Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From knowledge to action and back again: Building a bridge

The School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia offers a course that provides students with an opportunity to be involved in an experience of professional work. This course, Field Placement, has been designed to provide a structured framework within which students are encouraged, and expected, to develop independence and professional attributes. It provides opportunities for the students to articulate their learning and present a developed personal framework of integrated academic knowledge and practice knowledge. This paper attempts to address the questions raised in Professor H涥ls background paper for the World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE) 2003 conference and takes the position that knowledge development is limited without action but for active knowledge development to occur it is essential to understand and foster the social learning relationships. Particular attention is focused on values that promote greater understanding of how to best create opportunities and relationships that will assist students to walk confidently across the bridge as a professional contributing productively within the community.
Reference values of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy‐Spiritual Well‐Being: A report from the American Cancer Society's studies of cancer survivors

Health‐related quality of life measures are common in oncology research, trials, and practice. Spiritual well‐being has emerged as an important aspect of health‐related quality of life and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy‐Spiritual Well‐Being; The 12‐item Spiritual Well‐Being Scale (FACIT‐Sp‐12) is the most widely used measure of spiritual well‐being among those with cancer. However, there is an absence of reference values with which to facilitate the interpretation of scores in research and clinical practice. The objective of the current study was to provide FACIT‐Sp‐12 reference values from a representative sample of adult cancer survivors.
UC Berkeley Controls and Information Technology Title Viability of dynamic cooling control in a data center environment

Data center thermal management challenges have been steadily increasing over the past few years due to rack level power density increases resulting from system level compaction. These challenges have been compounded by antiquated environmental control strategies designed for low power density installations and for the worst-case heat dissipation rates in the computer systems. Current data center environmental control strategies are not energy efficient when applied to the highly dynamic, high power density data centers of the future. Current techniques control the computer room air conditioning units (CRACs) based on the return air temperature of the air – typically set near 20 C. Blowers within the CRACs are normally operated at maximum flow rate throughout the operation of the data center unless they are equipped with non-standard variable frequency drives. At this setting the blowers typically provide significantly more airflow than is required by the equipment racks to prevent recirculation and the subsequent formation of hot spots. This strategy tends to be overly conservative and inefficient. As an example air entering a given system housed in a rack undergoes a temperature rise of 15 C due to the heat added by the system. The return air control strategy strives to keep the entire room at a fixed temperature. Therefore in a typical data center the CRAC supply temperature, and hence the air entering the racks, is 13-15 C and the CRAC return is 20-22 C. At these settings the CRACs can consume almost as much energy as the computer equipment they are cooling [1] [2]. Experiments conducted by the authors using these CRAC settings show that nearly 0.7 W is consumed by the environmental control system for every 1 W of heat dissipated by the computer equipment in the authors’ experimental facility indicating that the energy efficiency of standard data center environmental control systems is poor. This study examines several opportunities for improving thermal management and energy performance of data centers with automatic control. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate how simple, modular control strategies can be implemented. Furthermore, experimental data is presented that show it is possible to improve the energy performance of a data center by up to 70% over current standards while maintaining proper thermal management conditions.
Prevalence of Sleep Deprivation and Relation with Depressive Symptoms among Medical Residents in King Fahd University Hospital, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES Sleep deprivation is common among medical residents of all specialties. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of sleep deprivation and depressive symptoms among medical residents in King Fahd University Hospital (KFUH) in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the association between sleep deprivation, sleepiness and depressive symptoms was examined. METHODS This cross-sectional study took place between February and April 2012 and involved 171 KFUH medical residents of different specialties. Data were collected using a specifically designed questionnaire eliciting demographic information, working hours and number of hours of sleep. In addition, validated Arabic versions of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory-2 (BDI-2) were used. RESULTS The prevalence of acute sleep deprivation and chronic sleep deprivation among residents in KFUH was 85.9% and 63.2%, respectively. The prevalence of overall sleepiness was 52%; 43.3% reported being excessively sleepy in certain situations while 8.8% reported being excessively sleepy regardless of the situation. Based on the BDI-2, the prevalence of mild, moderate and severe depressive symptoms was 43.3%, 15.2% and 4.7%, respectively. Significant associations were found between sleep deprivation and depressive symptoms; depressive symptoms and sleepiness, and depressive symptoms and being a female resident. CONCLUSION The vast majority of medical residents had acute sleep deprivation, with more than half suffering from chronic sleep deprivation. The number of hours and quality of sleep among the residents were strongly associated with depressive symptoms. New regulations are recommended regarding the number of working hours and night duties for medical residents. Further studies should assess these new regulations on a regular basis.
Organized Labor and Debt Contracting: Firm-Level Evidence from Collective Bargaining

