Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral treatment for adolescents with chronic pain and their parents: a randomized controlled multicenter trial

Abstract Internet-delivered interventions are emerging as a strategy to address barriers to care for individuals with chronic pain. This is the first large multicenter randomized controlled trial of Internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for pediatric chronic pain. Participants included were 273 adolescents (205 females and 68 males), aged 11 to 17 years with mixed chronic pain conditions and their parents, who were randomly assigned in a parallel-group design to Internet-delivered CBT (n = 138) or Internet-delivered Education (n = 135). Assessments were completed before treatment, immediately after treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. All data collection and procedures took place online. The primary analysis used linear growth models. Results demonstrated significantly greater reduction on the primary outcome of activity limitations from baseline to 6-month follow-up for Internet CBT compared with Internet education (b = −1.13, P = 0.03). On secondary outcomes, significant beneficial effects of Internet CBT were found on sleep quality (b = 0.14, P = 0.04), on reducing parent miscarried helping (b = −2.66, P = 0.007) and protective behaviors (b = −0.19, P = 0.001), and on treatment satisfaction (P values < 0.05). On exploratory outcomes, benefits of Internet CBT were found for parent-perceived impact (ie, reductions in depression, anxiety, self-blame about their adolescent's pain, and improvement in parent behavioral responses to pain). In conclusion, our Internet-delivered CBT intervention produced a number of beneficial effects on adolescent and parent outcomes, and could ultimately lead to wide dissemination of evidence-based psychological pain treatment for youth and their families.
Adventures in Membrane Protein Topology

The molecular aggregate size of the closed state of the colicin E1 channel was determined by fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments involving a fluorescence donor (three tryptophans, wild-type protein) and a fluorescence acceptor (5-(((acetyl)amino)ethyl)aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (AEDANS), Trp-deficient protein). There was no evidence of energy transfer between the donor and acceptor species when bound to membrane large unilamellar vesicles. These experiments led to the conclusion that the colicin E1 channel is monomeric in the membrane-bound closed channel state. Experiments were also conducted to study the membrane topology of the closed colicin channel in membrane large unilamellar vesicles using acrylamide as the membrane-impermeant, nonionic quencher of tryptophan fluorescence in a battery of single tryptophan mutant proteins. Furthermore, additional fluorescence parameters, including fluorescence emission maximum, fluorescence quantum yield, and fluorescence decay times, were used to assist in mapping the topology of the closed channel. Results suggest that the closed channel comprises most of the polypeptide of the channel domain and that the hydrophobic anchor domain does not transverse the membrane bilayer but nonetheless is deeply embedded within the hydrocarbon core of the membrane. Finally, a model is proposed which features at least two states that are in rapid equilibrium with each other and in which one state is more heavily populated than the other.
Culture and management In turkey: State-dependenCy and paternalISm In tranSItIon

In this chapter, we focus on the change and continuity in the Turk - ish business system and managerial culture. First we discuss the distinguishing characteristics of the business system, family-owned big business groups, and their relationships with each other and the state. After a brief presentation of Turkish cultural values, we discuss the main features of Turkish organizational and managerial culture and their implications for the practice. We conclude that the state-dependent characteristics of the Turkish business system have started to erode due to the liberalization policies implemented over the last three decades. However, the dominating economic actors are still big business groups, invariably diversified vertically and horizontally, and controlled by the owning family members through pyramidal or complex ownership struc -
Efficient QR Code Beautification With High Quality Visual Content

Quick response (QR) code is generally used for embedding messages such that people can conveniently use mobile devices to capture the QR code and acquire information through a QR code reader. In the past, the design of QR code generators only aimed to achieve high decodability and the produced QR codes usually look like random black-and-white patterns without visual semantics. In recent years, researchers have been tried to endow the QR code with aesthetic elements and QR code beautification has been formulated as an optimization problem that minimizes the visual perception distortion subject to acceptable decoding rate. However, the visual quality of the QR code generated by existing methods still leaves much to be desired. In this work, we propose a two-stage approach to generate QR code with high quality visual content. In the first stage, a baseline QR code with reliable decodability but poor visual quality is first synthesized based on the Gauss-Jordan elimination procedure. In the second stage, a rendering mechanism is designed to improve the visual quality while avoiding affecting the decodability of the QR code. The experimental results show that the proposed method substantially enhances the appearance of the QR code and the processing complexity is near real-time.
Antibiotic prescribing patterns in village health clinics across 10 provinces of Western China.

