Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A review of evaluation outcomes of web‐based continuing medical education

Introduction The Internet and worldwide web have expanded opportunities for the provision of a flexible, convenient and interactive form of continuing medical education (CME). Larger numbers of doctors are accessing and using the Internet to locate and seek medical information. It has been suggested that a significant proportion of this usage is directly related to questions that arise from patient care. A variety of Internet technologies are being used to provide both asynchronous and synchronous forms of web‐based CME. Various models for designing and facilitating web‐based CME learning have also been reported. The purpose of this study was to examine the nature and characteristics of the web‐based CME evaluative outcomes reported in the peer‐reviewed literature.
Foreign exchange intervention revisited : a new way of estimating censored models

Most of the literature on the effectiveness of foreign exchange intervention has yet to reach a general consensus. In part, this is due to the different estimation methods in which exogenous variation is identified. In this sense, the use of heavily-dependent parametric models can sometimes condition the validity of results. In this paper we allow for a more flexible estimation of policy functions by using a censored least absolute deviation model, applied to a time-series framework. We first corroborate the properties of the estimators that we use through simulation exercises for cases in which: (i) the degree of censoring varies, (ii) errors are subject to conditional heteroskedasticity, (iii) the distribution of the errors varies, and (iv) when there are multiple censoring thresholds. The simulation exercises suggest that the estimator used is robust to both conditional heterosckedasticity and heavy tailed distributions in the error term. However, we show that misspecification, when considering a single-valued instead of multiple-valued thresholds, leads to an estimation bias. Finally, we carry out empirical estimations for the case of Turkey and Colombia and compare our findings with the related literature.
MASS MORTALITY ASSOCIATED WITH KOI HERPESVIRUS IN WILD COMMON CARP IN CANADA

Koi herpesvirus (KHV) was identified as being associated with more than one mortality event affecting common carp in Canada. The first was an extensive mortality event that occurred in 2007 in the Kawartha Lakes region, Ontario, affecting Lakes Scugog and Pigeon. Fish had branchial necrosis and hepatic vasculitis with an equivocal interstitial nephritis. Several fish also had branchial columnaris. Subsequent mortality events occurred in 2008 in additional bodies of water in south-central Ontario, such as Lake Katchewanooka and outside of Ontario in Lake Manitoba, Manitoba. Koi herpesvirus was detected in fish submitted for examination from all of these lakes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sequence of the PCR product revealed 100% homology to KHV strains U and I. Real-time PCR analysis of KHV-infected wild carp revealed viral loads ranging from 6.02×101 to 2.4×106 copies μg−1 host DNA. This is the first report of KHV in Canada.
A sparse projection from the suprachiasmatic nucleus to the sleep active ventrolateral preoptic area in the rat

The circadian clock of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) may control the sleep–wake cycle by modulating the activity of brain regions important in sleep onset and maintenance, such as the ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO). The aim of this study was to determine whether the VLPO receives direct projections from the SCN. The retrograde tracer cholera toxin (β subunit; CTβ) was injected into the VLPO of male rats and the SCN was examined for the presence of labeled, VLPO-projecting neurons. After injections restricted to the VLPO only a few labeled cells were found within the SCN, with more labeled cells located around the nucleus. Therefore, the circadian regulation of the VLPO is likely to be achieved through multisynaptic pathways or via a diffusible signal, rather than by direct axonal outputs from the SCN to the VLPO.
Expansion-Limited Nanocluster Growth in a Plume Formed by MHz-Pulse-Rate Laser Ablation

