Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased in vitro cellular drug resistance is related to poor outcome in high‐risk childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Summary. We determined the in vitro cellular drug resistance in 370 children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The resistance to each of 10 drugs was measured by the fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay (FMCA) and was related to clinical outcome. The median follow‐up time was 41 months. Risk‐group stratified analyses indicated that in vitro resistance to dexamethasone, doxorubicin and amsacrine were each significantly related to the probability of disease‐free survival. In the high‐risk (HR) group, increased in vitro resistance to dexamethasone (P = 0·014), etoposide (P = 0·025) and doxorubicin (P = 0·05) was associated with a worse clinical outcome. Combining the results for these drugs provided a drug resistance score with an independent prognostic significance superior to that of any other factor studied, with a relative risk of relapse in the most resistant group 9·8 times that in the most sensitive group (P = 0·007). The results in the intermediate‐risk (IR) and standard‐risk (SR) groups were less clear cut. In conclusion, our data indicate that in vitro testing of cellular drug resistance can be used to predict the clinical outcome in HR ALL, while the final evaluation of the results in IR and SR patients must await longer follow‐up.
The factor structure of customer satisfaction An empirical test of the importance grid and the penalty-reward-contrast analysis

There is growing evidence that service quality attributes fall into three categories of factors that have a different impact on the formation of customer satisfaction. However, it is not clear which analytical procedure best identifies these factors. Vavra proposed a two-dimensional importance grid based on customers’ self-stated importance and derived importance using regression analysis. It is based on the assumption that there is a difference between self-stated and derived importance and that by combining these importance weights, three groups of product or service attributes can be identified. Using data collected to measure customer satisfaction with the service of the IT department of a hospital, the authors test the underlying assumptions of the importance grid. They seem to be correct. When the results are compared with the penalty-reward contrast analysis developed by Brandt, the two methods do not yield the same results. Therefore, the convergent validity of the importance grid has to be questioned. The paper closes with a discussion of the implications for research and practice. Introduction The identification of the determinants of customer satisfaction is a central concern for service management academics and practitioners. It is an essential prerequisite for the management of service quality. For service providers, it is crucial to know which service attributes add value and increase satisfaction, which of them merely fulfil minimum requirements and minimize dissatisfaction and which do both. Only then can they make better decisions about how resources should be allocated to different service attributes in order to improve quality and satisfaction. The identification of customer satisfaction factors is crucial. Several methods have been proposed. Among these methods is a 2D grid proposed by Vavra (1997). It assumes that self-stated and derived importance differ and that by combining these importance weights, three groups of product or service attributes can be identified. This method will be tested empirically. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, the literature on the factor structure of customer satisfaction is reviewed, conclusions are drawn and the strengths and weaknesses of the empirical studies are discussed. Then, the underlying assumptions of the T h e c u r re n t i s s u e a n d fu ll t e x t a r c h iv e o f th is jo u r n a l is a v a i la b le a t http://www.em eraldinsight.com/0956-4233.htm
Differences of Mental Health among Orphan and Non-Orphan Adolescents

The study aims to identify the differences of mental health among orphan and non-orphan adolescents in Malaysia. This study used a quantitative method. The sample comprised of 240 orphans and 240 non-orphan adolescents, aged 13 to 17 years old selected through multistage sampling. The validated Malay version of Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale 21 Item (DASS21) used in this study to measure mental health among the orphan and non-orphan adolescents. The findings showed that there have differences of mental health among orphan and non-orphan adolescents which is orphans had significantly higher level of mental health problem than non-orphan respectively; depression, anxiety and stress. Result revealed that all parties including government organization, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), orphanage centers and guardians need to regulate actions such as program implementation and intervention to ensure the continuity of mental health especially among orphan adolescents in Malaysia.
Transplantation of Autologous Cultivated Conjunctival Epithelium for the Restoration of Defects in the Ocular Surface

Ocular surface disorders are often characterised by partial or complete loss of corneo-conjunctival epithelium, which causes dramatic functional and cosmetic problems. Depletion of stem cells and the scarcity of donor tissue available make large or bilateral defects challenging to reconstruct, and usually require the transplantation of heterotopic or allogeneic grafts. We investigated the feasibility of restoring severely damaged ocular surfaces with autologous cultivated conjunctival epithelium. Conjunctival cells were harvested from the healthy eyelid bed of four patients with oculopalpebral diseases. An epithelial sheet reproducing the original conjunctival epithelium was generated by serial cell culture. This was transplanted for the first time ever to our knowledge on to the ocular surface of the same patients. Take was excellent and the cultivated epithelium was stable, resulting in great improvement of patient's symptoms and cosmesis. Transplantation of cultivated conjunctival cells opens new perspectives in the treatment of severe ocular surface disorders.
The Concept of Linear and Point Transmittance and its Value in Dealing with Thermal Bridges in Building Enclosures

