Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of hypertension in older adults.

SIR,-The recent report on the principal results of the Medical Research Council's trial of treatment of hypertension in older adults' has led to a suggestion that hydrophilic and lipophilic 13 blockers differ in terms of their cardioprotective effects.2 Such a suggestion deserves careful consideration in view of its widespread implications, if true. Martin J Kendall invokes the literature on the long term use of 13 blockers in secondary prevention as evidence for the hypothesis.2 This is indeed the most extensive and well documented source of controlled (and relevant) data. The original overview of the trials included over 20000 patients treated long term3; the updated analysis added two more trials,4 and to these should now be added the APSI trial,' making a total of over 24 000 patients. The hydrophilicity of the 13 blockers in these studies can be quantified by their distribution coefficients between octanol and aqueous buffer.67 Dividing the range of values of the distribution coefficients into equal and logical intervals on a logarithmic scale separated the 13 blockers into four groups with similar degrees of hydrophilicity (see table) and had the added statistical advantage of dividing the clinical trials into four roughly equal sized groups in terms of total patient numbers. The apparent mortality benefit was calculated separately for each group of 13 blockers over the relevant subset of trials using standard methodology.3 The table shows the results. No relation was immediately evident nor was it disclosed by more careful statistical testing either with a general test for heterogeneity' (X2=064,
Scaffold-mediated gating of Cdc42 signalling flux

Scaffold proteins modulate signalling pathway activity spatially and temporally. In budding yeast, the scaffold Bem1 contributes to polarity axis establishment by regulating the GTPase Cdc42. Although different models have been proposed for Bem1 function, there is little direct evidence for an underlying mechanism. Here, we find that Bem1 directly augments the guanine exchange factor (GEF) activity of Cdc24. Bem1 also increases GEF phosphorylation by the p21-activated kinase (PAK), Cla4. Phosphorylation abrogates the scaffold-dependent stimulation of GEF activity, rendering Cdc24 insensitive to additional Bem1. Thus, Bem1 stimulates GEF activity in a reversible fashion, contributing to signalling flux through Cdc42. The contribution of Bem1 to GTPase dynamics was borne-out by in vivo imaging: active Cdc42 was enriched at the cell pole in hypophosphorylated cdc24 mutants, while hyperphosphorylated cdc24 mutants that were resistant to scaffold stimulation displayed a deficit in active Cdc42 at the pole. These findings illustrate the self-regulatory properties that scaffold proteins confer on signalling pathways. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.25257. 001
Diagnosic system for predicting bladder cancer recurrence using association rules

In this work we present a method based on association rules for the prediction of bladder cancer recurrence. Our objective is to provide a system which is on one hand comprehensible and on the other hand with a high sensitivity. Since data are not equitably distributed among the classes and since errors costs are asymmetric, we propose to handle separately the cases of recurrence and those of no-recurrence. Association rules are generated from each training set, using CBA algorithm, an associative classification approach. To represent the rules uncertainty, each rule is accompanied by a confidence degree estimated during the generation phase. Several symptoms of low intensity can be complementary and mutually reinforcing. This phenomenon is taken into account thanks to aggregate functions which strengthen the confidence degrees of the fired rules. The experimental results are very satisfactory and the sensibility rates are improved in comparison with some other approaches. In addition, interesting extracted knowledge was provided to oncologists.
Missense allele of a single nucleotide polymorphism rs2294008 attenuated antitumor effects of prostate stem cell antigen in gallbladder cancer cells

Background: Prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), an organ-dependent tumor suppressor, is down regulated in gallbladder cancer (GBC). It is anticipated that the missense allele C of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2294008 (T/C) in the translation initiation codon of the gene affects the gene's biological function and has some influence on GBC susceptibility. We examined the biological effect of the C allele on the function of the gene and the relation between the C allele and GBC susceptibility. Materials and Methods: Functional analysis of the SNP was conducted by introducing PSCA cDNA harboring the allele to a GBC cell line TGBC- 1TKB and performing colony formation assays in vitro and tumor formation assays in mice. The effect on transcriptional regulation was assessed by reporter assays. The association study was conducted on 44 Japanese GBC cases and 173 controls. Results: The PSCA cDNA harboring the C allele showed lower cell growth inhibition activity (20% reduction) than that with the T allele. Concordantly, when injected into subcutaneous tissues of mice, the GBC cell line stably expressing the cDNA with the C allele formed tumors of almost the same size as that of the control cells, but the cell line expressing the cDNA with the T allele showed slower growth. The upstream DNA fragment harboring the C allele had more transcriptional activity than that with the T allele. The C allele showed positive correlation to GBC but no statistical significant odds ratio (OR = 1.77, 95% confidence interval 0.85-3.70, P value = 0.127 in dominant model). Conclusions: The missense allele was shown to have a biological effect, attenuating antitumor activities of PSCA, and consequently it may be a potential risk for GBC development. An association study in a larger sample size may reveal a significant association between the allele and GBC.
Exact Riemann solution for the Euler equations with nonconvex and nonsmooth equation of state

