Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preclinical safety testing of percutaneous transatrial access to the normal pericardial space for local cardiac drug delivery and diagnostic sampling

The safety of a percutaneous method and streamlined catheter system to access the normal pericardial space via the right atrial appendage for drug delivery and diagnostic sampling was demonstrated in 20 anesthetized pigs. Access was successfully accomplished in all animals within 3 min of guide catheter positioning and was documented by fluoroscopic imaging and pericardial fluid sampling. The animals were sacrificed at 24 hr (n = 10) and 2 weeks (n = 10) for histopathologic analysis. Mean pericardial hematocrit was 1.1% ± 0.3% at initial sampling, 4.3% ± 1.4% at 24 hr (P = 0.005 vs. baseline), and 0.4% ± 0.2% at 2 weeks (P = 0.13 vs. baseline). At 24 hr, there was local inflammatory reaction in the atrial wall and a small thrombus at the site of puncture. At 2 weeks, no significant inflammatory changes or pericarditis were evident. The technique is well tolerated with no apparent adverse complications. Advances in intrapericardial therapeutics and diagnostics will direct the clinical application of this novel approach in human subjects. Cathet. Cardiovasc. Intervent. 49:472–477, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Exploiting player behavior in distributed architectures for online games. (Adaptation dynamique des architectures réparties pour jeux massivement multijoueurs)

Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are a very popular class of distributed systems with more than 20 millions of active users worldwide. MMOG have strong applicative requirements in terms of data consistency, persistence, responsiveness and scalability. Shaped by the behavior of the players in-game, MMOG workloads are data-intensive and hardly predictable. Despite extensive research in the area, none of the currently existing architectures is able to fully satisfy all the requirements in presence of such complex workloads. This thesis investigates the ability of MMOG architectures to better accomodate the workload by monitoring player activity at runtime. By doing that, the system is able to detect evolutions that are hard to foresee at startup, and dynamically allocate ressources to handle the load.We describe different techniques of runtime player monitoring and propose mechanisms to incorporate user behavior in the architectural design of MMOGs. Our experimentations are based on realistic workloads and show that our mechanisms have negligible overhead and improve global performances of MMOG distributed architectures.
Vulnerability to the Irrelevant Sound Effect in Adult ADHD

Objective: An ecologically valid adaptation of the irrelevant sound effect paradigm was employed to examine the relative roles of short-term memory, selective attention, and sustained attention in ADHD. Method: In all, 32 adults with ADHD and 32 control participants completed a serial recall task in silence or while ignoring irrelevant background sound. Results: Serial recall performance in adults with ADHD was reduced relative to controls in both conditions. The degree of interference due to irrelevant sound was greater for adults with ADHD. Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between task performance under conditions of irrelevant sound and the extent of attentional problems reported by patients on a clinical symptom scale. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that adults with ADHD exhibit impaired short-term memory and a low resistance to distraction; however, their capacity for sustained attention is preserved as the impact of irrelevant sound diminished over the course of the task.
Thrombin related peptide TP 508 promoted fracture repair in a mouse high energy fracture model Brain