Thermal bridging through insulating layers can greatly reduce the thermal performance of building assemblies. As such, determining the effects of thermal bridging is often of immense importance to building engineers, energy modelers and architects in accurately designing a building. This can be very difficult to accomplish, and as a result many building codes and standards do not comprehensively address this problem. In North America, the common approach in calculating the area effects of thermal bridging is to use an area weighted average of U-values. For assemblies with easily definable geometry and U-values, such as walls with windows, the area weighted process is straightforward and has been well established. However, for many assemblies, identifying the effective area of a thermal anomaly used in calculations can become either too arbitrary or too complex, especially when dealing with three dimensional heat flow paths. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a simple methodology, incorporating the concepts of linear transmittance, in order to assist practitioners in overcoming these complexities for determining the heat flow through many types of details. The proposed method involves modeling an assembly to find its heat flow, with and without the thermal anomalies, and attributing that difference to individual contributions of point or linear loads. Determining the area of influence of a thermal anomaly is not needed in the heat transfer calculations and only involves the number of point occurrences (i.e. # of steel beam penetrations through exterior insulation) or linear distances (i.e. slab length across a building face). In order to find the overall heat flow in a building assembly, all the linear and point loads can be simply added together with the clear field heat flow (the heat flow through the assembly without the thermal anomalies). With that total heat flow known, several other parameters, such as an overall U-Value, can be easily calculated. Included in this paper are examples showing where the area weighted average approach encounters drawbacks and why the linear transmittance method is better suited to quantify the effect of thermal bridging of opaque building envelope assemblies. The idea of linear transmittance has been widely used in practice in various forms across Europe. This concept, however, has yet to gain wide acceptance in North American codes, standards and practices. This paper is intended to bridge the two continental approaches, and incorporate linear transmittance into current methods of assessing building enclosure performance in North America. 1 Neil Norris, Morrison Hershfield, Vancouver, BC. 2 Mark Lawton, Morrison Hershfield, Vancouver, BC. 3 Patrick Roppel, Morrison Hershfield, Vancouver, BC.
Narrowband UVB phototherapy for early‐stage mycosis fungoides: evaluation of clinical and histopathological changes

Background Early‐stage (IA, IB, IIA) mycosis fungoides (MF) has long been treated with various agents including topical potent steroids, nitrogen mustard, carmustine, oral psoralen plus UVA (PUVA), broadband UVB, electron‐beam radiotherapy, interferon‐α and retinoids. However, each of these modalities is associated with various side‐effects. Narrowband UVB (NB‐UVB) therapy has the same effect but is safer to use than the other methods.
Novel Packaging Paper Made From Blend Fillers of Chitosan and Rice Starch

In our research, paper sheets with a blend fillers of chitosan and rice starch have been made. The novelty of this paper is the use of blend mixture, different concentrations of chitosan and rice starch in paper production. This led to positive effect on the barrier, mechanical and printing properties. The goal of our research was to improve paper properties and to make a paper sheets, which will be suitable as packaging paper. To evaluate the effect of the bio based fillers, the smoothness, air permeability, grease resistance, moisture, water absorptiveness, tensile properties, surface and printing quality were determined. The research showed that the water absorptiveness and the resistance toward capillary rise improved at 7.5% blend mixture of chitosan and rice starch. Grease resistance at papers with fillers improved up to 88%. Furthermore, smoothness and air permeability improved at papers with chitosan and rice starch. As expected, the fillers affected the surface, fibres were bonded, fewer and smaller pores were detected. The results showed that blend fillers of chitosan and rice starch are effective paper fillers in the preparation of pulp mixture for bio based papers. Such paper sheets have better moisture resistance, are more flexible, easy to print and maintain the colour quality. Therefore, preparing paper using combination of chitosan and rice starch blend fillers is an improved and convenient procedure to enhance many properties of such papers.
WATER FOOD DIABETES AYURVEDA GENETICS POVERTY YOGA STDS HISTORY SEX SOCIETY FAMILY PLANNING CASTE GENDER RIOTS RELIGION HEALTH DEMOCRACY FLOODING WASTE-MANAGEMENT UNANI PSYCHOLOGY FOLK MEDICINE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION GLOBALISATION BIOCHEMISTRY OLD AGE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH MALARIA POLICY HIV AIDS WHO MEDI

