Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sixth-Grade Physical Education: An Acculturation of Bullying and Fear

Purpose: Although bullying is recognized as a serious problem among adolescents, more information is needed regarding bullying within the context of physical education. Grounded in a social-ecological framework, the purpose of this investigation was to discover the perceptions students and teachers have about bullying in physical education and about peer and adult support. Method: Data collection included formal and informal interviews with 24 students and 4 teachers and 20 observations of 6th-grade physical education classes in 1 Midwestern school. Data were analyzed using a constant-comparative process. Results: The results indicate that adults acculturate students to support a bullying climate by providing mixed information regarding social interactions, ignoring nonphysical instances of bullying, and promoting inappropriate curricular selections. Participants also report that perceived differences such as appearance, body size, physical ability, and personal attire ignite most episodes of harassment in physical education. Further, students perceive that fear prevents many from (a) reporting instances of bullying to those in authority, (b) assisting bullied friends, and (c) feeling safe in certain physical education locations. Finally, students and teachers report that bullying impacts students' desire to participate in physical education. Conclusions: Overall, evidence from this investigation suggests that an efficacious support system does not exist for addressing the magnitude of the bullying problem. Although this study provided an initial step toward understanding the social-ecological factors affecting peer harassment in physical education, additional research is warranted.
Biological Activity of Bacillus Thuringiensis (Berliner) Strains on Larvae and Adults of Ceratitis Capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of Moroccan Bt strains against neonate larvae, third instar larvae and emerged adults of Ceratitis capitata. This Mediterranean fruit fly causes serious damages to Argan forest and other agricultural plants. There is no successful control program of this pest fly in the endemic Argan forest in Morocco. A single-dose test was performed on neonate larvae (25 µL/g) and adult (333.33 µL/g), when three doses of Bt toxins (50 µL/g, 100 µL/g and 150 µL/g) were tested against third instar of C. capitata. Among the twenty-six Bt strains examined, local Bt13.4 and Bt A7 strains showed highest toxicity levels against larvae and adults, when compared to the reference strain, Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis HD567 “code 4Q1”, and commercial product “Skeetal”. One hundred percent mortality was observed against neonate larvae after 7 days of application by Bt 13.4 toxin. Third instar larvae were very susceptible to Bt A7 and Bt M-Ag 21.6 strains with 68% mortality (Lethal Concentration: LC50 = 1.115) at a dose of 150 µL/g. The Bt A7 strain was also highly toxic to adults with 81.66% of mortality after 7 days of application. This study demonstrated that some of our collection Bt strains can contribute to integrated C. capitata management system with strong biological control components.
High‐risk HPV types in lesions of the uterine cervix of female commercial sex workers in the Philippines

In order to prevent cervical cancer, vaccines against human papilloma virus types 16 (HPV‐16) and 18 (HPV‐18) have been implemented worldwide. However, the HPV types that cause cancer can differ according to geographical area and ethnicity. In this new era of the HPV vaccine, it is important to elucidate the prevalent HPV types in each area. Therefore, the prevalence of HPV infection and cervical abnormalities among 369 female commercial sex workers in the Philippines were examined. HPV L1 gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using modified GP5+/6+ primers, and genotyping was performed by sequencing cloned PCR products. HPV DNA was detected in 211 (57.2%) women, among whom 46 HPV types were identified. HPV‐52 was most common and multiple‐type infection was observed in 44.5%. Among 56 women with abnormal cervical cytology (low‐ and high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and adenocarcinoma in situ), HPV‐52 was most common (23.2%), followed by HPV‐16 (19.6%), ‐58 (10.7%), and ‐67 (10.7%). Only 27% of these women were positive for HPV‐16 and ‐18. Multivariate analysis revealed that HPV‐16, ‐39, ‐52, ‐67, and ‐82 were significantly associated with abnormal cytology. Repeated analysis of HPV‐52 single‐positive samples using the original GP5+/6+ PCR primers produced negative results in 57% of cases, suggesting that the prevalence of HPV‐52 infection may have been underestimated in previous studies, and the current vaccines may not be sufficient for preventing infection and the development of premalignant lesions of the cervix in women in the Philippines. J. Med. Virol. 81:545–551, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effect of a sardine supplement on C-reactive protein in patients receiving hemodialysis.

