Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparative study of Danhong injection and Salvia miltiorrhiza injection in the treatment of cerebral infarction

Background: To evaluate systematically the clinical effectiveness and safety of Danhong injection (DI) and Salvia miltiorrhiza injection (SMI) in the treatment of cerebral infarction. Methods: A literature search was conducted for retrieving randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on cerebral infarction treated by Danhong injection and SMI in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, China Biology Medicine disc, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, Wanfang Database up to January 22, 2017. Two reviewers extracted information and independently assessed the quality of included RCTs by the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool; then data were analyzed with Review Manager 5.3 software. Results: Twelve RCTs involving 1044 patients were included. The result of DI group was about 27% superior to SMI group in the clinical total effective rate (relative risk 1.27, 95% confidence interval 1.19–1.35, P < .00001). In addition, DI could prefect neurologic impairment (standardized mean difference −1.22, 95% confidence interval −1.90 to −0.54, P = .0004), and adjust hemorheological parameters. Three RCTs occurred 4 cases of adverse drug reactions/adverse drug events, but there were no serious adverse drug reactions/adverse drug events. Conclusion: Comparing with SMI combined with western medicine, DI combined with conventional therapy is more effective in improving the clinical total effective rate and neurologic impairment, but more evidence-based medicine research needed to support our study further.
Perceptions and attitudes toward SLMTA amongst laboratory and hospital professionals in Ethiopia

Background Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) is a competency-based management training programme. Assessing health professionals’ views of SLMTA provides feedback to inform program planning, implementation and evaluation of SLMTA's training, communication and mentorship components. Objectives To assess laboratory professionals’ and hospital chief executive officers’ (CEOs) perceptions and attitudes toward the SLMTA programme in Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted in March 2013 using a structured questionnaire to collect qualitative data from 72 laboratory professionals and hospital CEOs from 17 health facilities, representing all regions and two city administrations in Ethiopia. Focus groups were conducted with laboratory professionals and hospital administration to gain insight into the strengths and challenges of the SLMTA programme so as to guide future planning and implementation. Results Ethiopian laboratory professionals at all levels had a supportive attitude toward the SLMTA programme. They believed that SLMTA substantially improved laboratory services and acted as a catalyst for total healthcare reform and improvement. They also noted that the SLMTA programme achieved marked progress in laboratory supply chain, sample referral, instrument maintenance and data management systems. In contrast, nearly half of the participating hospital CEOs, especially those associated with low-scoring laboratories, were sceptical about the SLMTA programme, believing that the benefits of SLMTA were outweighed by the level of human resources and time commitment required. They also voiced concerns about the cost and sustainability of SLMTA. Conclusion This study highlights the need for stronger engagement and advocacy with hospital administration and the importance of addressing concerns about the cost and sustainability of the SLMTA programme.
Involvement as a temporal dynamic: Affective factors in studying for exams.

Changes in indices of involvement, affect, and cognition were observed over successive phases of studying for a test. A total of 92 students, 32 in Study 1 and 60 in Study 2, gave ratings related to involvement and mood over several study phases. These studies were methodological improvements over previous ones on this topic, the first study because it did not depend on simulation and the second because it reduced the memory component of the rating task. Yet results replicated those of earlier studies in indicating that involvement increases and that other affective reactions tend to show correlated decreases across phases of studying. These results support our earlier descriptions of involvement as a dynamic, multifaceted phenomenon with both cognitive and affective components.
Role of Thalamus in Recovery of Traumatic Brain Injury

Degree of recovery after traumatic brain injury is highly variable that lasts for many weeks to months. The evidence of brain structures involved in recovery mechanisms is limited. This review highlights evidence of the brain structure particularly thalamus in neuroplasticity mechanism. Thalamus with its complex global networking has potential role in refining the cortical and other brain structures. Thalamic nuclei activation both naturally or by neurorehabilitation in injured brain can enhance and facilitate the improvement of posttraumatic symptoms. This review provides evidence from literature that thalamus plays a key role in recovery mechanism after injury. The study also emphasize that thalamus should be specifically targeted in neurorehabilitation following brain injury.
Relaxation response-based yoga improves functioning in young children with autism: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVES The study objectives were to develop and objectively assess the therapeutic effect of a novel movement-based complementary and alternative medicine approach for children with an autism-spectrum disorder (ASD). DESIGN A within-subject analysis comparing pre- to post-treatment scores on two standard measures of childhood behavioral problems was used. SETTINGS AND LOCATION: The intervention and data analysis occurred at a tertiary care, medical school teaching hospital. SUBJECTS Twenty-four (24) children aged 3-16 years with a diagnosis of an ASD comprised the study group. INTERVENTION The efficacy of an 8-week multimodal yoga, dance, and music therapy program based on the relaxation response (RR) was developed and examined. OUTCOME MEASURES The study outcome was measured using The Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) and the Aberrant Behavioral Checklist (ABC). RESULTS Robust changes were found on the BASC-2, primarily for 5-12-year-old children. Unexpectedly, the post-treatment scores on the Atypicality scale of the BASC-2, which measures some of the core features of autism, changed significantly (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS A movement-based, modified RR program, involving yoga and dance, showed efficacy in treating behavioral and some core features of autism, particularly for latency-age children.
Temporal Regulation of Rapamycin on Memory CTL Programming by IL-12