Malnutrition has been a chronic problem in India, initially owing to abject poverty of its population. But lately, despite considerable improvement in the economic conditions and government’s efforts of providing subsidized food to the poor in various forms and through various outlets, nutrition status of societies has not experienced the expected improvement. This, the current study finds, is linked to skewed and misinformed perceptions of nutrition among the new-age parents across rural societies, shaped by the media in a vacuum of information and knowledge. The modern food industry and capitalist enterprises enter the societal psyche through this gap with their lucrative campaigns, which have had captivating impact in shaping what I describe as “food euphoria” for some kinds of items while a “food fatigue” for other, more traditional kinds of eating practices. Greater ‘values’ and ‘meanings’ are attached to certain kinds of processed and packaged food for their perceived benefits of both mind and body today, following which purchasing decisions are made and the items consumed. Apart from such misinformed decisions, ecological shifts and climate change are also affecting nutritional outcomes with negative impacts such as unavailability of milk in the daily diets of children. Altered social dynamics like migration of parents have added significant extra burden on the children that manifest in an array of health hazards encompassing the psychological and nutritional. This demands a multiscalar and multidimensional approach towards the governance of nutrition that is proving to be overwhelming for policy actors. However, uncovering multifarious drivers is an important first step to understand how intricately poised the nutritional outcomes were. It clearly underlines limited efficacy or even futility in some cases of food subsidies aimed at alleviating poverty-related malnutrition. It bolsters the anthropologist’s conviction that matters of health, more so in public health, were a societal, cultural construction instead of being deterministic and rather simplistic biomedical eventuality (Dauglas & Khare 1979). In Sundarbans, ‘nutrition’ remains situated at the complex intersections of modernist cultural evolutions in the society and becomes a product of interplays between diverse ranges of ecological, social and economic entanglements.
Perceptions of Campus Climate by Sexual Minorities

Previous research has indicated that students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) often have negative experiences on university campuses due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Direct and indirect experiences contribute to an overall perception of the campus climate. This study used an online survey to assess students' perceptions of campus climate, their experiences confronting bias, support of family members and friends, and whether they had considered leaving campus. Multiple regression analysis indicated that perceptions of poorer campus climate were predicted by greater unfair treatment by instructors, more impact from anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) bias on friends’ and families’ emotional support, and having hidden one's LGBT identity from other students. Cluster analyses revealed four groups of participants distinguished by openness about their sexual orientation and negative experiences, with one group appearing to be at risk for poor retention. Results are discussed in terms of the needs of LGBTQ students on campus.
Spatio-Developmental Distribution of the Prion-Like Protein Doppel in Mammalian Testis: A Comparative Analysis Focusing on Its Presence in the Acrosome of Spermatids1

Abstract The first prion-like protein doppel, officially designed as prion protein dublet, does not seem to be needed for prion disease progression, whereas its physiological function seems to be related to male fertility. Its expression is primarily detected in the male genital tract, and Prnd-inactivated male mice are sterile. We investigated the location of Doppel in the testis of various species of mammal to determine its physiological function. Doppel is expressed early during ontogenesis, and is found in both germ cells and Sertoli cells in mice, rats, boars, and humans. Doppel is permanently expressed in the Sertoli cells but at different levels according to species. Its expression in testicular germ cells was primarily detected in spermatids, with a transient presence in the acrosome. These data suggest that Doppel may play a physiological role in acrosome biogenesis and may be of use in studies of patients suffering from idiopathic infertility.
ASSESSING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN PLANNED AND OBSERVED LAND USE MAPS : THE BELGRADE ’ S MUNICIPALITIES CASE STUDY