OBJECTIVE The study evaluated the effect of a canned sardine supplement in C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients on hemodialysis (HD) and the compliance and adherence to this supplement. DESIGN This was a quasi-experimental study: Participants with a serum CRP of 5 mg/dL or less volunteered to consume a sardine supplement or were maintained on the usual cheese/ham sandwich supplement. SETTING The study took place in two outpatient dialysis units in Lisbon, Portugal. PATIENTS The study comprised 63 patients receiving maintenance HD three times per week for at least 6 months and an initial CRP concentration of 5 mg/dL or less. Exclusion criteria included the presence of graft vascular access or history of cancer. INTERVENTION After a 4-week washout period, the nutritional intervention included a canned sardine sandwich for the case group (n = 31) and a cheese or ham sandwich for the control group (n = 32), to be ingested during each routine HD session, 3 times per week, for 8 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Serum levels of high-sensitivity CRP were the outcome measure. RESULTS Only 65 patients from the invited 186 patients met the inclusion criteria and agreed to eat the sardine sandwich supplement three times per week and were involved in the study. A significant proportion of 48% (n = 31, case group) consumed the sardine sandwich supplement three times per week for 8 weeks, fulfilling the requirements and completing the study. The present investigation showed that a sardine sandwich supplement had no effect on CRP levels among patients on HD. However, when participants were stratified according to tertiles of CRP distribution values at baseline, a reduction in CRP levels was found for those in the higher tertile, being higher for the case group (P = .047). Although diabetic patients were excluded from the analysis (eight in the sardine supplementation group and seven in the control group) a significant CRP reduction was found (P = .034). CONCLUSION Although a supplement of low-dose n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids had no effect on the plasma high-sensitivity CRP of the supplemented group, a reduction in CRP levels was found when patients were stratified for tertiles of CRP (for the upper tertile) and diabetic status (for nondiabetic patients). These findings need to be further confirmed. This canned sardine supplement was accepted by an important proportion of patients, enhancing diet variety and contributing for a greater n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid intake.
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF MYCOPLASMAL INFECTIONS IN PERSIAN GULF WAR ILLNESS-CFIDS PATIENTS

Veterans of Operation Desert Storm returned from the Persian Gulf Theater of Operations and developed multiple signs and symptoms characterized by disabling fatigue, arthralgia, intermittent fever, myalgia, impairments in short-term memory, headaches, skin rashes, diarrhea and additional symptoms that have defied a disease case definition but has been called Gulf War Illness (GWI). In a sampling of GWI patients and symptomatic family members (n=30) we have used the technique of Gene Tracking and have found evidence of mycoplasmal infections in the blood leukocytes of approximately one-half of these cases. Mycoplasma-positive patients can be successfully treated with several 6 week courses of doxycycline (200 mg/d) or other antibiotics. Of the 14/30 patients that were mycoplasma-positive, 11/14 completely recovered after multiple cycles of antibiotics and 3/14 are still undergoing antibiotic therapy and relapsing.
A Personalized Framework for Dynamic Modeling of Disease Trajectories in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common peripheral blood and bone marrow cancer in the developed world. This manuscript proposes mathematical model equations representing the disease dynamics of B-cell CLL. We interconnect delay differential cell cycle models in each of the tumor-involved disease centers using physiologically relevant cell migration. We further introduce five hypothetical case studies representing CLL heterogeneity commonly seen in clinical practice and demonstrate how the proposed CLL model framework may capture disease pathophysiology across patient types. We conclude by exploring the capacity of the proposed temporally- and spatially distributed model to capture the heterogeneity of CLL disease progression. By using global sensitivity analysis, the critical parameters influencing disease trajectory over space and time are: 1) the initial number of CLL cells in peripheral blood, the number of involved lymph nodes, the presence and degree of splenomegaly; 2) the migratory fraction of nonproliferating as well as proliferating CLL cells from bone marrow into blood and of proliferating CLL cells from blood into lymph nodes; and 3) the parameters inducing nonproliferative cells to proliferate. The proposed model offers a practical platform that may be explored in future personalized patient protocols once validated.
Open Corpus Learning Content; Harvesting Knowledge to provide Equitable Access to Education for All