OBJECTIVES To explore antibiotic prescribing patterns in rural areas across 10 provinces of Western China and to compare the patterns among these provinces. METHODS About 20 125 prescriptions were collected from 680 primary health clinics in villages from 40 counties in 10 provinces of Western China. Percentage of prescriptions with antibiotics and number of antibiotics per 100 prescriptions were used as measurements of antibiotic utilization. RESULTS The percentage of prescriptions with antibiotics was 48.43 (range: 41.12-57.47) in the study areas. There were 49 kinds of antibiotics prescribed in total, and 17 of them accounted for 90% of all usage. The number of antibiotics per 100 prescriptions was 54.62 (range: 43.78-69.56). CONCLUSIONS The frequency and proportion of prescribed antibiotics in the rural areas of Western China are higher compared with the developed countries, and the patterns of antibiotic prescription differ greatly among provinces. The findings have important policy implications for recommendations on the utilization of antibiotics in China.
Standard and experimental therapy in cutaneous T‐cell lymphomas

Abstract Cutaneous T‐cell lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of lymphoproliferative disorders, characterized by the accumulation of clonal lymphocytes in the skin. Skin‐directed therapies are the preferred first‐line modalities. There are interesting new developments in topical therapy using retinoids and gene‐therapy products such as adenovirus‐ interferon (IFN)‐γ. Systemic treatment uses biologicals such as fusion molecules, monoclonal antibodies and immune response modifiers (IFNs and retinoids), and well‐tolerated antiproliferative drugs such as methotrexate. Evidence‐based treatment recommendation exists but is hampered by the lack of large multicenter randomized trials.
Growth differentiation factor‐15 (GDF‐15) suppresses in vitro angiogenesis through a novel interaction with connective tissue growth factor (CCN2)

Growth differentiation factor‐15 (GDF‐15) and the CCN family member, connective tissue growth factor (CCN2), are associated with cardiac disease, inflammation, and cancer. The precise role and signaling mechanism for these factors in normal and diseased tissues remains elusive. Here we demonstrate an interaction between GDF‐15 and CCN2 using yeast two‐hybrid assays and have mapped the domain of interaction to the von Willebrand factor type C domain of CCN2. Biochemical pull down assays using secreted GDF‐15 and His‐tagged CCN2 produced in PC‐3 prostate cancer cells confirmed a direct interaction between these proteins. To investigate the functional consequences of this interaction, in vitro angiogenesis assays were performed. We demonstrate that GDF‐15 blocks CCN2‐mediated tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells. To examine the molecular mechanism whereby GDF‐15 inhibits CCN2‐mediated angiogenesis, activation of αVβ3 integrins and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) was examined. CCN2‐mediated FAK activation was inhibited by GDF‐15 and was accompanied by a decrease in αVβ3 integrin clustering in HUVEC cells. These results demonstrate, for the first time, a novel signaling pathway for GDF‐15 through interaction with the matricellular signaling molecule CCN2. Furthermore, antagonism of CCN2 mediated angiogenesis by GDF‐15 may provide insight into the functional role of GDF‐15 in disease states. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 1424–1433, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Numerical Dispersion in DG-FETD Method Using Brick and Tetrahedral Edge Elements

A numerical dispersion analysis (NDA) of the discontinuous Galerkin finite-element time-domain (DG-FETD) method is presented. Vector basis functions under the NDA are with brick and tetrahedral elements. This NDA shows that there exist both normal and spurious modes in the DG-FETD method. A DG-FETD modeling of transverse electromagnetic (TEM) wave propagation in a parallel waveguide is applied to verify the NDA for zeroth-order vector bases. The effect of wave propagation direction and electrical size of elements on numerical dispersion is investigated. It is shown from the NDA for higher-order interpolatory vector bases that the phase error of normal modes can be significantly reduced by using higher-order bases.
The career competencies of self-initiated and assigned expatriates: assessing the development of career capital over time

Abstract Building on a modern careers approach, we assess the effects of working abroad on individuals’ career capital. Given the dearth of longitudinal studies, we return to a sample of economics graduates in Finland eight years later. We measure changes in three dimensions of career capital; ‘knowing how’, ‘knowing whom’, ‘knowing why’ and find that company assigned expatriates learn more than self-initiated expatriates. All three career capital areas benefit from international experience and all are increasingly valued over time. Based on our findings, we conclude that a dynamic notion of career capital acquisition and use is needed. Managerial implications include the need for a wider view of talent management for international businesses.
Optimal biopsy strategies for the diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer

Purpose of review Prostate biopsy has evolved from a paradigm of a small number of random biopsies to one of systematic, numeric, and anatomic strategy. Over the past several years, the data have demonstrated the importance of purposeful biopsy strategies for detecting, accurately grading, and staging prostate cancer in varying patient populations. We review the optimal strategies for prostate biopsy given various clinical situations. Recent findings The 10–14 core-extended biopsy scheme is optimal for first-time prostate biopsy. In patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer but prior negative biopsy, saturation biopsy with a focus on lateral and apical cores may be indicated. Saturation biopsy is not indicated as an initial biopsy strategy, but is efficacious for staging patients undergoing active surveillance protocols due to the risk of pathological upgrading and clinical upstaging after initial biopsy. There remains a high discordance between prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy Gleason scores; however, extended biopsy schemes may improve concordance rates. Summary Further studies are needed to define the role of extended and saturation biopsy strategies for individualized clinical situations. The goal of current prostate biopsy studies has evolved from one of purely evaluating cancer detection to investigating as to how biopsy results can assist clinical management and predict outcomes for patients with and without prostate cancer.
A Comparative Study of Outside-In and Inside-Out Transobturator Tape Procedures for Stress Urinary Incontinence

Aims: This study compared the clinical outcome of patients undergoing outside-in transobturator tape (TOT) or inside-out transobturator tape (TVT-O) procedures for female stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Methods: The study examined the medical records of 615 patients who underwent TOT (376 patients) or TVT-O (239 patients) for SUI, and compared patient characteristics, operation time, duration of hospital stay, cure rates, and complication rates, by conducting a 1-year follow-up survey. Results: The TOT and TVT-O groups were found to be similar in terms of operation time, duration of hospital stay, surgical outcome (both before and after adjustment for age, parity, menopause, and previous pelvic surgery, cure rate (87.8% for TOT and 85.3% for TVT-O) and complication rate (14.4% for TOT, 15.5% for TVT-O). The complication rates after operations did not differ significantly between the two groups. Complications over the 1-year follow-up included urinary retention, de novo urgency, leg pain, vaginal mesh erosion, and hematoma, and all resolved following appropriate treatment. Conclusions: The TOT and TVT-O procedures appeared to be equally clinically effective and safe when used to treat female SUI.
Mechanical circulatory support for the treatment of children with acute fulminant myocarditis.

BACKGROUND Viral myocarditis may follow a rapidly progressive and fatal course in children. Mechanical circulatory support may be a life-saving measure by allowing an interval for return of native ventricular function in the majority of these patients or by providing a bridge to transplantation in the remainder. METHODS A retrospective chart review of 15 children with viral myocarditis supported with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (12 patients) or ventricular assist devices (3 patients) was performed. RESULTS All patients had histories and clinical findings consistent with acute myocarditis. The median age was 4.6 years (range 1 day-13.6 years) with a median duration of mechanical circulatory support of 140 hours (range 48-400 hours). Myocardial biopsy tissue demonstrated inflammatory infiltrates or necrosis, or both, in 8 (67%) of the 12 patients who had biopsies. Overall survival was 12 (80%) of 15 patients, with 10 (83%) survivors of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and 2 (67%) survivors of ventricular assist device support. Nine (60%) of the 15 patients were weaned from support, with 7 (78%) survivors; the remaining 6 patients were successfully bridged to transplantation, with 5 (83%) survivors. All survivors not undergoing transplantation are currently alive with normal ventricular function after a median follow-up of 1.1 years (range 0.9-5.3 years). CONCLUSION Eighty-percent of the children who required mechanical circulatory support for acute myocarditis survived in this series. Recovery of native ventricular function to allow weaning from support can be anticipated in many of these patients with excellent prospects for eventual recovery of full myocardial function.
The influence of the Pb-free solder alloy composition and processing parameters on thermal fatigue performance of a ceramic chip resistor