We study the formation of carbon nanoclusters created by MHz repetition rate - picosecond laser pulses. We show that the average size of a nanocluster is determined exclusively by single laser pulse parameters and is largely independent of the gas fill (He, Ar, Kr, Xe) and pressure, in a range from 20mTorr up to 200 Torr. We provide evidence of the formation of large clusters at higher pressures in excess of 400 Torr, where the gas fill density is comparable or higher to the density of carbons in the ablated plume, and use simple kinetic theory to estimate cluster sizes, which are in qualitative agreement with the experimental data. We conclude that at pressures well below 400 Torr, the role of the buffer gas is to induce a transition between thin solid film formation on the substrate and nanofoam formation by diffusing the clusters through the gas, with no significant effect upon the average cluster size. At the higher pressure the buffer gas serves as a confiner for the carbon plume, increasing the collision frequency between the carbon atoms and resulting in cluster size growth.
JOKER: A Novel Opportunistic Routing Protocol

The increase in multimedia services has put energy saving on the top of current demands for mobile devices. Unfortunately, batteries' lifetime has not been as extended as it would be desirable. For that reason, reducing energy consumption in every task performed by these devices is crucial. In this work, a novel opportunistic routing protocol, called JOKER, is introduced. This proposal presents novelties in both the candidate selection and coordination phases, which permit increasing the performance of the network supporting multimedia traffic as well as enhancing the nodes' energy efficiency. JOKER is compared in different-nature test-benches with BATMAN routing protocol, showing its superiority in supporting a demanding service such as video-streaming in terms of QoE, while achieving a power draining reduction in routing tasks.
Is the Elimination of HIV Infection within Reach in the United States? Lessons from an Epidemiologic Transmission Model

Recent estimates show that the transmission rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the U.S. has substantially decreased. This raises the question, is elimination of HIV infection in the nation feasible in the foreseeable future? We demonstrate that if the HIV transmission rate were reduced by 50%, then the reproductive rate of HIV infection would drop below unity and lead to eventual elimination of infection. In recent congressional testimony, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others asserted that the HIV transmission rate can be halved by 2020, if not earlier, provided sufficient investment is made toward achieving this goal. We assert that if adequate investment is made and the transmission rate is in fact lowered by 50%, then the HIV reproductive rate would fall below unity, setting the stage for eventual elimination of HIV infection in the U.S.
Positive Organizational Study: A Comparison between Private and Government University Teacher

The study conducted explored the relation between Psychological Capital, General Health and Organizational Citizenship Behavior and its variation between the teachers of private and government universities of Karachi, Pakistan. Based on existing literature, following hypotheses were formulated; (1) Difference would be observed in psychological capital of private and government university teachers, (2) Difference would be observed in efficacy levels of private and government university teachers, (3) Individuals with good health will have high psychological capital, (4) Individuals with high OCB will have high psychological capital. Through convenient sampling, 261 teachers teaching at graduate-level were taken as participants. Psychological Capital Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Checklist were employed. All the hypotheses were proved when results were analyzed through SPSS. In conclusion, people having high psychological capital live healthier life and are more likely to indulge in pro-social activities and organizational citizenship behavior.
Perceptual Quality of HTTP Adaptive Streaming Strategies: Cross-Experimental Analysis of Multi-Laboratory and Crowdsourced Subjective Studies

Today's packet-switched networks are subject to bandwidth fluctuations that cause degradation of the user experience of multimedia services. In order to cope with this problem, HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) has been proposed in recent years as a video delivery solution for the future Internet and being adopted by an increasing number of streaming services, such as Netflix and Youtube. HAS enables service providers to improve users' quality of experience (QoE) and network resource utilization by adapting the quality of the video stream to the current network conditions. However, the resulting time-varying video quality caused by adaptation introduces a new type of impairment and thus novel QoE research challenges. Despite various recent attempts to investigate these challenges, many fundamental questions regarding HAS perceptual performance are still open. In this paper, the QoE impact of different technical adaptation parameters, including chunk length, switching amplitude, switching frequency, and temporal recency, are investigated. In addition, the influence of content on perceptual quality of these parameters is analyzed. To this end, a large number of adaptation scenarios have been subjectively evaluated in four laboratory experiments and one crowdsourcing study. A statistical analysis of the combined data set reveals results that partly contradict widely held assumptions and provide novel insights in perceptual quality of adapted video sequences, e.g., interaction effects between quality switching direction (up/down) and switching strategy (smooth/abrupt). The large variety of experimental configurations across different studies ensures the consistency and external validity of the presented results that can be utilized for enhancing the perceptual performance of adaptive streaming services.
Porcine Submaxillary Mucin Forms Disulfide-linked Multimers through Its Amino-terminal D-domains*