For generations education and educational institutions were closed books, available only to those privileged enough to attend these institutions. However the internet has unlocked the door to knowledge for countless individuals and communities around the world. With recent advances in internet technologies and social interactions online, eLearning is fast becoming an integral part of everyday life. However structuring learning experiences and tailoring them to the individual remains a huge challenge. eLearning systems that are capable of adapting a learning experience with regard to localization, cultural diversity and personalisation remain tied to educational institutions as they are heavily reliant upon specifically authored educational content. However, the possibility now exists to make education and eLearning a reality for all the global community. By leveraging the vast amounts of open corpus learning content available in digital repositories, corporate training repositories, whitepapers, the Worldwide Web, etc., educational experiences could be generated, tailored and delivered to users around the world. The ability to harness this resource would help to redress the imbalance that exists in access to education and knowledge availability worldwide.
Correlation between noninvasive and endovascular Doppler in patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis: A pilot study

Considerable interest exists in using endovascular techniques for assessing the renal circulation. The vasomotor response of the renal circulation in patients with hypertension and severe atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis was evaluated. Sixteen patients (5 men and 11 women) with a mean age of 73.2 ± 7.1 years (range, 59–82 years) underwent noninvasive renal duplex ultrasonography and endovascular flow wire evaluation. The flow wire was positioned in the main renal artery distal to the stenosis and used to examine the reactivity of the renal circulation in response to intra‐arterial papaverine before and after percutaneous revascularization. Resistive index was computed as (MPV − EDV)/MPV, where MPV is the maximum peak velocity and EDV is the end‐diastolic velocity. Renal flow reserve was defined as the ratio of peak hyperemic response to baseline flow. Intervention was technically successful in 18/18 arteries. Heart rate (69 ± 11 vs. 65 ± 10 beats/min; P = NS) and systolic blood pressure (168 ± 19 vs. 163 ± 24 mm Hg; P = NS) remained constant following injection of intrarenal papaverine, while diastolic blood pressure decreased (77 ± 13 vs. 65 ± 11 mm Hg; P < 0.006). Papaverine injection resulted in significant increases in average peak velocity (APV; 148% of baseline; P = 0.0003), MPV (146% of baseline; P = 0.001), and EDV (161% of baseline; P = 0.0026), but had no effect on the endovascular resistive index (0.81 ± 0.12 vs. 0.84 ± 0.08; P = NS). Renal artery stenting produced no effect on APV or EDV, but a small increase in MPV (123% of baseline; P < 0.05). In contrast, renal stenting resulted in a significant increase in the endovascular resistive index (0.77 ± 012 vs. 0.84 ± 0.08; P = 0.003), pulsatility index (1.84 ± 0.61 vs. 2.23 ± 0.70; P < 0.014), and renal flow reserve (1.49 ± 0.44 vs. 1.86 ± 0.73; P < 0.0071). A correlation was found between the noninvasive and endovascular measures diastolic/systolic ratio (r = 0.73; P < 0.0009) and resistive index (r = 0.63; P < 0.0053). Patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis have preserved vasomotor response to papaverine, as well as marked increases in renal flow and resistive index following successful renal artery stenting. Endovascular flow wire measurements are safe, easy to perform, and correlate well with noninvasive Doppler measurements. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Early Requirement for RRT in Children at Presentation in the United Kingdom: Association with Transplantation and Survival.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES We evaluated rates and factors associating with late referral (LR) and describe association of LR with access to renal transplantation and patient survival in children in the United Kingdom. Early requirement of RRT within 90 days of presentation to a pediatric nephrologist was classed as a LR, and those >90 days as an early referral (ER). DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS We included patients who commenced RRT, aged ≥3 months and <16 years, from 1996 to 2012. RESULTS Of 1603 patients, 25.5% (n=408) were LR, of which 75% commenced RRT in <30 days following presentation. Those with LR were more likely to be older at presentation, female, and black. The primary renal disease in LR was more likely to be glomerular disease (odds ratio [OR], 1.6; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.12 to 2.29), renal malignancy and associated diseases (OR, 4.11; 95% CI, 1.57 to 10.72), tubulo-interstitial diseases (OR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.49 to 3.78), or an uncertain renal etiology (OR, 5.75; 95% CI, 3.1 to 10.65). Significant differences in rates of transplantation between LR and ER remained up to 1-year following commencement of dialysis (21% versus 61%, P<0.001) but with no differences for donor source (33.3% and 35.3% living donor in LR and ER respectively, P=0.55). The median (interquartile range) follow-up time was 4.8 years (2.9-7.6). There were 55 deaths with no statistically significant difference in survival in the LR group compared with the ER group (hazard ratio, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.7 to 2.3; P=0.40). CONCLUSIONS We found that 25% of children starting RRT in the United Kingdom receive a LR to pediatric renal services, with little change observed over the past two decades. Those with LR are unable to benefit from pre-emptive transplantation and require longer periods of dialysis before transplantation. There is an urgent need to understand causes of avoidable LR and develop strategies to improve kidney awareness more widely among health care professionals looking after children.
Satisfaction with Care: A Measure of Quality of Care in Prostate Cancer Patients

