Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are hospices ready to participate in palliative care research? Results of a national survey.

BACKGROUND Improvements in end-of-life care will require an active program of research, and this research will need to involve patients in hospice. However, it is not known whether hospices are prepared to participate in research, nor is it known what barriers may prevent hospices from becoming involved in research. METHODS This nationwide telephone survey was conducted with a random sample of hospice organizations taken from a national database. Questions elicited the research activities in which hospices are involved, the resources that hospices have available for the ethical review of research, and perceived barriers to research participation. RESULTS Of 88 hospices identified, 17 (19%) reported that they had participated in research in the past year. Hospices that participated in research were more likely to be urban, affiliated with an academic institution, and were more likely to have an inpatient unit. Hospices cited several barriers to research participation, including time commitments, staffing resources, ethical concerns, and burdens to patients and families. The most important concern was lack of staffing resources. Hospices indicated that they would be most willing to support research regarding pain management and timing of referral to hospice.
INTERACTION BETWEEN SALINITY AND POTASSIUM ON GRAIN YIELD, CARBOHYDRATE CONTENT AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE IN PEARL MILLET

To study the effects of different salinity levels and potassium supply on grain yield, yield components, carbohydrate content and nutrient uptake in pearl millet, a plot experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at university of Zabol, Iran. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized factorial design with three replicates. Potassium sulfate was used as the potassium source. The rate of potassium treatment was 0, 100 and 200 kg ha -1 . Pearl millet was subjected to different salinity levels (0, 4, 8 and 12 ds/m) through addition of NaCl to irrigation water. Results showed by increasing salt concentration from control to 12 ds/m grain yield (45.6%), biological yield (35.3%), harvest index (15.1%) and 1000 seed weight (60.1%) decreased. In this study salt stress remarkably elevated the carbohydrate content at vegetative and reproductive stages in leaves of millet. Salinity treatment decreased potassium and magnesium uptake but application potassium increased potassium and magnesium content in leaves at two stages until 200 kg.ha -1 . Potassium application had significantly effect on grain yield and yield components and increased them.
3 Gene Expression Profiling in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic chronic inflammatory disease that primarily affects the joints. Aetiology of RA is unknown. Once symptoms are present RA manifests itself as a heterogeneous disease with a clinical spectrum ranging from mild to severe disease, and variable involvement in secondary organ systems. The heterogeneous nature is reflected by variation in responsiveness to treatment. The heterogeneity most likely has its origin in its multifactorial nature, whereby specific combinations of environmental factor(s) and genetic factors are likely to influence not only susceptibility but also the disease severity and prognosis. Unfortunately, our understanding of the molecular complexity of RA is incomplete, and criteria for subtyping of patients, e.g. for prognosis to select those patients who will benefit from a specific treatment, are currently lacking.
Estradiol initially enhances but subsequently suppresses (via adrenal steroids) granule cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of adult female rats.

In the dentate gyrus of adult female meadow voles, a high dose of estradiol benzoate (EB) increases (within 4 h) then decreases (within 48) the number of dividing progenitor cells (Ormerod BK, Galea LAM. 2001. Reproductive status regulates cell proliferation within the dentate gyrus of the adult female meadow vole: A possible regulatory role for estradiol. Neurosci 2:169-179). We investigated whether time-dependent EB exposure differentially influences the number of new granule cells produced in the adult female rat dentate gyrus and whether EB-stimulated adrenal activity mediates the decrease in cell proliferation. Ovariectomized rats received either an EB (10 microg in 0.1 mL) or vehicle (0.1 mL) injection either 4 or 48 h (Experiment 1) before a BrdU injection (200 mg/kg) and were perfused 24 h later to assess the number of new cells. Relative to vehicle, the number of new cells increased following a 4 h exposure (p < or = 0.04) but decreased following a 48 h exposure (p < or = 0.006) to EB. In Experiment 2, the number of new cells within the dentate gyrus of ovariectomized and adrenalectomized females did not significantly differ between groups exposed to EB versus vehicle for 48 h prior to BrdU administration, suggesting the decreased number of new cells observed within the dentate gyrus of adrenal-intact adult female rats is mediated by EB-stimulated adrenal activity. We conclude that estradiol dynamically regulates cell proliferation within the dentate gyrus of adult female rats in the time-dependent manner observed previously in voles and suppresses cell proliferation by influencing adrenal steroids. Investigating how estradiol dynamically regulates neurogenesis could provide insight into the mechanisms by which the proliferation of progenitor cells is controlled within the adult rodent hippocampus.
Hemorheologic alterations in hypertension: chicken or egg?