COS-7 cells expressing 1,360 residues from the amino terminus of porcine submaxillary mucin were used to determine whether this region, containing the D1, D2, and D3 domains, is involved in forming mucin multimers. Analysis of the proteins immunoprecipitated from the medium of transfected cells by reducing SDS-gel electrophoresis showed a single N-glycosylated protein with no indication of proteolytically processed forms. Without prior reduction, only two proteins, corresponding to monomeric and disulfide-linked trimeric species, were observed. The expressed protein devoid of N-linked oligosaccharides also formed trimers, but was secreted from cells in significantly less amounts than glycosylated trimers. Pulse-chase studies showed that the disulfide-linked trimers were assembled inside the cells no earlier than 30 min after protein synthesis commenced and after the intracellular precursors were N-glycosylated. Trimer formation was inhibited in cells treated with brefeldin A, monensin, chloroquine, or bafilomycin A1, although only brefeldin A prevented the secretion of the protein. These results suggest that trimerization takes place in compartments of the Golgi complex in which the vacuolar H+-ATPase maintains an acidic pH. Coexpression in the same cells of the amino-terminal region and the disulfide-rich carboxyl-terminal domain of the mucin showed that these structures were not disulfide-linked with one another. Cells expressing a DNA construct encoding a fusion protein between the amino- and carboxyl-terminal regions of the mucin secreted disulfide-linked dimeric and high molecular weight multimeric species of the recombinant mucin. The presence of monensin in the medium was without effect on dimerization, but inhibited the formation of disulfide-linked multimers. These studies suggest that disulfide-linked dimers of mucin are subsequently assembled into disulfide-linked multimers by the amino-terminal regions. They also suggest that the porcine mucin forms branched disulfide-linked multimers. This ability of the amino-terminal region of mucin to aid in the assembly of multimers is consistent with its amino acid identities to the amino-terminal region of human von Willebrand factor, which also serves to form disulfide-linked multimers of this protein.
Commute mode diversity and public health: A multivariate analysis of 148 US cities

ABSTRACT Urban sprawl has a negative relationship with regional health outcomes, such as high obesity and chronic diseases related to physical inactivity. At the same time, literature has shown that walkable built environments are connected to lower obesity rates and increased physical activity. Less understood is the association of modal diversity with those health outcomes. This research studies a range of public health outcomes to determine their associations with commute mode diversity. Researchers adapted the methodology of urban sociologists Harvey Molotch and Richard Appelbaum to explore twelve different health measures in 148 US counties and their metropolitan statistical areas. The test measure is the percentage of commuters who use some means other than a single-occupant vehicle (SOV). The percentage of such commuters ranges from as low as 11% in Houston County, Alabama to as high as 36% in Honolulu County, Hawaii. Using bivariate and multivariate analyses, we found better health outcomes in counties and metropolitan areas that have fewer workers commuting by SOV. These findings underscore the positive impact of sustainable transportation policies on community health and open up a new direction for public health research and the built environment.
MIBI scintigraphy in hypofunctioning thyroid nodules