Background: Thrombin related peptide (TP508) is a 23 amino-acid synthetic peptide that represents a portion of the receptor-binding domain of thrombin molecule. Previous studies have shown that TP508 can accelerate musculoskeletal tissue repair including fracture healing. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of TP508 on fracture healing in a murine fracture model representing high energy fracture situation. Methods: Eighty CD 1 mice underwent controlled quadriceps muscle crush and open transverse mid diaphyseal femoral fracture that was then fixed with an external fixator. Animals were randomised into four groups to receive an intra-operative dose of either 100 μg TP508 into the fracture gap; 100 μg TP508 into the surrounding damaged muscle tissues; 10 μg TP508 into the fracture gap, or control equal amount of saline into the fracture gap. Radiographic assessment was performed weekly for 5 weeks; histological analysis was at 3 and 5 weeks post fracture and biomechanical testing of the fractured bone was performed at 5 weeks post fracture. Results: Mechanical testing data showed that the fracture stiffness was significantly higher in the group receiving 100 μg TP508 into the fracture gap than other groups. Histological and radiographic analysis revealed a trend of increase in bone formation in the 100 μg TP508 injected into the fracture gap group compared to the saline control group. It was noted that the scar tissues was significantly less in Group II comparing with the saline control group and there was increased blood vessel formation in the crushed muscles and fracture gap areas in the groups receiving TP508 comparing to the saline control group. Conclusion: The results from this study demonstrated the use of thrombin related peptide TP508 in the situation of a high energy fracture can promote fracture healing and reduce the potential complications such as muscle fibrosis and fracture delayed or non-union. Published: 29 January 2009 Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research 2009, 4:1 doi:10.1186/1749-799X-4-1 Received: 12 August 2008 Accepted: 29 January 2009 This article is available from: http://www.josr-online.com/content/4/1/1 © 2009 Hanratty et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Öğretmen Adaylarının Okul Kavramına İlişkin Algıları

Bu arastirmada, ogretmen adaylarinin okul kavramina iliskin sahip olduklari metaforlari ortaya cikarmak amaclanmistir. Arastirmanin calisma grubunu, 2010-2011 ogretim yilinda Ataturk Universitesi Egitim Fakultesi Ilkogretim Bolumunde ogrenim goren 664 ogretmen adayi olusturmaktadir. Verilerin analizinde frekans, yuzde hesaplamalari ve nitel yontemler arasinda yer alan icerik analizi cozumleme teknigi kullanilmistir. Katilimcilar “okul… gibidir, cunku. ” ifadesi araciligiyla toplam 83 metafor uretmislerdir. Bu metaforlar ortak ozellikleri dikkate alinarak on bir farkli kategori altinda toplanmistir. Elde edilen bulgular katilimcilar tarafindan uretilen ve ilk bes sirada yer alan metaforlar; aile, hayat, hapishane, fabrika ve toplum oldugu saptanmistir
Choline Redistribution during Adaptation to Choline Deprivation*

Choline is an important nutrient for mammals. Choline can also be generated by the catabolism of phosphatidylcholine synthesized in the liver by the methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine by phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT). Complete choline deprivation is achieved by feeding Pemt–/– mice a choline-deficient diet and is lethal due to liver failure. Mice that lack both PEMT and MDR2 (multiple drug-resistant protein 2) successfully adapt to choline deprivation via hepatic choline recycling. We now report another mechanism involved in this adaptation, choline redistribution. Normal levels of choline-containing metabolites were maintained in the brains of choline-deficient Mdr2–/–/Pemt–/– mice for 90 days despite continued choline consumption via oxidation. Choline oxidase activity had not been previously detected in the brain. Plasma levels of choline were also maintained for 90 days, whereas plasma phosphatidylcholine levels decreased by >60%. The injection of [3H]choline into Mdr2–/–/Pemt–/– mice revealed a redistribution of choline among tissues. Although CD-Pemt–/– mice failed to adapt to choline deprivation, choline redistribution was also initiated in these mice. The data suggest that adaptation to choline deprivation is not restricted to liver via choline recycling but also occurs in the whole animal via choline redistribution.
Endothelin-1 Signaling Promotes Fibrosis In Vitro in a Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Model by Activating the Extrinsic Coagulation Cascade

Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome can progress to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a serious pulmonary fibrotic disorder. Given the involvement of the extrinsic coagulation cascade in animal models of lung fibrosis, we examined its role in BPD. We observed a higher number of neutrophils expressing tissue factor (TF) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from infants with BPD than from those with uncomplicated respiratory distress syndrome together with a parallel decrease in TF and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in BALF supernatants during the disease course. The involvement of coagulation in the fibrotic process associated with BPD was further evaluated by treating primary human colonic myofibroblasts with BALF supernatants from infants with BPD. These human colonic myofibroblasts demonstrated an enhanced C5a- and thrombin-dependent migration. Moreover, they expressed TF in an endothelin-1–dependent manner, with subsequent activation of the extrinsic coagulation cascade and CTGF production mediated by protease-activator receptor-1 signaling. These data provide a novel mechanism for the development of BPD and indicate that endothelin-1 signaling contributes to fibrosis by upregulating a TF/thrombin amplification loop responsible for CTGF production, and offer novel and specific therapeutic targets for pulmonary fibrotic disease.
In Vitro Torsion-Induced Stress Distribution Changes in Porcine Intervertebral Discs