The serious pathophysiologic consequences of systemic hypertension have prompted numerous basic science and clinical studies related to cardiac or vascular abnormalities. More recently, hemorheologic alterations in hypertension have been explored in an attempt to determine the import of rheologic factors vis-à-vis the elevated total peripheral resistance observed in hypertensive patients. To date, various studies have documented several abnormalities (e.g., increased blood and plasma viscosity, elevated hematocrit), with some suggesting altered RBC or WBC rigidity. However, there is much less information relevant to the "chicken or egg" problems: (1) are reported hemorheological abnormalities the cause or the result of hypertension; (2) does normalization of blood pressure also normalize hemorheological parameters? In overview, the current literature indicates that hemorheology and hypertension may be linked, but that the details of this association and its cause-effect relations remain unclear.
Bioarchaeological Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture: A View from the Southeast

Investigations of skeletal remains from key archaeological sites reveal new data and offer insights on prehistoric life and health in the Southeast.The shift from foraging to farming had important health consequences for prehistoric peoples, but variations in health existedwithin communities that had made this transition. This new collection draws on the rich bioarchaeological record of the Southeastern United States to explore variability in health and behavior within the age of agriculture. It offers new perspectives on human adaptation to various geographic and cultural landscapes across the entire Southeast, from Texas to Virginia, and presents new data from both classic and little-known sites.The contributors question the reliance on simple cause-and-effect relationships in human health and behavior by addressing such key bioarchaeological issues as disease history and epidemiology, dietary composition and sufficiency, workload stress, patterns of violence, mortuary practices, and biological consequences of European contact. They also advance our understanding of agriculture by showing that uses of maize were more varied than has been previously supposed.Representing some of the best work being done today by physical anthropologists, this volume provides new insights into human adaptation for both archaeologists and osteologists. It attests to the heterogeneous character of Southeastern societies during the late prehistoric and early historic periods while effectively detailing the many factors that have shaped biocultural evolution.Contributors include: Patricia S. Bridges, Elizabeth Monaham Driscoll, Debra L. Gold, Dale L. Hutchinson, Keith P. Jacobi, Patricia M. Lambert, Clark Spencer Larsen, Lynette Norr, Mary Lucas Powell, Marianne Reeves, Lisa Sattenspiel, Margaret J. Schoeninger, Mark R. Schurr, Leslie E. Sering, David S. Weaver, and Matthew A. Williamson
EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF CELLULAR MEMORY BY THE POLYCOMB AND TRITHORAX GROUP PROTEINS

■ Abstract During the development of multicellular organisms, cells become different from one another by changing their genetic program in response to transient stimuli. Long after the stimulus is gone, “cellular memory” mechanisms enable cells to remember their chosen fate over many cell divisions. The Polycomb and Trithorax groups of proteins, respectively, work to maintain repressed or active transcription states of developmentally important genes through many rounds of cell division. Here we review current ideas on the protein and DNA components of this transcriptional memory system and how they interact dynamically with each other to orchestrate cellular memory for several hundred genes.
Scanning Behaviour in Natural Scenes is Influenced by a Preceding Unrelated Visual Search Task

Three experiments explored the transference of visual scanning behaviour between two unrelated tasks. Participants first viewed letters presented horizontally, vertically, or as a random array. They then viewed still images (experiments 1 and 2) or video clips (experiment 3) of driving scenes, under varying task conditions. Despite having no relevance to the driving images, layout of stimuli in the letter task influenced scanning behaviour in this subsequent task. In the still images, a vertical letter search increased vertical scanning, and in the dynamic clips, a horizontal letter search decreased vertical scanning. This indicated that (i) models of scanning behaviour should account for the influence of a preceding unrelated task; (ii) carry-over is modulated by demand in the current task; and (iii) in situations where particular scanning strategies are important for primary task performance (eg driving safety), secondary task information should be displayed in a manner likely to produce a congruent scanning strategy.
Spatiotemporal saliency based on distributed opponent oriented energy

A computational saliency model utilizing bio-inspired features for spatiotemporal saliency is presented in this paper. We first propose distributed opponent oriented energy for compact local dynamic texture description motivated by Human Vision System. Then, we integrate the derived motion characterization and a revised self-resemblance saliency framework. High effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method is extensively demonstrated both qualitatively and quantitatively, for background subtraction in the cases of extremely dynamic scenes and camera jitter. In terms of the trade-off between accuracy and computation cost, our method achieves competitive results in contrast to the state-of-art algorithm.
Translating the Patient Navigator Approach to Meet the Needs of Primary Care