This thesis is concerned with the solution of the Riemann problem for the Euler equations with nonconvex and nonsmooth equation of state. The main goal is to develop an exact Riemann solution by means of wave curve composition, which accounts for physically relevant effects such as composite waves or split waves across phase boundaries. A frequently considered experimental configuration is a shock tube, where two states of a fluid are initially separated by a diaphragm. Instantaneously removing the diaphragm leads to a development of various physical states embedded in moving separated regions inside the tube, where the fluid is compressed or rarefied in a specific manner. In contrast to the standard setting, where only shock waves and rarefaction waves exist, so-called BZT-fluids possess a region of negative nonlinearity in phase space. This leads to an additional wave type, composed of shock and rarefaction parts or to expansion shocks still satisfying the second law of thermodynamics. When we additionally take into account phase transitions, i.e., in our context transitions from vapor to liquid or vice versa, further non-classical effects such as wave splitting at the phase boundary may occur. In general the solution of a shock tube problem in space–time plane can be considered as a projection of wave curves in phase space. In short, each wave curve collects states which can be reached in a certain sense from its origin. If initial data is given, finding a solution to the shock tube problem means to determine the wave curves and the intermediate states, such that the wave curves form a way from one initial state to the other. Once the wave curves are constructed, the solution of the shock tube problem is known for all times due to the scale-invariance of the system. Here most of the mentioned aspects concerning solutions of a shock tube problem arise one–to–one for general hyperbolic systems of conservation laws. In summary, this thesis contains: (I) a construction principle in order to analytically construct the (Liu) entropy solution for the shock tube problem by composing waves, including the possibility of wave curves crossing phase boundaries and regions with negative nonlinearity; (II) an existence and uniqueness proof for the additional composite wave curve type occurring in the construction principle; (III) algorithms embedded in a library containing the exact Riemann solver to compute the solution for a shock tube problem numerically; (IV) comparisons of solutions of several numerical schemes for various configurations with the respective exact solution and the answer of the question, whether the schemes are capable to catch all new wave phenomena such as wave splitting.
Doing and undoing gender in policing

This article assesses the utility of ‘doing gender’ as a framework for examining gender issues in policing. Drawing on a longitudinal study in an Australian police force, the article seeks to explain the persistence of barriers to the integration of female officers after decades of equal employment laws and policies. The interviews make transparent the agency of male and female actors in sustaining or resisting the status quo. While there are real benefits in opening up the ‘doing gender’ framework to draw attention to contestations and challenges to gender hierarchy as suggested by the notion of ‘undoing gender’, the article demonstrates the complexity of gender practices in policing and rejects the posing of equality and difference as mutually exclusive alternatives.
Postmarketing Surveillance of Corneal Edema, Fuchs Dystrophy, and Amantadine Use in the Veterans Health Administration

Purpose: To determine the proportion of patients who were dispensed amantadine and diagnosed with corneal edema or Fuchs dystrophy within specified time frames. Methods: Postmarketing surveillance study. The national Veterans Health Administration pharmacy and clinical databases were used to identify a cohort of veterans without a prior history of corneal edema, Fuchs dystrophy, or a prescription for amantadine. During fiscal years 2005-2006, 2 databases were used to identify patients with new diagnoses of corneal disease and new prescriptions for amantadine. Patients from each were cross-referenced. The outcome measure was concurrent diagnosis of corneal edema or Fuchs dystrophy and new prescription for amantadine within specified intervals. Results: Thirty-six (0.27%) patients among the 13,137 who were dispensed amantadine were diagnosed with corneal edema or Fuchs dystrophy within the 2-year study period. The relative risk of corneal edema for a person prescribed amantadine was 1.7 (95% confidence interval: 1.1-2.8). In 12 (0.09%) patients, the corneal diagnoses were recorded within a month of being prescribed amantadine. Conclusions: Retrospective examination of a large national medical database revealed that amantadine was temporally associated with a small proportion of patients diagnosed with corneal edema or Fuchs dystrophy. Although additional studies are needed to confirm the risk of corneal edema with amantadine, the development of corneal edema in persons prescribed amantadine warrants clinical attention. In such a situation, physicians may consider stopping amantadine to see if the edema subsides.
Type 1 Regulatory T Cells and Regulatory B Cells Induced by Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells

Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen‐presenting cells that are capable of both activating immune responses and inducing tolerance. Several studies have revealed efficiency of therapeutic vaccination with tolerogenic DC (tolDC) in inhibition of experimental autoimmunity. The purpose of this study was to compare four different protocols for generation of tolDC – the antidiabetic drug troglitazone (TGZ DC), NF‐κB inhibitor BAY 11‐7082 (BAY DC), prostaglandin D2 metabolite 15d‐PGJ2 (PGJ DC) and a combination of dexamethasone and 1α,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 (DexVD3 DC) regarding phenotype, cytokine production and T cell stimulatory capacity. TGZ DC and BAY DC had a phenotype comparable to immature DC, while DexVD3 DC were more macrophage like. Analysis of cytokine production using cell culture supernatants from all DC populations revealed that DexVD3 DC were efficient producers of IL‐10 and produced less pro‐inflammatory cytokines. T cells primed with DexVD3 DC showed reduced proliferation, and further analyses of these T cells revealed that functionally effective type 1 regulatory T cells (Tr1) but not FoxP3+ Treg were induced. Furthermore, DexVD3 DC promoted the induction of regulatory B cells (Breg). Together, these results indicate that DexVD3 DC have the best potential to be used in a tolerogenic antigen‐presenting cell‐based immunotherapy setting.
Experimental Study of Subwavelength Waveguides Loaded by Electric and Magnetic Resonant Scatterer Arrays

The novel idea of the subwavelength waveguide transmission presented in this work relies on the insertion of electric and magnetic scatterer arrays in a rectangular waveguide. The transmission below waveguide cutoff takes place in the form of forward or backward waves, depending on the type and orientation of the inserted resonant elements. The design, fabrication and measurement of the loaded waveguides is described in this paper. The experimental results are compared with the numerical simulations and referred to the theoretical proposals known from the literature.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Legionnaires ' disease at a dutch flower show : Prognostic factors and impact of therapy

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva. nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
Perceived Usefulness, Ease of Use, and Usage of Information Technology: A Replication

This paper presents the findings of two studies that replicate previous work by Fred Davis on the subject of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology. The two studies focus on evaluating the psychometric properties of the ease of use and usefulness scales, while examining the relationship between ease of use, usefulness, and system usage. Study 1 provides a strong assessment of the convergent validity of the two scales by examining heterogeneous user groups dealing with heterogeneous implementations of messaging technology. In addition, because one might expect users to share similar perspectives about voice and electronic mail, the study also represents a strong test of discriminant validity. In this study a total of 118 respondents from 10 different organizations were surveyed for their attitudes toward two messaging technologies: voice and electronic mail.
A study on adjustment of higher secondary school students of durg district

Present study was conducted on 111 higher secondary students of Durg District, to as certain their adjustment. Adjustment scale by A.K. P, Sinha and R.P. Singh was used for the purpose of data collection. The t-test results indicate that there is significant difference in adjustment of higher secondary school’s students and Female students have good adjustment level when compared to the male students.
Isolation and Characterization of thenikR Gene Encoding a Nickel-Responsive Regulator inEscherichia coli

ABSTRACT Expression of the nickel-specific transport system encoded by theEscherichia coli nikABCDE operon is repressed by a high concentration of nickel. By using random transposon Tn10 insertion, we isolated mutants in which expression of the nik operon became constitutive with respect to nickel. We have identified the corresponding nikR gene which encodes a nickel-responsive regulator. Expression of nikRwas partially controlled by Fnr through transcription from thenikA promoter region. In addition, a specific transcription start site for the constitutive expression of nikR was found 51 bp upstream of the nikR gene.
An IEEE 802.21 MIH Functionality Assisted Proxy Mobile IPv6 for Reducing Handover Latency and Signaling Cost

This paper proposes an IEEE 802.21 Media Independent Handover (MIH) functionality assisted Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) mechanism for reducing handover latency and signaling cost in heterogeneous wireless networks. The proposed mechanism comes to support fast vertical handover for the mobile node (MN) irrespective of the presence or absence of MIH functionality as well as IP mobility functionality. That is, the MN does not need to be participated in any MIH related signaling for handover procedure, which can be consistent with the essential objective of the PMIPv6. The base station with MIH functionality performs handover on behalf of the MN. Therefore, the proposed mechanism can reduce burden and power consumption of MNs with limited resource and battery power. In addition, the analytical evaluation shows that the proposed mechanism can outperform the existing mechanism in terms of handover latency and total number of over-the-air signaling messages. Thus, the proposed mechanism can be expected to reduce the packet loss and the bandwidth consumption of wireless links during handover procedure comparing with the existing mechanism.
Learning Cognitive Feedback Specificity during Training and the Effect on Learning for Cognitive Tasks