Summary Aim: Several authors have investigated the value of technetium-MIBI scanning to predict the dignity of hypofunctioning, cold thyroid nodules (HTN) in regions with differing levels of iodine supply. They concluded that an MIBI scan can exclude thyroid malignancy, although comparisons between the studies are of limited value owing to differences in methodology and wide variations in patient selection criteria. The present study investigates whether the above claim is also valid in Germany, a country with a long-standing and persistent, mild iodine deficiency and a high incidence of nodules in large goiters with a low prevalence of malignancy. Patients, methods: The study compares the results of 99mTc-MIBI scintigraphy (incl. SPECT and planar images) in HTN (MIBI) with those of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and histology. Of 154 consecutive patients (121 women, 33 men; mean age 56 ± 12 years), 73 underwent thyroid surgery from which the results of FNAB and MIBI were assessed. Selection criteria were risk estimation or conditions limiting the feasibility of FNAB. The mean thyroid volume was 42 ± 25 ml, with 2.1 ± 1.4 nodules per patient. Results: Histology revealed thyroid malignancies in 8 out of 73 patients (11.0%). The negative predictive value for MIBI was 97%, which is comparable to FNAB (94%). However, in 19.5% of patients FNAB was indeterminate. Lower specificity (54%) and low positive predictive value (19%) showed that MIBI accumulation cannot differentiate between malignant and benign thyroid nodules. However, comparison with cytological and/or histological findings indicated that it could distinguish between lesions with differing rates of mitochondrial metabolism. Conclusion: Even in areas of former or mild iodine deficiency MIBI forms a basis for choosing between wait-and-see and surgical strategies if FNAB is unfeasible or not representative. However, even for pathological MIBI results, the prevalence of malignancy is not very high.
Concurrent Carboplatin (CBDCA), Vindesine (VDS) and Radiotherapy in Stage III Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Aims Aim of the study was to test, in a cooperative and prospective trial, the effectiveness and feasibility of a chemo-radio-therapy program in stage III non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods The schedule consisted in carboplatin (CBDCA) 150 mg/m2/iv on days 1, 3, 5 and vindesine VDS 2.5 mg/m2/iv on days 1, 8, 15, 22 every 4 weeks for 2 cycles followed by radiotherapy 60 Gy with CBDCA 50 mg/m2 weekly as radioenhancer. The same schedule was proposed as neoadjuvant treatment in 10/47 patients (stage III A) and as exclusive treatment in 37/47 (stage III B) admitted patients. Results In the neoadjuvant subgroup partial remission was obtained in 5/10 patients, and 3 of them underwent surgery with consequent CR. In the stage III B subgroup, 2 complete remissions were obtained (survival 14 and 9+ months). Toxicity was mild. Conclusions Our results confirm the feasibility of the schedule in stage III NSCLC.
Transportation infrastructure and rural development in China

Purpose The infrastructure investment is one important source of economic growth in China in the past three decades. However it is not clear to what extent such investment affects development in rural area. The purpose of this paper is to explore this impact both conceptually and quantitatively, and draw policy implications from the empirical exercise. Design/methodology/approach The authors first describe the conceptual link between the transportation infrastructure and rural development, which motivates the empirical model. Then by utilizing an autoregressive distributed lag model, the authors estimate both the short- and long-run impacts of the transportation infrastructure on rural development, in terms of cereal yield and per capita net income of rural households. Findings The authors find that investment in transportation infrastructure positively affects rural development in China. In terms of cereal yield, a 1 percent increase in the road infrastructure (road length) leads to around 0.05 percent increase in cereal yield in the short-, and around 0.19 percent increase in the long-run. In terms of the per capita net income of rural households, a 1 percent increase in the road infrastructure results in around 0.14 percent increase in the short-, and its long-run impact is not statistically significant. The positive impacts lend supports to promote investment in the transportation infrastructure. To this end, in addition to the government funding, the participation of private capital can also be promoted through a number of channels, such as the build-operate-transfer, public-private partnership, and establishment of infrastructure investment bank. Originality/value This study evaluates the impacts of transportation infrastructure on rural development in China. Despite of the importance of infrastructure and rural development, there is a lack of study on the interaction between them. This paper intends to fill in this gap. In addition, implications drawn in this exercise can benefit policy makers not only in China, but also in other developing countries.
Microglia express functional 11β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1

