Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RESEARCH INTO THE EVIDENCE OF MAN'S SURVIVAL AFTER DEATH: A HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL SURVEY WITH A SUMMARY OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Scientific research on the question of whether human personality survives physical death has been conducted for almost a century. The present article offers a summary of this research and accounts of some new developments in the field that have occurred within the past 15 years. The historical review is divided into three periods which, although not sharply separated, were characterized by different understandings and approaches both to the theoretical issues and to related empirical investigations. In the first period, extending from the 1880s to the 1930s, the investigators mainly engaged in collecting, classifying, and analyzing spontaneous experiences of persons who saw apparitions of deceased persons or had other experiences that suggested to them some communication from a discarnate personality. This period also saw the beginning of the scientific investigation of persons (usually called mediums) who claim they can bring messages from deceased persons. Considerable experimentation during this period, including studies of extrasensory communication between living persons, gradually led some investigators to conclude that all, or nearly all, of the evidence seeming to arise from a discarnate personality could be explained more easily on the basis of telepathy between living persons or some far ranging power of clairvoyance on the part of a person who seemed to receive a communication from a deceased person. In the second period, extending from the 1930s to about 1960, most parapsy-chologists neglected the question of the possibility of man's survival after physical death. They judged it wiser to defer a direct attack on the problem until after a more complete understanding had been achieved of the power and range of extrasensory perception on the part of living persons. During these years, nevertheless, some advances were made in the form of new types of empirical investigation and further efforts to clarify theoretical issues. In the third period of investigation, dating from approximately 1960, proportionately more parapsychologists have entered this field of research; and they have tried to devise experiments that would exclude extrasensory perception between living persons (or on the part of a single living person) as a counterexplanation for communications apparently coming from deceased persons. In addition, some of them have exploited the distinction between cognitive information and skills. They have argued that, although there may be no limits to the transmission by extrasensory perception of cognitive information, skills cannot be transmitted either normally or by extrasensory perception. Thus, persons exhibiting a skill not learned normally may provide evidence of having acquired this skill either in a previous incarnation or through the influence of a discarnate person who, during his terrestrial life, had demonstrated the skill.
Psychosocial Profile of the Parasuicidal Patient in Kuwait

A consecutive sample of 92 parasuicides aged 14-44 years (mean age +/- standard deviation, 22.9 +/- 5.6) was seen during the period December 1984-November 1985 at Kuwait's main teaching general hospital (catchment area 449000 population). Self-poisoning accounted for 85.9%. Their sociodemographic characteristics were consistent with contemporary trends of parasuicidal behaviour reported in other countries. The structure of the Kuwaiti population is quite special. The majority (58.3%) are expatriates mostly males at the working age group while the minority (41.7%) are Kuwaiti nationals. Family discord was the dominant antecedent life event in Kuwaitis. On the other hand, non-Kuwaiti Arabs and non-Arab expatriates reported an excess of work-related problems as precipitating factors. Non-Arab females resorted to more violent methods than other females. Acute situational distress was the most common diagnosis while depression was present in about 25% of the total sample. The attitudes of family members of the parasuicidal patients were discussed in the light of the socio-cultural perspective. Attention to possible preventive measures is suggested. Parasuicide (Kreitman et al 1970) is a topic which has stimulated considerable research in recent years. A wealth of information has become available on the subject and its patterns in different cultures and various countries (WHO 1974). In the "Arab World" a few studies have dealt with parasuicide. El-Islam (1974) studied the characteristics of hospital referred parasuicide in Qatar and indicated that intergenerational conflict was the commonest precipitating life event. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Conventional adverse features do not predict response to adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II colon cancer

The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage II colon cancer is unclear. Current guidelines recommend adjuvant chemotherapy for high‐risk patients, although the benefit demonstrated to date is small. Our study examined if adjuvant chemotherapy is associated with improved cancer‐specific survival in high‐risk patients with stage II colon cancer.
Epidermal stem cells: location, potential and contribution to cancer

Epidermal stem cells have been classically characterized as slow‐cycling, long‐lived cells that reside in discrete niches in the skin. Gene expression studies of niche‐resident cells have revealed a number of stem cell markers and regulators, including the Wnt/β‐catenin, Notch, p63, c‐Myc and Hedgehog pathways. A new study challenges the traditional developmental paradigm of slow‐cycling stem cells and rapid‐cycling transit amplifying cells in some epidermal regions, and there is mounting evidence to suggest that multi‐lineage epidermal progenitors can be isolated from highly proliferative, non‐niche regions. Whether there is a unique microenvironment surrounding these progenitors remains to be determined. Interestingly, cancer stem cells derived from epidermal tumours exist independent of the classic skin stem cell niche, yet also have stem cell properties, including multi‐lineage differentiation. This review summarizes recent studies identifying the location and regulators of mouse and human epidermal stem cells and highlights the strategies used to identify cancer stem cells, including expression of normal epidermal stem cell markers, expression of cancer stem cell markers identified in other epidermal tumours and characterization of side‐population tumour cells. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Highly Sensitive Detection of Melamine Using a One-Step Sample Treatment Combined with a Portable Ag Nanostructure Array SERS Sensor