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a master regulator of cell growth. Recent reports have defined its important role in memory cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) differentiation in infections and memory programming. We report that rapamycin regulated memory CTL programming by IL-12 to a similar level in a wide range of concentrations, and the enhanced memory CTLs by rapamycin were functional and provided similar protection against Listeria Monocytogenes challenge compared to the control. In addition, rapamycin-experienced CTLs went through substantially enhanced proliferation after transfer into recipients. Furthermore, the regulatory function of rapamycin on CD62L expression in memory CTLs was mainly contributed by the presence of rapamycin in the first 24-hr of stimulation in vitro, whereas the effective window of rapamycin on the size of memory CTLs was determined between 24 to 72 hrs. In conclusion, rapamycin regulates IL-12-driven programming of CTLs to a similar level in a wide range of concentrations, and regulates the phenotype and the size of memory CTLs in different temporal windows.
Measurement of Particle Size Distribution In Portland Cement Powder: Analysis of ASTM Round-Robin Studies

A distribution of particle sizes or particle size distribution (PSD) is a fundamental characteristic of cement powder. Accurate PSDs are required in computational efforts to model the hydration process and it is an important practical issue for the cement industry. Presently, the only available standard method for measuring the PSD of cement, namely ASTM C115, is limited in scope, with a lower size detection limit of 7.5 μm. Since there are no standard procedures that adequately cover the broad particle size range associated with portland cement powder, the implementation of different measurement techniques varies widely within the industry. Two ASTM-sponsored round robin tests were performed to (1) ascertain the techniques and methods currently used in the cement industry and (2) develop and refine a standard method or methods. The results have been incorporated into a best practice method based on the technique of laser diffraction. The aim of the current paper is to summarize the findings based on the data generated during the round robins and to summarize the various approaches available to measure the PSD of cement. A summary of the statistical analysis of the test results is described.
Volatility of ISE and Business Cycle

In this paper, we use a disaggregated approach suggested in (Campbell et al. 2001) to study the volatility of a typical stock in the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) at the market, industry, and firm levels over the period 1992-1999. The aim of study is to examine the link between these three disaggregated volatility measures and selected macroeconomic variables. The chosen macroeconomic variables are GDP growth, industrial production, inflation rate and exchange rate. The results indicate that market level volatility accounts for the greatest share of the total firm volatility on average. The results further suggest that market and firm level volatility have positive correlation with leads and lags of exchange rate while industry level volatility has positive correlation with inflation rate. The results also suggest that all the components of volatility do not exhibit counter-cyclical behavior with respect to GDP growth and industrial production.
A result on the robust stabilization of MIMO plants with saturating actuators

This paper proposes the use of a time-varying sliding surface for stabilizing of linear, possibly unstable, plant subject to saturating actuators, in the presence of bounded matched uncertainties. The present work generalizes our previous contributions in several different directions. First, the constructive procedure is generalized and made independent on the null controllability region in the case of completely known plant. Another goal of the paper is to widen the set of plants considered including linear multi-input systems. Finally, a corollary of our main result is that we show that stabilization with bounded control of linear systems can be always achieved using nonlinear time-varying feedback laws.
“I Vow to Thee my Countries” – The Expansion of Dual Citizenship in the 21st Century