ABSTRACT: This paper employs a firm-level collective bargaining dataset to investigate the effect of labor, as an important stakeholder of a firm, on debt contracting. I conjecture and provide evidence that firms with strong organized labor prefer bank loans to public bonds because, by communicating with banks privately, unionized firms can reduce the adverse selection costs while preserving the information asymmetry with organized labor. Furthermore, I show that organized labor influences the structure of syndicated loans. When firms with strong unions withhold public disclosures, but communicate privately with lead lenders, heightened information asymmetry between the lead lenders and the participant lenders induces the lead lenders to retain larger shares of the loans and form more concentrated syndicates. Overall, this study demonstrates that the proprietary costs of disclosure related to organized labor significantly influence firms' debt contracting decisions and outcomes. Data Availability: Data ar.
Pentoxifylline Inhibits Transforming Growth Factor-Beta Signaling and Renal Fibrosis in Experimental Crescentic Glomerulonephritis in Rats

Background/Aims: Pentoxifylline (PTX) has been shown to inhibit renal inflammation in a rat model of crescentic glomerulonephritis. The present study investigated the role of PTX in renal fibrosis in rats with crescentic glomerulonephritis. Methods: A rat model of accelerated anti-glomerular basement membrane glomerulonephritis was induced and treated with PTX or vehicle control for 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. The therapeutic effect and mechanism of PTX on renal fibrosis were examined by Northern blot and immunohistochemistry. Results: Diseased rats treated with vehicle control developed a severe crescentic glomerulonephritis with progressive renal fibrosis identified by a marked accumulation of α-SMA+ myofibroblasts and collagen matrix. This was associated with tubular epithelial-myofibroblast transition as evident by de novo expression of α-SMA and a loss of E-cadherin on damaged tubular epithelial cells. Further studies revealed that severe renal fibrosis was associated with upregulation of renal TGF-β1 and activation of TGF-β/Smad signaling, which was blocked by treatment with PTX. Conclusions: PTX may be an anti-fibrosis agent capable of inhibiting renal fibrosis in a rat model of crescentic glomerulonephritis. Blockade of TGF-β1 expression and Smad2/3 activation may be a mechanism by which PTX inhibits renal fibrosis.
Mechanism and Rate of Middle Ear Fluid Absorption

Several mechanisms have been suggested to explain the clearance of fluids from the middle ear. These include a pumping action through the eustachian tube, mucociliary beating through the tube, outflow of water to the blood due to osmotic gradients and an active Na+ transport driving water absorption. In order to assess these mechanisms, the middle ear cavity of paralyzed, ventilated (eustachian tube occluded) guinea pigs was filled with fluids varying in osmotic pressure (hypotonic, isotonic, hypertonic) to which a vertical tube was attached. The change in height of fluid in the tube was taken as a measure of changes in middle ear fluid volume. A greater fluid volume reduction was seen with the hypotonic (1/5 saline) solution. A small volume increase was observed with the hypertonic solution. These results provide evidence that in these experimental conditions, water absorption due to osmotic gradients can contribute to middle ear fluid clearance.
Recent Advances in Nerve Tissue Engineering

Nerve injury secondary to trauma, neurological disease or tumor excision presents a challenge for surgical reconstruction. Current practice for nerve repair involves autologous nerve transplantation, which is associated with significant donor-site morbidity and other complications. Previously artificial nerve conduits made from polycaprolactone, polyglycolic acid and collagen were approved by the FDA (USA) for nerve repair. More recently, there have been significant advances in nerve conduit design that better address the requirements of nerve regrowth. Innovations in materials science, nanotechnology, and biology open the way for the synthesis of new generation nerve repair conduits that address issues currently faced in nerve repair and regeneration. This review discusses recent innovations in this area, including the use of nanotechnology to improve the design of nerve conduits and to enhance nerve regeneration.
Elevated Blood Pressure, Decreased Heart Rate Variability and Incomplete Blood Pressure Recovery after a 12‐hour Night Shift Work

Elevated Blood Pressure, Decreased Heart Rate Variability and Incomplete Blood Pressure Recovery after a 12‐hour Night Shift Work: Ta‐Chen Su, et al. Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taiwan—Shift work has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to determine the hemodynamic effects of 12‐hour (12‐h) shifts, and changes in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV) during 36 h rest time following 12‐h shifts. Fifteen male shift workers with a mean age of 32.9 yr were recruited from a semiconductor factory. Ambulatory BP (AmBP) monitoring was performed for a total of 48 h for each participant. Six workers were monitored for 48 h by Holter electrocardiogram on both the day and night shifts. Paired self‐comparison was used to estimate the difference between two hourly measurements of 12‐h BP, HR, and HRV using the same timetable intra‐individually. We also applied mixed models to estimate the effects of 12‐h shifts on the delayed recovery of BP and heart rate (HR) in six workers who completed 96‐h AmBP monitoring, including a 48‐h night shift‐rest period and another day shift period. Results showed that 12‐h night shift work gave a persistently elevated systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) and HR, and decreased HRV compared to 12‐h day shift work with the corresponding resting time. In addition, there was delayed SBP and DBP recovery on the first 12‐h rest time in night shift workers, which was further demonstrated on the second 12‐h rest time after adjustment for possible confounders through mixed models. In conclusion, 12‐h night shift work may elevate BP and HR and decrease HRV. It is also associated with delayed BP recovery.
In Vivo Clearance of an Intracellular Bacterium, Francisella tularensis LVS, Is Dependent on the p40 Subunit of Interleukin-12 (IL-12) but Not on IL-12 p70