There is an urgent need for rapid and reliable methods able to detect melamine in animal feed. In this study, a quick, simple, and sensitive method for the determination of melamine content in animal feed was developed using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy on fabricated Ag nanorod (AgNR) array substrates with a one-step sample extraction procedure. The AgNR array substrates washed by HNO3 solvent (10−7 M) and methanol and showed the good stability within 6 months. The Raman shift at △ν = 682 cm−1 was used as the characteristic melamine peak in the calculations. Sufficient linearity was obtained in the 2–200 μg·g−1 range (R2 = 0.926). The limits of detection and quantification were 0.9 and 2 μg·g−1, respectively. The recovery rates were 89.7–93.3%, with coefficients of variation below 2.02%. The method showed good accuracy compared with the tradition GC-MS analysis. This new protocol only need 2 min to fininsh the detection which could be developed for rapid onsite screening of melamine contamination in quality control and market surveillance applications.
The DNA Damage Checkpoint Regulates a Transition between Yeast and Hyphal Growth in Schizosaccharomyces japonicus

ABSTRACT Dimorphic yeasts change between unicellular growth and filamentous growth. Many dimorphic yeasts species are pathogenic for humans and plants, being infectious as invasive hypha. We have studied the determinants of the dimorphic switch in the nonpathogenic fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, which is evolutionarily close to the well-characterized fission yeast S. pombe. We report that camptothecin, an inhibitor of topoisomerase I, reversibly induced the unicellular to hyphal transition in S. japonicus at low concentrations of camptothecin that did not induce checkpoint arrest and the transition required the DNA checkpoint kinase Chk1. Furthermore, a mutation of chk1 induced hyphal transition without camptothecin. Thus, we identify a second function for Chk1 distinct from its role in checkpoint arrest. Activation of the switch from single cell bipolar growth to monopolar filamentous growth may assist cells to evade the source of DNA damage.
Appendicitis – A Collection of Essays from Around the World 2 acute or chronic inflammation

Though appendicitis is common many important questions remain unanswered. When is the appendix normal and when is it the cause of abdominal pain? Why does appendicitis primarily affect older children and young adults? Why is appendicitis uncommon in those under five years of age and in those over sixty years of age? Why are boys affected more often than girls? Why does appendicitis appear to run in some families? Why is appendicitis more common in affluent parts of the world and rare in parts where poverty and poor hygiene are prevalent? The epidemiology of appendicitis is complex and its cause is not explained by any single factor. The peak incidence of appendicitis coincides with the age when the immune system is most efficient and the lymphoid follicles are at their maximum development. Could this implicate immunological factors in the pathogenesis and, therefore, the epidemiology of appendicitis? Obstruction of the lumen of the appendix is believed to be the trigger initiating the processes that culminate in inflammation of the appendix. Fecaliths are a specific cause of appendicitis in about one-third of specimens (Mitros & Rubin, 2009) and are composed of fats (coprosterols), inorganic salts (calcium phosphate) and organic residue (vegetable fibres) in a proportion of 50%, 25% and 20%, respectively (Berg, RM., & Berg, HM., 1957). Their physical consistency varies from soft to hard concretions. The reported incidence of fecaliths depends on whether the data was obtained from intraoperative palpation of the organ, from histological analysis of operative specimens or from autopsy reports. It is suggested that vegetable matter entering the lumen of the appendix forms the nucleus around which glandular secretions in the lumen desicate to form the calculi (Lowenberg, 1949). In the other two-thirds of instances where fecaliths are absent, the obstruction is thought to be caused by hypertrophy of mural lymphoid follicles in response to a host of causes that are discussed elsewhere in this book. This chapter aims to understand the environmental, demographic, cultural and genetic factors that make the appendix susceptible to obstruction and inflammation. To understand the epidemiology of appendicitis is to look at the possibility of moving beyond treating it operatively to entertaining non-operative treatments and to foresee a future when some cases of appendicitis can be prevented.
Role of surgical residents in undergraduate surgical education.