Background. Patients’ assessment of satisfaction with care, quality of care, and outcomes has become a central issue in patient-centered prostate cancer (PCa) care. We sought to analyze the association between patient-reported satisfaction with care and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in newly diagnosed PCa patients. Methods. Prospective cohort design was used to recruit 590 newly diagnosed PCa patients from an urban academic hospital and a VA hospital. Participants completed satisfaction with care (CSQ-8) and HRQoL (SF-36 and UCLA-PCI) surveys prior to treatment and at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months’ follow-up. Cross-lagged analysis was used to ascertain the causal direction between satisfaction with care and HRQoL. Propensity scores were used to adjust for potential selection bias between treatment groups. Linear mixed models were used to analyze the association between satisfaction with care, process of care (treatment), and outcomes (generic and prostate-specific HRQoL) after adjusting for covariates. Results. Cross-lagged correlation results are consistent with a cause-effect association between HRQoL and satisfaction with care. After controlling for clinical and demographic covariates, radical prostatectomy (RP) treatment was associated with higher satisfaction with care (odds ratio [OR], 7.9; P = 0.043). Improved generic and prostate-specific HRQoL were associated with higher satisfaction with care, after adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates. Conclusion. Satisfaction with care appears to be associated with process of care and outcomes of care. Assessment of satisfaction with care is useful for evaluating the quality of PCa care. Satisfaction with care is an important arena in cancer outcomes research, whose full potential remains unexploited.
Hydrodynamic stress and lethal events in sparged microalgae cultures.

The effect of high superficial gas velocities in continuous and batch cultures of the strains Dunaliella tertiolecta, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii wild-type and cell wall-lacking mutant was studied in bubble columns. No cell damage was found for D. tertiolecta and C. reinhardtii (wild-type) up to superficial gas velocities of 0.076 and 0.085 m s(-1), respectively, suggesting that high superficial gas velocities alone cannot be responsible for cell death and, consequently, bubble bursting cannot be the sole cause for cell injury. A death rate of 0.46 +/- 0.08 h(-1) was found for C. reinhardtii (cell wall-lacking mutant) at a superficial gas velocity of 0.076 m s(-1), and increased to 1.01 +/- 0.29 h(-1) on increasing superficial gas velocity to 0.085 m s(-1). Shear sensitivity is thus strain-dependent and to some extent the cell wall plays a role in the protection against hydrodynamic shear. When studying the effect of bubble formation at the sparger in batch cultures of D. tertiolecta by varying the number of nozzles, a death rate of 0.047 +/- 0.016 h(-1) was obtained at high gas entrance velocities. D. tertiolecta was cultivated in a pilot-plant reactor under different superficial gas velocities of up to 0.026 m s(-1), with relatively low gas entrance velocities and no cell damage was observed. There is some indication that the main parameter causing cell death and damage was the gas entrance velocity at the sparger.
Greedy function approximation: A gradient boosting machine.