Global developments in dual citizenship legislation highlight changes to conceptualizations of citizenship by increasing the focus on individual rights. Questions of inclusion and exclusion have been illuminated by the move toward wider acceptance of dual citizenship. To understand global patterns and developments in dual citizenship laws this article analyzes the legislation pertaining to dual citizenship in 115 countries. The results show how dual citizenship is becoming increasingly accepted – a development that has predominantly taken place within the last 20 years. A strong regional pattern is identified, supporting the argument that dual citizenship is spreading in a fashion similar to how the idea of citizenship expanded from Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Potential internal and external reasons for this development are discussed and individual countries' experiences analyzed.
The effects of pregnancy on the exacerbation and development of maternal allergic respiratory disease

The T-helper 2 (TH2) bias associated with pregnancy may predispose the pregnant mother to the development or exacerbation of allergic disease. To determine the effects of pregnancy on pre-existing maternal sensitization, we sensitized BALB/c mice before breeding by two intratracheal aspiration (IA) exposures to the fungal allergen, Metarhizium anisopliae crude antigen (MACA). Some mice also received three IA exposures to MACA on gestational days 11, 15, and 19. After weaning, all mice were challenged IA with MACA before killing. To determine the effects of pregnancy on susceptibility to future sensitization, naïve parous and nulliparous BALB/c mice were sensitized by three IA exposures to MACA or to Hank’s buffered salt solution vehicle control. Pregnancy did not have a significant effect on individual inflammatory parameters (airway responsiveness to methacholine, total serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) IgE, BALF total protein, lactate dehydrogenase activity, and total and differential cell counts) following allergen challenge in sensitized mice, regardless of post-breeding allergen exposure. In conclusion there was a weak inhibition of the overall response in mice exposed to allergen during pregnancy compared to identically treated nulliparous mice. In contrast, parous mice that did not encounter allergen post-breeding tended to have exacerbated responses. Parity had no significant impact on future susceptibility to sensitization.
Quercetin: Critical Evaluation as an Antileishmanial Agent In Vivo in Hamsters Using Different Vesicular Delivery Modes

Chemotherapy is still a major challenge for in vivo drug targeting to macrophages. Toxicity remains the major obstacle for the most potent drugs already known in the therapy of leishmaniasis. Thus, new drugs and new delivery systems are sought. By using different vesicular delivery modes e.g. liposomes, niosomes, microspheres and nanoparticles, attempts have been made to deliver an indigenous antileishmanial compound, quercetin, to treat experimental leishmaniasis in the hamster model so as to increase its efficacy as well as to reduce the toxicity. At equivalent quercetin concentration, the nanocapsulated quercetin was found to be the most potent in reducing the parasite burden in the spleen as well as in reducing hepatotoxcity and renaltoxicity compared to free drug or drug in other vesicular forms. An inverse relationship between the efficacy and the size of the vesicles was established. Such a drug vehicle formulation especially in the nanocapsulated form may be considered for clinical trials.
The Effect of Learning versus Outcome Goals on a Simple versus a Complex Task

The effect of learning versus outcome goals on performance quality on a simple versus a complex scheduling task was examined using business school students as participants (n = 114). On a simple task an outcome goal led to significantly more correct schedules being produced than urging people to do their best. On a complex task, assigning a learning goal led to performance that was significantly higher than either an assigned outcome goal or being urged to do one's best. Self-efficacy was significantly higher in the learning goal condition than it was in the do-best condition. Moreover, the number of effective task strategies used on a complex task was significantly higher in the learning goal condition than it was in the other two conditions. These findings suggest that when attempting new complex processes, such as acquiring new businesses, organizations should set specific difficult learning as opposed to performance outcome goals.
The Pain Trajectory During Treadmill Testing in Peripheral Artery Disease

Background: Ischemia-induced pain associated with walking (claudication) in peripheral artery disease limits mobility and diminishes quality of life. Self-reports of pain during standardized treadmill testing are used in clinical trials to assess the efficacy of interventions. Objectives: The aim of this study was to model pain trajectories during a peak walking test after 12 weeks of treatment in participants in four randomly assigned treatment groups (treadmill, arm ergometry, combination, and usual care) compared with baseline pain trajectories. Methods: Self-reports of pain obtained at baseline and after 12 weeks of supervised exercise training for 41 participants (71% male; age, M = 64 years, SD = 8.6 years) were used. Pain was measured every 30 seconds with a numeric rating scale that had ordinal response options ranging from 0 (no pain) to 5 (severe pain). The test was continued until the maximum level of pain was reached and the participant could no longer walk. Observed responses from individual cases were plotted and patterns of pain were identified. A hierarchical generalized linear model for ordinal data was fit to compare baseline and postintervention trajectories. Results: Patterns in observed data reflected variations in time to onset of mild pain, acceleration to severe pain, and total walking time. All groups improved at 12 weeks; arm ergometry trajectories showed slower onset of pain, whereas treadmill training produced slower rates of increase to the maximum toward the end of the test. Effects for individuals appear as offsets from personal models at baseline. Discussion: Change in the experienced claudication trajectory varied by type of exercise. Findings can inform design of future trials and aid decision making about exercise interventions for claudication.
Mechanisms for Lysophosphatidic Acid-induced Cytokine Production in Ovarian Cancer Cells*