Study Design. A cadaveric porcine spine motion segment experiment was conducted. Objective. To test the hypothesis that small vertebral rotations cause increased stress in the anulus while decreasing stress in the nucleus through stiffening of the anulus. Summary of Background Data. Stress profiles of the intervertebral disc reportedly depend on degeneration grade and external loading. Increased stress in the anulus was found during asymmetric loading. In addition, depressurization of the nucleus combined with an instantaneous disc height increase was found when small (<2°) axial vertebral rotations were applied. Methods. Seven lumbar porcine cadaveric motion segments consisting of two vertebrae and the intervening disc with ligaments were loaded in the neutral position with 340 N of compression. Stress profiles were obtained in the neutral position, then after 0.5° and 1° axial rotation of the bottom vertebral body. The distribution of compressive stress in the disc matrix was measured by pulling a miniature pressure transducer through the disc along a straight path in the midfrontal plane. Stress profiles were measured in vertical (0°) and horizontal (90°) orientation. Results. Deformation of the anulus by small axial rotations of the lower vertebra instantaneously decreased the horizontally and vertically measured stress in the nucleus while increasing stress in the anulus. A 1-hour period of creep loading decreased the stresses in the nucleus and the anulus 20% to 30%, depending on the orientation, but the effect of an increasing stress in the anular region after axial rotation persisted. Conclusions. The compressive Young’s modulus of the composite anulus tissue increases instantaneously when small axial rotations are applied to porcine spine motion segments. This is accompanied by decreased stress in the nucleus pulposus, increased stress in the anulus fibrosus, changes in the stress profile superimposed on and independent of prolonged viscoelastic creep and dehydration, and changes in stress distribution independent of horizontal and vertical orientation.
Recent Greenland Ice Mass Loss by Drainage System from Satellite Gravity Observations

Mass changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet resolved by drainage system regions were derived from a local mass concentration analysis of NASA–Deutsches Zentrum für Luftund Raumfahrt Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE mission) observations. From 2003 to 2005, the ice sheet lost 101 ± 16 gigaton/year, with a gain of 54 gigaton/year above 2000 meters and a loss of 155 gigaton/year at lower elevations. The lower elevations show a large seasonal cycle, with mass losses during summer melting followed by gains from fall through spring. The overall rate of loss reflects a considerable change in trend (–113 ± 17 gigaton/year) from a near balance during the 1990s but is smaller than some other recent estimates.
The Role of Drinking Beliefs to Explain Ethnic Variation in Drinking Practices Among U.S. College Students

This study, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, examines psychosocial mediators to explain discrepancies in past-30-day drinking between African American and White college student drinkers in the United States. Between 2008 and 2010, 5,845 college drinkers completed an online survey about their alcohol use. Using latent variable structural equations modeling, we investigated the relationships between ethnicity, drinking beliefs, and students’ past 30-day alcohol use. Drinking beliefs—i.e., positive expectancies, perceived norms, and disapproval of alcohol use—fully mediated the relationship between ethnicity and drinking behaviors. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Resource-Constrained Workflow Nets

We study concurrent processes modelled as workflow Petri nets extended with resource constrains. Resources are durable units that can be neither created nor destroyed: they are claimed during the handling procedure and then released again. Typical kinds of resources are manpower, machinery, computer memory. We define structural criteria based on traps and siphons for the correctness of workflow nets with resource constraints. We also extend the soundness notion for workflow nets to the workflow nets with resource constraints; extra conditions concern the durability of resources. We prove some properties of sound resource-constrained workflow nets.
A study of Iranian nurses' and midwives' knowledge, attitudes, and implementation of evidence-based practice: the time for change has arrived.