ABSTRACT To determine the role of interleukin-12 (IL-12) in primary and secondary immunity to a model intracellular bacterium, we have comprehensively evaluated infection with Francisella tularensis LVS in three murine models of IL-12 deficiency. Mice lacking the p40 protein of IL-12 (p40 knockout [KO] mice) and mice treated in vivo with neutralizing anti-IL-12 antibodies survived large doses of primary and secondary LVS infection but never cleared bacteria and exhibited a chronic infection. In dramatic contrast, mice lacking the p35 protein (p35 KO mice) of heterodimeric IL-12 readily survived large doses of primary sublethal LVS infection as well as maximal secondary lethal challenge, with only a slight delay in clearance of bacteria. LVS-immune wild-type (WT) lymphocytes produced large amounts of gamma interferon (IFN-γ), but p35 KO and p40 KO lymphocytes produced much less; nonetheless, similar amounts of NO were found in all cultures containing immune lymphocytes, and all immune lymphocytes were equally capable of controlling intracellular growth of LVS in vitro. Purified CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from both WT and p40 KO mice controlled intracellular growth, even though T cells from WT mice produced much more IFN-γ than those from p40 KO mice, and p40 KO T cells did not adopt a Th2 phenotype. Thus, while IL-12 p70 stimulation of IFN-γ production may be important for bacteriostasis, IL-12 p70 is not necessary for appropriate development of LVS-immune T cells that are capable of controlling intracellular bacterial growth and for clearance of primary or secondary LVS infection. Instead, an additional mechanism dependent on the IL-12 p40 protein, either alone or in another complex such as the newly discovered heterodimer IL-23, appears to be responsible for actual clearance of this intracellular bacterium.
1 , 25 ( OH ) 2 Vitamin D 3 and Retinoic Acid Antagonize Endothelin-stimulated Hypertrophy of Neonatal Rat Cardiac Myocytes

1,25 (OH) 2 Vitamin D 3 (VD 3 ) and retinoic acid (RA) function as ligands for nuclear receptors which regulate transcription. Though the cardiovascular system is not thought to represent a classical target for these ligands, it is clear that both cardiac myocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells respond to these agents with changes in growth characteristics and gene expression. In this study we demonstrate that each of these ligands suppresses many of the phenotypic correlates of endothelin-induced hypertrophy in a cultured neonatal rat cardiac ventriculocyte model. Each of these agents reduced endothelin-stimulated ANP secretion in a dose-dependent fashion and the two in combination proved to be more effective than either agent used alone (VD 3 : 49%; RA: 52%; VD 3 1 RA: 80% inhibition). RA, at concentrations known to activate the retinoid X receptor, and, to a lesser extent, VD 3 effected a reduction in atrial natriuretic peptide, brain natriuretic peptide, and a -skeletal actin mRNA levels. Similar inhibition (VD 3 : 30%; RA: 33%; VD 3 1 RA: 59% inhibition) was demonstrated when cells transfected with reporter constructs harboring the relevant promoter sequences were treated with VD 3 and/or RA for 48 h. These effects were not accompanied by alterations in endothelin-induced cfos , cjun , or cmyc gene expression, suggesting either that the inhibitory locus responsible for the reduction in the mRNA levels lies distal to the activation of the immediate early gene response or that the two are not mechanistically coupled. Both VD 3 and RA also reduced [ 3 H]leucine incorporation (VD 3 : 30%; RA: 33%; VD 3 1 RA: 45% inhibition) in endothelin-stimulated ventriculocytes and, once again, the combination of the two was more effective than either agent used in isolation. Finally, 1,25 (OH) 2 vitamin D 3 abrogated the increase in cell size seen after endothelin treatment. These findings suggest that the liganded vitamin D and retinoid receptors are capable of modulating the hypertrophic process in vitro and that agents acting through these or similar signaling pathways may be of value in probing the molecular mechanisms underlying hypertrophy. ( J. Clin. Invest. 1996. 97:1577–1588.)
Non-pharmacological Treatment of Addiction