Background: Helping patients navigate the complex and fragmented US health care system and coordinating their care are central to the patient-centered medical home. We evaluated the pilot use of a patient navigator (PN), someone who helps patients use the health care system effectively and efficiently, in primary care practices. Methods: This study was a cross-case comparative analysis of 4 community practices that implemented patient navigation. Project meeting notes, PN activity logs and debriefings, physician interviews, and patient/family member interviews were analyzed using a grounded approach. Results: Seventy-five mostly female, elderly patients received navigation services from a social worker. The PN typically helped patients obtain social services and navigate health coverage and complex referrals. Availability of workspace for PN, interaction with practice members, and processes used for selecting and referring patients affected PN collaboration with and integration into practices. Patients found PN services very helpful, and physicians viewed the PN as someone carrying out new tasks that the practice was not previously doing. Conclusions: Patient navigation in community primary care practices is useful for patients who have complex needs. Integrating such services into primary care settings will require new practice and payment models to realize the full potential of integrated patient navigation services in this setting.
Backfiring: Converting Lines of Code to Function Points

The availability of empirical data from projects that use both function-point and lines-of-code metrics has led to a useful technique called backfiring. Backfiring is the direct mathematical conversion of LOC data into equivalent function-point data. Because the backfiring equations are bidirectional, they also provide a powerful way of sizing, or predicting, source-code volume for any known programming language or combination of languages. The function-point metric, invented by A.J. Albrecht of IBM in the middle 1970s, is a synthetic metric derived by a weighted formula that includes five elements: inputs, outputs, logical files, inquiries, and interfaces. IBM put it into the public domain in 1979, and its use spread rapidly, particularly after the formation of the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) in the mid-1980s. By then, hundreds of software projects had been measured using both function points and lines of source code. Since an application's function-point total is independent of the source code, this dual analysis has led to several important discoveries. >
Practical assessment of rotator cuff muscle volumes using shoulder MRI

Reliable quantitative assessment of rotator cuff (RC) muscle volumes can be done by reconstructing multiple MRI images of the entire shoulder. However, an equally reliable, but less time-consuming, method is needed for clinical practice. We compared the only method reported for estimation of volume with a new simple MRI technique. Both methods were validated by multiple MRI image reconstruction. We performed MRI scans of 10 cadaver shoulders and determined the cross-sectional areas of RC muscles with two methods, using image analyzing software. In Method 1, the cross-sections were determined on a single image, previously described as a Y-shaped image. In Method 2, the cross-sections were calculated from two images: the Y-shaped and an image located medially, twice the distance from the glenoid articular surface compared to the Y-shaped image. We compared the results of these two methods with the volume of multiple MRI image reconstruction, which took into account all images consisting of RC cross-sections. Pearson correlations for Method 1 were 0.96, 0.94 and 0.75, and for Method 2, 0.96, 0.97 and 0.93 for the supraspinatus, infraspinatus/teres minor and subscapularis muscle volumes when compared with the volumes determined by the multiple image reconstruction method. The Bland-Altman method showed better agreement with multiple MRI image reconstruction, using Method 2, to determine supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and subscapularis muscle volumes (p<0.001 for each). The mean intra- and inter-observer variabilities of Method 1 was 3.9% and 2.9% and that of Method 2, 3.0% and 1.7%, respectively. Both methods can be used for quantitative assessment of RC muscle volumes. However, Method 2, using two easily reproducible MRI images is more accurate for the evaluation of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus/teres minor muscles and particularly for the subscapularis muscle.
Significance tests or confidence intervals: which are preferable for the comparison of classifiers?

Null hypothesis significance tests and their p-values currently dominate the statistical evaluation of classifiers in machine learning. Here, we discuss fundamental problems of this research practice. We focus on the problem of comparing multiple fully specified classifiers on a small-sample test set. On the basis of the method by Quesenberry and Hurst, we derive confidence intervals for the effect size, i.e. the difference in true classification performance. These confidence intervals disentangle the effect size from its uncertainty and thereby provide information beyond the p-value. This additional information can drastically change the way in which classification results are currently interpreted, published and acted upon. We illustrate how our reasoning can change, depending on whether we focus on p-values or confidence intervals. We argue that the conclusions from comparative classification studies should be based primarily on effect size estimation with confidence intervals, and not on significance tests and p-values.
The respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation.

The respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation are of utter importance for a cell’s metabolism. Here, the energy won from ingested food is being converted into our body’s energy unit (adenosine triphosphate). As the name respiratory chain suggests, oxygen also plays an important role. The following article will explain how exactly this complex mechanism works and which substances may disable it.
Self sensing cantilevers for the measurement of (biomolecular) forces

We present the fabrication and the testing of self sensing submicron thick piezoresistive cantilevers. Two kind of piezoresistive transducers (piezoresistor and MOSFET transistor) are integrated into the cantilever in the (100) direction, by n-type implantation (As). Cantilevers with both types of transducers are successfully fabricated, showing a yield of 100% and a standard deviation in the electrical characteristics of 6% and 10% for the piezoresistors and MOSFETs, respectively. For the best piezoresistive cantilever design we report an averaged force responsivity of 158 µV/nN, an averaged noise value of 5.87 µV (1 Hz–1 kHz) and finally a minimum detectable force (MDF) of 37 pN. The cantilever will be used as force sensors for label-free detection of bio-molecules by measuring the intermolecular forces between ligands and receptors.
Anthelmintic treatments against digestive-tract nematodes in grazing dairy goats with high or low levels of milk production.