BACKGROUND Evidence-based practice (EBP) leads to enhanced quality of care, and the individual and professional development of nurses and midwives. Therefore, it is important for nurses and midwives as well as all other healthcare providers and stakeholders to inform clinical decision-making and implement EBP. AIM This study aimed to determine the EBP knowledge, attitudes, and practice of clinical nurses and midwives in Mashhad public hospitals in Iran. METHODS The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with a stratified cluster, random sample of 240 employed nurses and midwives (response rate of 96%) in Mashhad, who held a Bachelor of Science degree and had at least 1 year of clinical experience. Two valid and reliable questionnaires were used to collect demographic and EBP data. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 11.5 software and descriptive and inferential statistics calculated. RESULTS Participants' mean age was 31.0 (SD = 5.5) years and 80% (n = 194) were female. Most participants reported low knowledge or skills and practice of EBP, but moderate attitudes toward EBP. Significant differences between the mean scores on knowledge or skills, attitudes, and practice were identified by field of study. Nurses reported higher knowledge or skills and practice of EBP than midwives (p < .001). Nurses and midwives with master-s degrees displayed greater knowledge or skills and practice of EBP, and more positive attitudes than nurses with bachelor-s degrees (p < .001). LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION Although clinical nurses and midwives apply EBP in clinical settings, it is necessary to develop their knowledge or skills and practice. The results of this study can be applied by educational planners, educational managers, and authorities to enhance the quality and consistency of EBP implementation. The results provide a base for future studies in this field.
GPRS network simulation model in NS-2

The objective of the general packet radio service (GPRS) network simulation is to obtain accurate enough implementation of GPRS network in Network Simulation 2 (NS-2), so that IP optimization features can be tested. In this paper, we try to afford such a model The simulation model concentrates on the Um Interface, Gb Interface, Gn Interface and Gi Interface respectively. Each part is represented as node, agent, queue or link in NS-2. At last, a simple analysis of one scenario is given to demonstrate how to use this model.
Genitourinary Abnormalities in Children with Urinary Tract Infections

Urinary-tract infections (UTI) are common infectious diseases in childhood. The presence of UTI may be an indicator of a serious genitourinary (GU) abnormality that requires medical intervention. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of children discharged with a diagnosis of UTI from the Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, between July 1, 1991 and June 30, 1994. The purpose of the study was to determine how many patients had underlying GU abnormalities, the specific type of abnormality, and the microorganism causing the UTI. During the 3-year period, there were 48,382 discharges from the hospital, and 1,221 (2.5%) of those discharges were patients with UTI. Of the 1,221 cases of UTI, one hundred thirty-seven acquired the disease nosocomially and were not included this study leaving 1,084 with first-time or recurrent infections. Of the, 1,084 patients, 806 underwent radiologic evaluation, and 275 (34.1%) of 806 had underlying GU abnormalities. There were 167 girls and 108 boys ranging in age from 7 days to 18 years (mean age: 5.7 years). The percentage of abnormalities found in girls (35.4%) was similar to the percentage found in boys (32.8%). The distribution of abnormalities showed some changes by age and sex. Lower urinary-tract abnormalities were common in children older than 3 years of age (43.5% vs 20.5%, P
Ciprofloxacin for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections

Thirty-seven patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections and/or colonization were treated with oral ciprofloxacin (750 mg twice a day). Clinical cure or improvement of infections occurred in 91% of the patients, and bacteriologic cure occurred in 60%. Ciprofloxacin therapy suppressed methicillin-resistant S. aureus colonization in 55% of the patients. Ciprofloxacin-resistant strains emerged in 6 of the 37 patients.
Origin matters: alien consumers inflict greater damage on prey populations than do native consumers