Function estimation/approximation is viewed from the perspective of numerical optimization in function space, rather than parameter space. A connection is made between stagewise additive expansions and steepest-descent minimization. A general gradient descent boosting paradigm is developed for additive expansions based on any fitting criterion. Specific algorithms are presented for least-squares, least absolute deviation, and Huber-M loss functions for regression, and multiclass logistic likelihood for classification. Special enhancements are derived for the particular case where the individual additive components are regression trees, and tools for interpreting such TreeBoost models are presented. Gradient boosting of regression trees produces competitive, highly robust, interpretable procedures for both regression and classification, especially appropriate for mining less than clean data. Connections between this approach and the boosting methods of Freund and Shapire and Friedman, Hastie and Tibshirani are discussed.
Origin of fecal contamination in waters from contrasted areas : Stanols as Microbial Source Tracking markers

Improving the microbiological quality of coastal and river waters relies on the development of reliable markers that are capable of determining sources of fecal pollution. Recently, a principal component analysis (PCA) method based on six stanol compounds (i.e. 5β-cholestan-3β-ol (coprostanol), 5βcholestan-3α-ol (epicoprostanol), 24-methyl-5α-cholestan-3β-ol (campestanol), 24-ethyl-5α-cholestan3β-ol (sitostanol), 24-ethyl-5β-cholestan-3β-ol (24-ethylcoprostanol) and 24-ethyl-5β-cholestan-3α-ol (24-ethylepicoprostanol)) was shown to be suitable for distinguishing between porcine and bovine feces. In this study, we tested if this PCA method, using the above six stanols, could be used as a tool in “Microbial Source Tracking (MST)” methods in water from areas of intensive agriculture where diffuse fecal contamination is often marked by the co-existence of human and animal sources. In particular, well-defined and stable clusters were found in PCA score plots clustering samples of “pure” human, bovine and porcine feces along with runoff and diluted waters in which the source of contamination is known. A good consistency was also observed between the source assignments made by the 6-stanol-based PCA method and the microbial markers for river waters contaminated by fecal matter of unknown origin. More generally, the tests conducted in this study argue for the addition of the PCA method based on six stanols in the MST toolbox to help identify fecal contamination sources. The data presented in this study show that this addition would improve the determination of fecal contamination sources when the contamination levels are low to moderate.
Therapeutic Challenges in Cancer Pain Management: A Systematic Review of Methadone

ABSTRACT The proven therapeutic efficacy of methadone in cancer pain is hindered by a challenging pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic profile, considerable interpatient variation, and increasing concern about the complexities of dosing. The objective of this study was to assess the evidence for the use of methadone in cancer pain management. The authors conducted a systematic literature search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published post the 2007 Cochrane review of methadone in cancer pain. Trial quality was assessed using the Oxford Quality Scoring System and Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Of the 152 abstracts found, 4 were RCTs (272 participants). Two RCTs compared the efficacy and safety of methadone with placebo or active control and two investigated rotation to methadone from other opioids. The studies used different routes of administration, dosing, initiation, and titration of methadone and distinct pain scoring tools and did not address the issues raised by the Cochrane review. Methadone has an important role in the management of cancer pain, with many advantages including low cost, high oral bioavailability, rapid onset of action, once-daily dosing, and postulated benefits in difficult pain control scenarios. However, due to limited research in this area, methadone dosing remains a challenge, with vigilant dose initiation, adjustment, and monitoring required. There is a need for further studies using standardized methodology to evaluate the optimal dosing strategy of methadone, the effect on different types of pain, and the role of pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenomics in clinical outcomes.