A potential role for lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in human oncogenesis was first suggested by the observation that LPA is present at elevated levels in ascites of ovarian cancer patients. In the current study, we demonstrated that LPA is a potent inducer of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) production in ovarian cancer cells. Both IL-6 and IL-8 have been implicated in ovarian cancer progression. We characterized the IL-8 gene promoter to ascertain the transcriptional mechanism underlying LPA -induced expression of these cytokines. LPA stimulated the transcriptional activity of the IL-8 gene with little effect on IL-8 mRNA stability. The optimal response of the IL-8 gene promoter to LPA relied on binding sites for NF-κB and AP-1, two transcription factors that were strongly activated by LPA in ovarian cancer cell lines. Positive regulators of the NF-κB and AP-1 pathways synergistically activated the IL-8 gene promoter. Further, the effect of LPA on IL-6 and IL-8 generation is mediated by the Edg LPA receptors as enforced expression of LPA receptors restored LPA-induced IL-6 and IL-8 production in non-responsive cells and enhanced the sensitivity to LPA in responsive cell lines. The LPA2 receptor was identified to be the most efficient in linking LPA to IL-6 and IL-8 production although LPA1 and LPA3 were also capable of increasing the response to a certain degree. These studies elucidate the transcriptional mechanism and the Edg LPA receptors involved in LPA-induced IL-6 and IL-8 production and suggest potential strategies to restrain the expression of these cytokines in ovarian cancer.
Evaluating the Construct Validity of Implicit Association Tests using Confirmatory Factor Analytic Models

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is the most widely used method for assessing implicit bias and prejudice. By avoiding the need for introspection, the IAT is suggested to be a more valid indicator of prejudice than explicit measures of attitudes (i.e. questionnaires). However, implicit attitudinal literature has demonstrated highly variable associations between IAT scores and various outcomes. Such inconsistencies imply IAT scores may be significantly influenced by measurement error, which could thwart efforts to accurately estimate underlying attitudes. The aim of the present thesis was to examine the construct validity of the IAT using Confirmatory Factor Analytic models (CFA) to account for the confounding influences of measurement error. Three studies examined various aspects of the validity of IATs using data from 198 student participants of the University of Tasmania, Australia. Study One assessed the internal consistency and internal convergent validity of traditional verbal IATs, fully pictorial IATs and Affective Priming Tasks (APTs) using single-group CFA. The study revealed high amount of random error variance in the implicit attitudinal data, comprising around 55% of IAT scores and 95% of APT scores. Despite the high proportion of random error, the IATs appeared to consistently assess the trait attitude constructs, though this was not true for the APTs. The APTs were consequently deemed invalid measures of implicit attitudes. Study Two added to the findings of Study One by further accounting for method variance in the IAT data using the CTCM CFA-MTMM analytical approach. This study indicated that method variance accounts for a further third of the IAT scores, suggesting that an average IAT score is comprised of around 80% error variance (random error and method variance). Notwithstanding this, after accounting for measurement error, strong convergence was evident between the verbal and pictorial IAT formats and two of the four IATs were found to possess good construct validity. Such findings provided some optimism for the future development of psychometrically robust implicit attitude techniques. Study Three examined the application of IATs to assess implicit attitudes whilst using latent modelling techniques to account for the significant error component of the scores. Specialised CFA models were used to reveal anti-Arab/pro-European bias in the present sample, as well as determine the effect of certain participant characteristics, such as age, on the IAT scores. In summary, the studies of this thesis suggest that IAT scores are likely to be confounded substantially by error variance at the individual level. However, if random error and method variance are partialled out, IAT scores can provide an adequate assessment of implicit attitudes. This suggests that future IAT applications would profit from analysing sample data using CFA or other latent modelling techniques to account for the significant error component of IAT scores.