offers when potential transfers to bondholders are high. Employing a matching methodology based on propensity scores, I document significant increases in fir m investment levels and efficiency for repurchasing firms relative to a control sample. This improv ement is more pronounced for firms with higher expected transfers to bondholders (overhang). In addition, the efficiency improvements are concentrated in investment expenditures related to new investment projects, rather than in expenditures on maintaining existing assets. This finding is r obust to corrections for selection bias and endogeneity, as well as various proxies for growth opportunities.
Unacceptable grammars? an eye-tracking study of English negative concord

abstract This paper uses eye-tracking while reading to examine Standard English speakers’ processing of sentences with two syntactic negations: a negative auxiliary and either a negative subject (e.g., Nothing didn’t fall from the shelf) or a negative object (e.g., She didn’t answer nothing in that interview). Sentences were read in Double Negation (DN; the ‘she answered something’ reading of she didn’t answer nothing) and Negative Concord (NC; the ‘she answered nothing’ reading of she didn’t answer nothing) biasing contexts. Despite the social stigma associated with NC, and linguistic assumptions that Standard English has a DN grammar, in which each syntactic negation necessarily contributes a semantic negation, our results show that Standard English speakers generate both NC and DN interpretations, and that their interpretation is affected by the syntactic structure of the negative sentence. Participants spent more time reading the critical sentence and rereading the context sentence when negative object sentences were paired with DN-biasing contexts and when negative subject sentences were paired with NC-biasing contexts. This suggests that, despite not producing NC, they find NC interpretations of negative object sentences easier to generate than DN interpretations. The results illustrate the utility of online measures when investigating socially stigmatized construction types.
Aggregation of mononuclear and red blood cells through an α4β1-Lu/basal cell adhesion molecule interaction in sickle cell disease

Background Abnormal interactions between red blood cells, leukocytes and endothelial cells play a critical role in the occurrence of the painful vaso-occlusive crises associated with sickle cell disease. We investigated the interaction between circulating leukocytes and red blood cells which could lead to aggregate formation, enhancing the incidence of vaso-occlusive crises. Design and Methods Blood samples from patients with sickle cell disease (n=25) and healthy subjects (n=5) were analyzed by imaging and classical flow cytometry after density gradient separation. The identity of the cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell layer was determined using antibodies directed specifically against white (anti-CD45) or red (anti-glycophorin A) blood cells. Results Aggregates between red blood cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were visualized in whole blood from patients with sickle cell disease. The aggregation rate was 10-fold higher in these patients than in control subjects. Both mature red blood cells and reticulocytes were involved in these aggregates through their interaction with mononuclear cells, mainly with monocytes. The size of the aggregates was variable, with one mononuclear cell binding to one, two or several red blood cells. Erythroid Lu/basal cell adhesion molecule and α4β1 integrin were involved in aggregate formation. The aggregation rate was lower in patients treated with hydroxycarbamide than in untreated patients. Conclusions Our study gives visual evidence of the existence of circulating red blood cell-peripheral blood mononuclear cell aggregates in patients with sickle cell disease and shows that these aggregates are decreased during hydroxycarbamide treatment. Our results strongly suggest that erythroid Lu/basal cell adhesion molecule proteins are implicated in these aggregates through their interaction with α4β1 integrin on peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
The Importance of Gestational Sac Size of Ectopic Pregnancy in Response to Single-Dose Methotrexate

This retrospective cohort study was designed in a selective group of 185 patients diagnosed with and treated for ectopic pregnancy. Intramuscular administration of a single dose of methotrexate (50 mg/m2) was performed to measure predictors of failure or resistance to treatment necessitating surgical intervention. During the time of treatment with a single dose of MTX, 20 patients (10.8%) failed to response, in which 6 of 20 (30%) indicated side effects to MTX and rupture of the ectopic pregnancy. Remaining cases (n = 14) showed resistance to the drug; the level of β-hCG did not fall at least 15% during 7 days after treatment and necessitated laparotomy. In backward-step analysis by multiple logistic regressions of various types of predictor factors, size of gestational sac (coefficient = 1.91, OR = 6.78, 95% confidence interval = 3.18–8.22) and baseline level β-hCG (coefficient = 1.60, OR = 5.0, 95% confidence interval = 4.26–6.72) had significant correlation with leading EP patients failing to response to MTX. This study suggests that further investigation for finding relative contraindications of MTX treatment in EP women should be considered on the gestational sac size because other variables are in the causal pathway of this variable.