This paper presents the results of a thermal fatigue study of a 2512 ceramic chip resistor assembled with various Pb free solders including SnCu, SAC105, SAC205, SAC305, and SAC405. The test matrix also includes some limited evaluations with other variables such as cooling rate (solidification rate), thermal preconditioning and nitrogen (inert) reflow atmosphere. The matrix also includes a SnPb eutectic control cells. The resistor test vehicle provides an expedient and self-consistent method for evaluating the relative fatigue performance of the various alloys. A study of the as-assembled solder joints was conducted to characterize the microstructure of the solder joints with varying silver content. Thermal fatigue was evaluated using an accelerated temperature cycle of 0/100 °C with dwell times of 10 and 60 minutes. The test results show a direct relationship between characteristic fatigue life and Ag content, with the higher Ag content alloys outperforming those with the lowest Ag content. As might be anticipated, there also was a consistent inverse relationship between fatigue life and dwell time for the Pb free solders. The failure analysis and microstructural evolution is characterized with optical metallography and scanning electron microscopy and the fatigue reliability of the Pb free solders is discussed in terms of the microstructures.
Motherisk-PUQE (pregnancy-unique quantification of emesis and nausea) scoring system for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE The morbidity of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy varies substantially. In addition to the physical symptoms, the emotional and psychosocial stress must be considered. The method available today to measure the severity of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy stems from chemotherapy-induced symptoms and is too complicated to use clinically. We sought to establish a simple and clinically relevant method for evaluation of the severity of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy that can be used for both clinical practice and research. METHODS Women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy were scored by use of the "gold standard" Rhodes' score, which includes 8 items. The Rhodes' score was compared with several short versions of 3 to 4 items. Patients were subsequently followed up a week later to monitor changes in scores. Changes in the Rhodes' scores were correlated with changes in the simplified scores. RESULTS There was a very tight correlation between the Rhodes' score and the new pregnancy-unique quantification of emesis and nausea (PUQE) scoring system, which was based on the 3 items that included the number of daily vomiting episodes, the length of nausea per day in hours, and the number of retching episodes (r = 0.904; P <.0001). The distribution of severity of cases (between none, mild, moderate, and severe) did not differ between the Rhodes' and the PUQE. Comparing the changes in Rhodes' scores after a week of follow-up versus changes in the new PUQE score, there was a very high agreement (r = 0.95;P <.0001). CONCLUSION The new PUQE score yields similar results to the gold standard, but more cumbersome, Rhode's score. Clinicians and researchers can easily use PUQE.
Host cell proteins in biologics development: Identification, quantitation and risk assessment

Host cell proteins (HCPs) are those produced or encoded by the organisms and unrelated to the intended recombinant product. Some are necessary for growth, survival, and normal cellular processing whereas others may be non‐essential, simply carried along as baggage. Like the recombinant product, HCPs may also be modified by the host with a number of post‐translational modifications. Regardless of the utility, or lack thereof, HCPs are undesirable in the final drug substance. Though commonly present in small quantities (parts per million expressed as nanograms per milligrams of the intended recombinant protein) much effort and cost is expended by industry to remove them. The purpose of this review is to summarize what is of relevance in regards to the biology, the impact of genomics and proteomics on HCP evaluation, the regulatory expectations, analytical approaches, and various methodologies to remove HCPs with bioprocessing. Historical data, bioinformatics approaches and industrial case study examples are provided. Finally, a proposal for a risk assessment tool is provided which brings these facets together and proposes a means for manufacturers to classify and organize a control strategy leading to meaningful product specifications. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;103: 446–458. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An unusual case of metachronous NK/T cell lymphoma and interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma

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Intensive voluntary wheel running may restore circadian activity rhythms and improves the impaired cognitive performance of arrhythmic Djungarian hamsters

ABSTRACT Circadian rhythms are highly important not only for the synchronization of animals and humans with their periodic environment but also for their fitness. Accordingly, the disruption of the circadian system may have adverse consequences. A certain number of animals in our breeding stock of Djungarian hamsters are episodically active throughout the day. Also body temperature and melatonin lack 24-h rhythms. Obviously in these animals, the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) as the central pacemaker do not generate a circadian signal. Moreover, these so-called arrhythmic (AR) hamsters have cognitive deficits. Since motor activity is believed to stabilize circadian rhythms, we investigated the effect of voluntary wheel running. Hamsters were bred and kept under standardized housing conditions with food and water ad libitum and a 14 L/10 D lighting regimen. AR animals were selected according to their activity pattern obtained by means of passive infrared motion detectors. In a first step, the daily activity behavior was investigated for 3 weeks each without and with running wheels. To estimate putative photic masking effects, hamsters were exposed to light (LPs) and DPs and also released into constant darkness for a minimum of 3 weeks. A novel object recognition (NOR) test was performed to evaluate cognitive abilities both before and after 3 weeks of wheel availability. The activity patterns of hamsters with low wheel activity were still AR. With more intense running, daily patterns with higher values in the dark time were obtained. Obviously, this was due to masking as LPs did suppress and DPs induced motor activity. When transferred to constant darkness, in some animals the daily rhythm disappeared. In other hamsters, namely those which used the wheels most actively, the rhythm was preserved and free-ran, what can be taken as indication of a reconstitution of circadian rhythmicity. Also, animals showing a 24-h activity pattern after 3 weeks of extensive wheel running were able to recognize the novel object in the NOR test but not so before. The results show that voluntary exercise may reestablish circadian rhythmicity and improve cognitive performance.