OBJECTIVES To identify the role and impact of surgical residents on the various activities of a senior (4th year) surgical clerkship, and to explore students' perceptions of differences between the teaching behaviours of attending physicians and residents. DESIGN A survey by questionnaire. SETTING McGill University, Montreal. METHOD A 67-item questionnaire was administered to fourth-year medical students at the end of their 8-week surgical clerkship. Analysis of the data was performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Dunn's multiple comparison test and mean average. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Overall satisfaction with the clerkship, teaching behaviours and teaching of clinical skills and basic principles. RESULTS Overall satisfaction with the clerkship was 6.31 out of 10. Surgical residents were perceived as being significantly more active than the attending staff in 14 out of 15 teaching behaviours. They were also seen as important in teaching certain clinical skills such as suturing, assisting in the operating room and managing emergency situations. They also contributed significantly to teaching the basic principles of surgery such as infections, surgical bleeding and fluid and electrolytes. On a 10-point scale, students felt that more learning was achieved by independent reading, tutorials and residents' teaching than by other teaching modalities, including attending physicians' and nurses' teaching. CONCLUSIONS Medical students perceive surgical residents as being significantly more active in their education process than the attending staff. Residents appear to be responsible for teaching various technical and patient management skills necessary for patient care. Along with independent reading and tutorials, resident teaching contributes a significant portion of the medical student's acquisition of knowledge and appears to contribute to the students' choice of surgery as a career.
Symptoms and Subtypes in Pediatric Functional Dyspepsia: Relation to Mucosal Inflammation and Psychological Functioning

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to explore relations between antral or duodenal inflammatory cells and aspects of psychological functioning with clinical symptom presentation in children with functional dyspepsia (FD), as well as to determine whether histologic inflammation and/or psychopathology are differentially associated with FD subtypes as defined by the Rome II and Rome III criteria. Patients and Methods: One hundred pediatric patients with dyspepsia completed a standardized history and physical examination at initial evaluation. Patients and parents also completed a measure of psychological functioning. Subsequently, 63 of these patients underwent upper endoscopy with biopsy (4 patients excluded from analysis because of mucosal disease). Inflammatory cells in the mucosa of stomach and duodenum were enumerated. Associations between specific symptoms and FD subtypes with inflammatory cell densities and anxiety, depression, and somatization scores were examined. Results: Rome III subtypes were more robustly related to differences in mast cell densities and scores on psychologic subscales than was true for Rome II subtypes. At the individual symptom level, having pain wake the patient from sleep was associated with higher duodenal mast cell density. Bloating was associated with lower levels of general antral inflammation, as well as higher self-reported levels of anxiety and somatization. Early satiety and bothersome postprandial fullness also were associated with higher levels of self-reported anxiety and depression. Conclusions: The present study provides preliminary evidence for a relation between clinical presentation, specific types of inflammatory cell infiltrates, and aspects of psychological functioning in children with FD. Rome III subtyping, adopted for adult dyspepsia, may be relevant to the pediatric population.
Dendritic and natural killer cell subsets associated with stable or declining CD4+ cell counts in treated HIV-1-infected children.

BACKGROUND Natural killer (NK) cells and plasmacytoid and myeloid dendritic cells (DCs) are depleted, and their function impaired, in advanced adult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection. Studies in perinatally infected children are lacking. METHODS Percentages of NK cells and plasmacytoid and myeloid DCs were evaluated by flow cytometry. Forty children with perinatal HIV-1 infection were compared with 11 age-matched, uninfected children. Plasmacytoid and myeloid DC function was evaluated by activation-induced cytokine secretion. RESULTS Virally suppressed children had normal levels of circulating plasmacytoid and myeloid DCs and total NK cells but had sustained depletion of a mature (CD3-/161+/56+/16+) NK cell subset and decreased interferon- alpha secretion by plasmacytoid DCs. Despite similar viral loads, percentages of myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs and mature NK cells were significantly lower in viremic children with a history of decreasing CD4+ cell percentages, compared with children with stable CD4+ cell counts. CONCLUSIONS Children achieve partial reconstitution of myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs and NK cells during viral suppression; irrespective of viral load, a clinical history of decreasing CD4+ cell percentage is associated with greater depletion of these subsets. We hypothesize that the evaluation of selected innate-immunity effector cells may serve as a marker of CD4+ cell loss in pediatric HIV-1 infection.
Hope for the Future But Fear the Risk of Stigma: Ethiopian Family Caregivers’ Lived Experience of Caring for Their HIV Positive Child Two Years After Starting Antiretroviral Treatment

ABSTRACT Family caregivers are believed to be the primary source of support for HIV-affected children. There is limited evidence about practices of support for caregivers, to strengthen them and to enhance the welfare of HIV positive children, especially in African settings. Our aim was therefore to illuminate caregivers’ lived experiences of caring for a child in Ethiopia 2 years after the child was enrolled in antiretroviral therapy. Qualitative interviews with 18 family caregivers of 18 children were performed and analyzed using an inductive design with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. The family caregivers’ lived experience was shown in two main themes comprising “lifelong medication gives hope for the future” and “support challenged by the fear of stigma. ” The family caregivers experienced hope and dreams for the future as they saw their child as healthy and they had regained normality in life after the child’s diagnosis. The caregivers still feared the disclosure of the child’s diagnosis, which gave rise to conflicts with the child, the family, and society. Good quality support from the healthcare staff lightened their burdens. Further studies are recommended on the strategies of stigma reduction and developing need-specific modalities to support caregivers in the community.
Becoming a Physician: Students' Creative Projects in a Third‐year IM Clerkship