YODER, RYAN J., Ph.D., November 2009, Psychology Learning Cognitive Feedback Specificity during Training and the Effect on Learning for Cognitive Tasks (144 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Jeffrey B. Vancouver Providing advice to improving training interventions is a high priority among applied psychology researchers. One element of training that is under the control of providers is the nature of feedback provided to learners. Higher specificity of the feedback message has generally been considered beneficial for performance and learning. However, recent research has qualified this relationship, suggesting that the specificity of feedback leads to different types of learning. Less specific feedback encourages task exploration and learning how to respond when task conditions are unfavorable, but is detrimental to learning how to respond when task conditions are favorable. To date, only the specificity of cognitive (i.e., task-related) feedback has been explored. In this study, learning cognitive (i.e., learning-related) feedback was manipulated. This feedback represented feedback about how well one implements abstract learning principles aimed at systematically exploring the task environment. After training, learning on a later transfer task and generalization task (where rules governing task performance had changed) was measured. It was predicted that high learning cognitive feedback specificity would reinforce learning strategies and aid individuals in the generalization transfer task beyond task-related feedback messages. Those participants receiving high specificity learning cognitive feedback showed better learning on a generalization transfer task than
Antipsychotic therapeutic drug monitoring: psychiatrists’ attitudes and factors predicting likely future use

Background: This study aimed to explore predictive factors for future use of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and to further examine psychiatrists’ current prescribing practices and perspectives regarding antipsychotic TDM using plasma concentrations. Method: A cross-sectional study for consultant psychiatrists using a postal questionnaire was conducted in north-west England. Data were combined with those of a previous London-based study and principal axis factor analysis was conducted to identify predictors of future use of TDM. Results: Most of the 181 participants (82.9%, 95% confidence interval 76.7–87.7%) agreed that ‘if TDM for antipsychotics were readily available, I would use it’. Factor analysis identified five factors from the original 35 items regarding TDM. Four of the factors significantly predicted likely future use of antipsychotic TDM and together explained 40% of the variance in a multivariate linear regression model. Likely future use increased with positive attitudes and expectations, and decreased with potential barriers, negative attitudes and negative expectations. Scientific perspectives of TDM and psychiatrist characteristics were not significant predictors. Conclusion: Most senior psychiatrists indicated that they would use antipsychotic TDM if available. However, psychiatrists’ attitudes and expectations and the potential barriers need to be addressed, in addition to the scientific evidence, before widespread use of antipsychotic TDM is likely in clinical practice.
Automatic identification of personal insults on social news sites

As online communities grow and the volume of user-generated content increases, the need for community management also rises. Community management has three main purposes: to create a positive experience for existing participants, to promote appropriate, socionormative behaviors, and to encourage potential participants to make contributions. Research indicates that the quality of content a potential participant sees on a site is highly influential; off-topic, negative comments with malicious intent are a particularly strong boundary to participation or set the tone for encouraging similar contributions. A problem for community managers, therefore, is the detection and elimination of such undesirable content. As a community grows, this undertaking becomes more daunting. Can an automated system aid community managers in this task? In this paper, we address this question through a machine learning approach to automatic detection of inappropriate negative user contributions. Our training corpus is a set of comments from a news commenting site that we tasked Amazon Mechanical Turk workers with labeling. Each comment is labeled for the presence of profanity, insults, and the object of the insults. Support vector machines trained on these data are combined with relevance and valence analysis systems in a multistep approach to the detection of inappropriate negative user contributions. The system shows great potential for semiautomated community management. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clinical significance of interleukin-1 genotype in smoking patients as a predictor of peri-implantitis: A case-control study

Background Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis, and so it might be useful to detect high-risk cases of peri-implantitis. It has been reported that IL-1 polymorphisms and smoking habit have a synergic effect, increasing the incidence of peri-implantitis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between IL-1 gene polymorphisms and peri-implantitis in smoking patients. Material and Methods A case-control study was performed in 27 patients with peri-implantitis and 27 patients with healthy implants. All patients included were smokers. IL-1A-C889T, IL-1B+C3953T and IL-1RN+T2018C were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification in order to establish a relation between these variables and the presence of peri-implantitis. A bivariate analysis was performed and odds-ratio (OR) were calculated. Results The incidence of peri-implantitis was significantly higher in patients with previous history of periodontitis (p=0.024; OR=10.9). Both groups were similar regarding IL-1A-C889T, IL-1B+C3953T and IL-1RN+T2018C genotypes. No increased risk in heavy smokers with IL-1 polymorphism was found. Conclusions IL-1 genotypes do not seem to be good predictors of peri-implantitis in the great majority of smoking patients. Furthermore, no synergic effect was found between IL-1 genotypes and heavy smokers. Patients with a previous history of periodontitis were more prone to peri-implantitis. Key words:Peri-implantitis, interleukin-1 genotype positive, case-control study, smoking.