The effect of a regular anthelmintic treatment during the grazing period on milk production and milk composition was measured in a dairy goat farm. One month before turnout, 92 goats were given 10 mg.kg-1 febantel and then allocated to 2 equivalent groups according to their levels of milk production. The first group was given febantel monthly, the second group was kept as an untreated control. Parasitological, haematological and serological data were collected monthly from March to September. Milk production data were recorded from March to August, goats being dried up in September. Results of strongyle egg counts, serum inorganic phosphate concentrations and 4 necroscopic examinations indicated a low level of nematode infection composed almost exclusively with Trichostrongylus colubriformis in untreated goats. No significant changes in milk yield, fat and protein content were detected between treated and untreated groups. Moreover, the impact of monthly anthelmintic treatment on milk production was different depending on the initial level of milk yield. Anthelmintic treatment induced a 4-8% increase in milk production for goats with the highest milk yield at the start of the experiment, whereas no beneficial effects were recorded for goats with the lowest milk yield.
LightSaber: Efficient Window Aggregation on Multi-core Processors

Window aggregation queries are a core part of streaming applications. To support window aggregation efficiently, stream processing engines face a trade-off between exploiting parallelism (at the instruction/multi-core levels) and incremental computation (across overlapping windows and queries). Existing engines implement ad-hoc aggregation and parallelization strategies. As a result, they only achieve high performance for specific queries depending on the window definition and the type of aggregation function. We describe a general model for the design space of window aggregation strategies. Based on this, we introduce LightSaber, a new stream processing engine that balances parallelism and incremental processing when executing window aggregation queries on multi-core CPUs. Its design generalizes existing approaches: (i) for parallel processing, LightSaber constructs a parallel aggregation tree (PAT) that exploits the parallelism of modern processors. The PAT divides window aggregation into intermediate steps that enable the efficient use of both instruction-level (i.e., SIMD) and task-level (i.e., multi-core) parallelism; and (ii) to generate efficient incremental code from the PAT, LightSaber uses a generalized aggregation graph (GAG), which encodes the low-level data dependencies required to produce aggregates over the stream. A GAG thus generalizes state-of-the-art approaches for incremental window aggregation and supports work-sharing between overlapping windows. LightSaber achieves up to an order of magnitude higher throughput compared to existing systems-on a 16-core server, it processes 470 million records/s with 132 ? s average latency.
OCULAR DAMAGE IN CHLOROQUINE THERAPY

Shortly before the outbreak of World War 11, chloroquine was synthesized by German chemists, and was later tested clinically as an antimalarial agent in North Africa, where the preparation became known to the allied forces. Chloroquine derivatives have subsequently become of the utmost importance, particularly in the treatment of rheumatic diseases and certain skin diseases. Thus, in 1954, Pillsbury & Jacobson (36) reported that chloroquine had good therapeutic results in lupus erythematosus. After this time, chloroquine also started to be used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus disseminatus.
Thioredoxin targets of the plant chloroplast lumen and their implications for plastid function

The light‐dependent regulation of stromal enzymes by thioredoxin (Trx)‐catalysed disulphide/dithiol exchange is known as a classical mechanism for control of chloroplast metabolism. Recent proteome studies show that Trx targets are present not only in the stroma but in all chloroplast compartments, from the envelope to the thylakoid lumen. Trx‐mediated redox control appears to be a common feature of important pathways, such as the Calvin cycle, starch synthesis and tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. However, the extent of thiol‐dependent redox regulation in the thylakoid lumen has not been previously systematically explored. In this study, we addressed Trx‐linked redox control in the chloroplast lumen of Arabidopsis thaliana. Using complementary proteomics approaches, we identified 19 Trx target proteins, thus covering more than 40% of the currently known lumenal chloroplast proteome. We show that the redox state of thiols is decisive for degradation of the extrinsic PsbO1 and PsbO2 subunits of photosystem II. Moreover, disulphide reduction inhibits activity of the xanthophyll cycle enzyme violaxanthin de‐epoxidase, which participates in thermal dissipation of excess absorbed light. Our results indicate that redox‐controlled reactions in the chloroplast lumen play essential roles in the function of photosystem II and the regulation of adaptation to light intensity.