Purpose Medical educators have only limited understanding of how integrating humanities-based components into standard curricula contributes to the medical students' professionalism. This study qualitatively analyzed how students used a creative-project assignment during their third-year internal medicine clerkships to explore various aspects of their professional development. Method A total of 277 students from three consecutive classes (1999–2002) at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine each completed a creative project reflecting on a particularly problematic or meaningful illness-related incident. Process and content analyses of the 221 projects submitted for analysis were performed. Results Students' projects employed a wide range of formats, tones, and styles to examine the process of socialization into medicine. Within this framework, their work tended to explore issues such as the proper relationship of medical students to patients, coming to terms with death and dying, understanding the patient's experience of illness, and coping with professional and personal stress. Conclusion A creative-projects course component can be a valuable adjunct to traditional clerkship activities in helping students to reflect on the process of becoming a physician.
Assimilation of enterprise technology upgrades: a factor-based study

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the differences in the propensity of firms to initiate and commit to the assimilation of an enterprise technology upgrade. A research model is proposed that examines the influences that four technological and four organisational factors have on predicting assimilation of a technology upgrade. Results show that firms with a greater propensity to assimilate the new enterprise resource planning (ERP) version have a higher assessment of relative advantage, IS technical competence, and the strategic role of IS relative to those firms with a lower propensity to assimilate a new ERP version.
2008 Annual Report Conference on Electrical Insulation Dielectric Phenomena Development of the Long Sparks near the Junction Point and Ground

The paper presents results of high-speed optical studies carried out at the High Voltage Research Center (HVRC), Istra, Russia (2002-2007). Different measurements were conducted in rod-to-plane gap of 5.5-6 m in length under both polarities HV pulses of around 2 MV in altitude with waveform of 20/7500 and 100/7500,s. The velocities of the long spark in stages of final jump and return stroke were directly measured using framing and streak modes. The highest velocities near the grounded plane or near the junction point have been found to be around 5-10 m/ps that is much larger than usually reported. These results have been confirmed and ascertained with additional quantitative treatment of the streak photographs. The velocities have been compared with those in the natural lightning and in the short gap streamer discharges; simple explanations suggested.
Experimental Test of Local Hidden-Variable Theories

We have measured the linear polarization correlation of the photons emitted in the atomic cascade 4p 2 1 S 0 -+ 4s4p 1P1 _; 4s 2 1 S 0 of calcitnn. It has been shown by Bell that local hidden-variable theories yield predictions for an idealized correlation of this type which are in conflict with the predictions of quantum mechanics. This result is expressed in terms of an inequality ("Bell's inequality") that was subsequently generalized to a form applicable to the present experiment. Our data are in agreement with quantum mechanics and violate tl1e restriction imposed by local hidden variables to high statistical accuracy. Thus, this experimental result is strong evidence against local hidden-variable theories.
Nebulized rhDNase therapy in newborn infants with atelectasis

Gonderilme tarihi: 05.11. 2013 Kabul tarihi: 10.01. 2014 Abstract Purpose:To see the efficacy in atelectasis and clinical effectiveness of rhDNase in newborns unresponsive to conventional therapy. Material and methods: Eight newborns (7 premature) with atelectasis in the lungs were evaluated retrospectively. All patients were given rhDNase 2.5 mg twice daily with nebulizer for up to 3 days after conventional therapies. Results:The birth weight and gestational age of the patients ranged respectively from 500 g to 3000 g and 25 weeks to 41 weeks. When atelectasis developed, six of eight patients were mechanically ventilated. Infants received a dosage of 2.5 mg rhDNase every 12 hours with nebulizer for 3 days. Six of 8 patients showed almost complete improvement after the rhDNase treatment. One patient who did not respond to the treatment had an underlying "hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy" and complicated pneumonia. This patient died during the follow up. The other patient gave partial response to treatment. Of 6 mechanically ventilated patients 3 patients extubated in 3 days, one patient extubated after 9 days and two patients could not be extubated. Atelectasis relapsed in 6 patients. After second 3-day course of treatment by a nebulizer, recovery was seen in 3 days. There was no side effect due to rhDNase treatment. Conclusion:We suggest that rhDNase may be administered as an alternative treatment to the newborn infants with atelectasis in their lung. Especially, if there was no underlying disease, and if they did not respond to conventional treatment for atelectasis. More studies should be done with larger study groups.