Drug abuse is a chronic, recurrent disorder which causes both physical and psychological damages to the patients. Due to the direct, complex effect of drugs on the nervous system, the patients experience annoying symptoms after withdrawal. In this regard, using chemical agents has not been highly successful and, consequently, it is necessary to investigate the alternative medicine, particularly herbal remedies, which have a long history in treating the diseases and are accompanied by fewer side effects. The present study is a review of 107 studies on Complementary Alternative Medicine procedures, particularly herbal medicine, in treating addiction. These articles are available in Pub Med and Google Scholar databases. In addition, the articles related to alternative and herbal medicine can be accessed at the following Iranian journals: SID, J Subst Abuse Treat, Drug and Alcohol Review, Springer, Elsevier, and Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. There are a limited number of reliable documents in this field. Moreover, their results show that these methods are not highly successful when they are used alone; however, they can be used as an adjuvant therapy in reducing the withdrawal symptoms. Using medicinal plants is a new method in treating addiction and more studies are needed to be conducted on the recommendation for wider utilization of this therapy. Overall, acupuncture has great effects on the physical symptoms of the withdrawal syndrome. Other alternative therapies can also restore the patients’ energy and reduce their depression.
Environmental Monitoring at Nydam, a Waterlogged Site with Weapon Sacrifices from the Danish Iron Age. I: A Comparison of Methods Used and Results from Undisturbed Conditions

Abstract In situ preservation has become a common practice in the management of archaeological sites during the last decade. With this practice follows the need to have good, reliable methods for monitoring the environmental conditions at the sites. This paper describes the results from seven years of monitoring at the waterlogged site Nydam in Denmark. Results from a range of different monitoring methods are compared, and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed. Measurements of water level, chemical composition, and redox potential are covered, with comparison of results from dipwells, filter probes and measurements directly in the soil. The results indicate that, with regard to methods 1) in situ measurements directly in the soil give the most reliable results, 2) analysis of water samples from dipwells and filter probes can give reasonable results except for a few species, 3) purging of dipwells before sampling improves the results when combined with a fast sample handling. With regard to the site 4) the burial environment at Nydam is permanently waterlogged, anoxic, slightly acidic, dominated by iron reduction and with a low concentration of dissolved sulphide, 5) there is a significant spatial and temporal variation of the concentrations of most dissolved species, 6) the redox potential as measured with permanently buried gold electrodes is very stable.
Intralesional immunotherapy compared to cryotherapy in the treatment of warts

Warts are the most common clinical manifestation of the human papilloma‐virus infection in the skin and mucous membranes. In spite of the various therapeutic modalities for nongenital skin warts, there is still no single method to be used as an approved treatment. In this study, we compared the efficacy of immunotherapy and cryotherapy on wart lesions.
Clinical and mycological features of dermatophytosis in renal transplant recipients

Dermatophytosis was detected in 42% of 100 renal transplant recipients screened, of whom 17% had the infection for more than 1 year. Tinea cruris and tinea corporis were the common clinical types observed. Tinea unguium presented as proximal subungual white onychomycosis (PSWO) in 3% of patients. The lesions in the majority were non‐inflammatory, scaly and without central clearance. The commonest isolate was Trichophyton rubrum.
Update on factors motivating pharmacy students to pursue residency and fellowship training.

PURPOSE The factors motivating pharmacy students to pursue residency and fellowship training in 2011 versus 1993 were assessed. METHODS A survey replicating previous research was electronically sent to 794 residency directors and 29 fellowship program directors with a request to forward the survey to current residents and fellows. A similar survey was sent to 124 colleges of pharmacy with a request to forward the survey to the faculty member most involved with residency and fellowship promotion within their doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) curriculum. Participants were asked to rank leading motivating factors and barriers to pharmacy students pursuing these programs. Additional data collected included when and the methods by which these programs are promoted. RESULTS Among residents and fellows, 865 usable surveys were returned. The leading motivating reasons for residents and fellows to pursue training were "to gain knowledge and experience,"" a "desire for specialized training," [corrected] and "understood as a prerequisite for certain jobs. " A total of 124 U.S. pharmacy schools were surveyed, and 65 (52%) returned completed responses. "Understood as a prerequisite for certain jobs," "faculty stressing importance," and "recognition of the new and challenging roles for pharmacists in the future" were the factors most frequently cited by faculty members. CONCLUSION Compared with previous research, a new factor motivating pharmacy students to pursue residency and fellowship training is the consideration that these opportunities are a prerequisite for certain jobs. This development may be attributable to trends in the supply and demand of pharmacists, the recognition of the value in these programs by major pharmacy organizations, and the evolving role of pharmacists in direct patient care.