Introduced alien species are frequently implicated in ecosystem disruption and biodiversity loss, but some ecologists have recently argued that efforts to manage ecosystems should be refocused on known problematic species without regard to whether such species are native or alien. This argument rests on the premise that native and alien species in general do not differ in their impacts. Although there are numerous cases that suggest alien predators and herbivores can sometimes cause severe declines or even local extinctions of native species, very few studies have compared the impacts of native and alien consumers on native populations.
Large-scale Identification of Endogenous Secretory Peptides Using Electron Transfer Dissociation Mass Spectrometry*

Mass spectrometry-based unbiased analysis of the full complement of secretory peptides is expected to facilitate the identification of unknown biologically active peptides. However, tandem MS sequencing of endogenous peptides in their native form has proven difficult because they show size heterogeneity and contain multiple internal basic residues, the characteristics not found in peptide fragments produced by in vitro digestion. Endogenous peptides remain largely unexplored by electron transfer dissociation (ETD), despite its widespread use in bottom-up proteomics. We used ETD, in comparison to collision induced dissociation (CID), to identify endogenous peptides derived from secretory granules of a human endocrine cell line. For mass accuracy, both MS and tandem MS were analyzed on an Orbitrap. CID and ETD, performed in different LC-MS runs, resulted in the identification of 795 and 569 unique peptides (ranging from 1000 to 15000 Da), respectively, with an overlap of 397. Peptides larger than 3000 Da accounted for 54% in CID and 46% in ETD identifications. Although numerically outperformed by CID, ETD provided more extensive fragmentation, leading to the identification of peptides that are not reached by CID. This advantage was demonstrated in identifying a new antimicrobial peptide from neurosecretory protein VGF (non-acronymic), VGF[554–577]-NH2, or in differentiating nearly isobaric peptides (mass difference less than 2 ppm) that arise from alternatively spliced exons of the gastrin-releasing peptide gene. CID and ETD complemented each other to add to our knowledge of the proteolytic processing sites of proteins implicated in the regulated secretory pathway. An advantage of the use of both fragmentation methods was also noted in localization of phosphorylation sites. These findings point to the utility of ETD mass spectrometry in the global study of endogenous peptides, or peptidomics.
Isolation, endocrine regulation and mRNA distribution of the 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A synthase (HMG‐S) gene from the pine engraver, Ips pini (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

We isolated a full‐length cDNA encoding 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A synthase (HMG‐S) from the pine engraver beetle, Ips pini (Say), and examined its genomic structure. The intron‐less gene has a predicted 460 amino acid cytosolic protein product with 73% identity to HMG‐S from Dendroctonus jeffreyi, and high identity (58–64%) with other insect HMG‐Ss. Topically applied juvenile hormone (JH) III induced HMG‐S mRNA levels up to 6.5‐fold in both sexes, mostly in the anterior midgut, though there were differences between males and females in the timing, sensitivity to JH III dose and tissue distribution of HMG‐S mRNA. These data further validate the coordinate regulation of mevalonate pathway genes for de novo isoprenoid pheromone production in bark beetles.
Set operations on closed intervals and their applications to the automatic programming of morphological machines

Mathematical morphology on sets can be understood as a formal language, whose vocabulary comprises erosions, dilations, complementation, intersection and union. This language is complete, that is, it is enough to perform any set operation. Since the sixties special machines, called morphological machines (MMachs), have been built to implement this language. In the literature, we find hundreds of MMach programs that are used to solve image analysis problems. However, the design of these programs is not an elementary task. Thus, recently much research effort has been addressed to automating the programming of MMachs. A very promising approach to this problem is the description of the target operator by input-output pairs of images and the translation of these data into efficient MMach programs. This approach can be decomposed into two equally important steps: (1) learning of the target operator from pairs of images; (2) search for economical representations for the operators learned. The theory presented in this paper is useful in the second step of this procedure. We present some set operations on collections of closed intervals and give efficient algorithms to perform them. These operations are used to parallelize MMach programs and to prove the equivalence between distinct MMach programs.