Glucocorticoids are potent regulators of inflammation exerting permissive, stimulatory, and suppressive effects. Glucocorticoid access to intracellular receptors is regulated by the activity of two distinct enzymes known as 11β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11βHSD) Type 1 and Type 2, which catalyze the activation or deactivation of glucocorticoids. Although expression of these enzymes in major organ systems and their roles in the metabolic effects of glucocorticoids have been described, their role in the inflammatory response has only recently started to be addressed. In this report, we have studied the expression and activity of 11βHSD Type 1 and Type 2 in microglia cells. Microglia, the brain's resident macrophages, initiate and orchestrate CNS inflammatory responses. Importantly, activated microglia are implicated in most neurodegenerative conditions, making them key subjects of study. We found that microglia expressed 11βHSD‐1, but not 11βHSD‐2, both in ex vivo FACS‐sorted adult cells and in vitro primary cultures. 11βHSD‐1 expression was increased in LPS‐activated microglia. Moreover, 11βHSD‐1 catalyzed the metabolic conversion of 11‐dehydro‐corticosterone into corticosterone (CORT), which potently reduced cytokine production in activated microglia. We propose that 11βHSD‐1 may provide microglia with an intrinsic mechanism to autoregulate and inhibit proinflammatory mediator production through CORT formation. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pure protein from Leishmania donovani protects mice against both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis.

A protein purified from Leishmania donovani promastigotes, dp72, was shown to partially protect BALB/c mice against a challenge by this parasite. Immunized mice infected i.v. with 10(7) L. donovani promastigotes showed a 0, 60, and 78% reduction in liver parasite burden compared with the control mice at each time point examined after challenge, 1, 20, and 108 days, respectively. Western blotting demonstrated that the sera from the immune mice, which reacted specifically with dp72 in lysates of L. donovani, cross-reacted with one major band in total homogenates of Leishmania major and Leptomonas collosoma. Lymphocyte proliferation to crude and pure parasite Ag was also examined in mice immunized with dp72. Strong proliferation was found at low concentrations of crude L. donovani Ag (0.5 micrograms/ml) and with pure dp72. Proliferation at higher concentrations to crude L. major and L. collosoma Ag was observed. Little or no reaction (stimulation index < 1.0) was seen with other pure leishmanial Ag, including gp70-2, the promastigote surface protease, and lipophosphoglycan. Depletion in vitro of the CD4+ T cell subset from immune spleen cells abolished proliferation to dp72, whereas depletion of CD8+ T cells enhanced proliferation to the pure Ag. Experiments in vivo showed that immunized mice treated with antibodies to either CD4+, CD8+, both T cell subsets, or to IFN-gamma had larger LPB (178, 173, 176, and 130%, respectively) after challenge with L. donovani than nonimmunized controls. Mice immunized with dp72 but treated with either PBS or mouse Ig showed reduced LPB, 81 and 61%, respectively, compared with the nonimmunized animals. BALB/c mice immunized with dp72 were also protected against L. major which causes cutaneous leishmaniasis. Immunized mice infected with either 10(4) or 10(6) promastigotes did not develop lesions. Limiting dilution assays confirmed the protection.
Development of effective connectivity in the core network for face perception

This study measured effective connectivity within the core face network in young children using a paediatric magnetoencephalograph (MEG). Dynamic casual modeling (DCM) of brain responses was performed in a group of adults (N = 14) and a group of young children aged from 3 to 6 years (N = 15). Three candidate DCM models were tested, and the fits of the MEG data to the three models were compared at both individual and group levels. The results show that the connectivity structure of the core face network differs significantly between adults and children. Further, the relative strengths of face network connections were differentially modulated by experimental conditions in the two groups. These results support the interpretation that the core face network undergoes significant structural configuration and functional specialization between four years of age and adulthood. Hum Brain Mapp 36:2161–2173, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.