Techniques for evaluating similarities between categorical maps obtained by different spatial modeling techniques or representing similar space in different time instances are still developing. This paper reviews a current approach for assessing the similarity in land use maps that are used in city planning processes. The performance of recently designed kappa location and kappa histo measures as well as fuzzy set map comparison approach were tested on a case study area that comprises three cities of Belgrade’s municipalities with different urban characteristics. By assessing similarities between the land use map of the Master plan designed for the year 2021 and the map representing the currently observed land use conditions, the level of realized planned activities as well as the level of discrepancy from the Master plan could be evaluated.
EFFECTS OF COMPUTER ANIMATION INSTRUCTIONAL PACKAGE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated the effects of Computer Animation Instructional Package on secondary school students’ achievement in Biology in Niger State, Nigeria. The study adopted a pre-test, post-test, non-randomized, non-equivalent quasi-experimental design. Two research questions and two corresponding null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The sample was made up of 240 students captured from intact classes selected from six secondary schools using a multi-stage sampling technique. Biology Achievement Test (BAT) was used an instrument to gather data for the pre-test and posttest. Computer Animation Instructional Package (CAIP) was used as treatment instrument for the experimental group while the control group was taught using discussion method only. Content and criterion validation of CAIP was done by expert Educational Technologist, Computer Programmer and Biology lecturers from Niger State College of Education while BAT was validated by biologist and expert in test and measurement. Testretest method was used to administer BAT and the reliability coefficient was determined using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation and found to be 0.70. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of the experimental and control groups in favour of the experimental group. However, there was no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught Biology using computer animation instructional package. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended, that the use of CAIP should be encouraged in teaching and learning of Biology among others.
Low-Rank Semidefinite Programming: Theory and Applications

Finding low-rank solutions of semidefinite programs is important in many applications. For example, semidefinite programs that arise as relaxations of polynomial optimization problems are exact relaxations when the semidefinite program has a rank-1 solution. Unfortunately, computing a minimum-rank solution of a semidefinite program is an NP-hard problem. In this paper we review the theory of low-rank semidefinite programming, presenting theorems that guarantee the existence of a low-rank solution, heuristics for computing low-rank solutions, and algorithms for finding low-rank approximate solutions. Then we present applications of the theory to trust-region problems and signal processing.
International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2006 Noordwijk , Netherlands 27 – 30 June 2006 Infrared fibers in the 1 . 5 um to 18 um range : availability and measured properties

With a view towards the application in space-borne optical instruments, we first performed a world-wide market survey of infrared fibers designed for the wavelength range of 1.5 μm to 18 μm. Fiber samples purchased and tested comprise fluoride fibers, chalcogenide fibers, a germanate fiber and a silver-halide fiber, as well as hollow fibers. While the majority of infrared fibers offered are of the multi-mode type, three of the fluoride fibers are single-mode. We report on the polarization degrading effect of a single-mode fiber and present a possible solution to achieve polarization maintainance by twisting the fiber. Secondly we report on measurements of numerical aperture, output beam profile, and attenuation of a hollow fiber. The measurements were performed at the wavelengths of λ = 3.39 μm and λ = 10. 6μm.
Palmoplantar and scalp psoriasis occurring during anti–tumour necrosis factor‐α therapy: a case series of four patients and guidelines for management

M Schindewolf,† RJ Ludwig,*‡§ M Wolter,‡ A Himsel,¶ D Zgouras,† R Kaufmann,‡ W-H Boehncke,‡ E Lindhoff-Last† †Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Angiology, ‡Department of Dermatology, §Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ ZAFES, and ¶Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Clinic of the Johann Wolfgang, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, *Corresponding author, Department of Dermatology, Clinic of Johann Wolfgang, Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, D-60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, tel. +49 69 6301 6162; fax +49 69 6301 7139; E-mail: r.ludwig@em.uni-frankfurt.de M Schindewolf and RJ Ludwig contributed equally to this work.
Modeling the possible conformations of the extracellular loops in G‐protein‐coupled receptors

This study presents the results of a de novo approach modeling possible conformational dynamics of the extracellular (EC) loops in G‐protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs), specifically in bovine rhodopsin (bRh), squid rhodopsin (sRh), human β‐2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR), turkey β‐1 adrenergic receptor (β1AR), and human A2 adenosine receptor (A2AR). The approach deliberately sacrificed a detailed description of any particular 3D structure of the loops in GPCRs in favor of a less precise description of many possible structures. Despite this, the approach found ensembles of the low‐energy conformers of the EC loops that contained structures close to the available X‐ray snapshots. For the smaller EC1 and EC3 loops (6–11 residues), our results were comparable with the best recent results obtained by other authors using much more sophisticated techniques. For the larger EC2 loops (25–34 residues), our results consistently yielded structures significantly closer to the X‐ray snapshots than the results of the other authors for loops of similar size. The results suggested possible large‐scale movements of the EC loops in GPCRs that might determine their conformational dynamics. The approach was also validated by accurately reproducing the docking poses for low‐molecular‐weight ligands in β2AR, β1AR, and A2AR, demonstrating the possible influence of the conformations of the EC loops on the binding sites of ligands. The approach correctly predicted the system of disulfide bridges between the EC loops in A2AR and elucidated the probable pathways for forming this system. Proteins 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.