Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical governance: a fresh look at its definition

Clinical governance was introduced in 1997 as a comprehensive framework to improve the healthcare quality in the National Health Service. Since then, the proliferation of various definitions and models of clinical governance illustrates that different perceptions are emerging on clinical governance. However, none of these definitions captures the essence of clinical governance in terms of its organisation‐wide implications for continuous quality improvement. Although there is discrete mention of structure, process and outcomes in the literature on clinical governance, it is hard to find any clear explanation on how clinical governance influences organisational elements. This paper therefore analyses clinical governance in terms of the inputs, processes, structure and the outcomes of healthcare organisations. The fact that the introduction of any new governance framework will have much wider implications for the management of healthcare organisations is illustrated through a refined definition of clinical governance presented in this paper.
Experience with 450 Cases of Micro-Laparoscopic Herniotomy in Infants and Children

Background and Purpose: The utilization of the laparoscope in herniotomy in adults with initially described by Ger in 1992, but there is no well-received technique for children up till now. We present 450 cases of micro-laparoscopic herniotomy in infants and children with innovative instruments and methods. Patients and Methods: With the help of a micro-laparoscope and innovative instruments, pursestring ligature with the lift-insert method was performed on 450 patients between 8 months and 12 years of age with indirect inguinal hernia during the period of August 1998 to August 2000. Results: Micro-laparoscopic high ligature resulted in a smaller incision, shorter operative time, speedy recovery, and less recurrence (recurrence rate 0.88%). Conclusion: We consider that micro-laparoscopic high ligature is a much better operation than the conventional herniotomy.
Geographic routing in city scenarios

Position-based routing, as it is used by protocols like Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing (GPSR) [5], is very well suited for highly dynamic environments such as inter-vehicle communication on highways. However, it has been discussed that radio obstacles [4], as they are found in urban areas, have a significant negative impact on the performance of position-based routing. In prior work [6] we presented a position-based approach which alleviates this problem and is able to find robust routes within city environments. It is related to the idea of position-based source routing as proposed in [1] for terminode routing. The algorithm needs global knowledge of the city topology as it is provided by a static street map. Given this information the sender determines the junctions that have to be traversed by the packet using the Dijkstra shortest path algorithm. Forwarding between junctions is then done in a position-based fashion. In this short paper we show how position-based routing can be aplied to a city scenario without assuming that nodes have access to a static street map and without using source routing.
Oct transcription factors in development and stem cells: insights and mechanisms

The POU domain family of transcription factors regulates developmental processes ranging from specification of the early embryo to terminal differentiation. About half of these factors display substantial affinity for an 8 bp DNA site termed the octamer motif, and are hence known as Oct proteins. Oct4 (Pou5f1) is a well-known Oct factor, but there are other Oct proteins with varied and essential roles in development. This Primer outlines our current understanding of Oct proteins and the regulatory mechanisms that govern their role in developmental processes and concludes with the assertion that more investigation into their developmental functions is needed.
On lattices, learning with errors, random linear codes, and cryptography

Our main result is a reduction from worst-case lattice problems such as GapSVP and SIVP to a certain learning problem. This learning problem is a natural extension of the “learning from parity with error” problem to higher moduli. It can also be viewed as the problem of decoding from a random linear code. This, we believe, gives a strong indication that these problems are hard. Our reduction, however, is quantum. Hence, an efficient solution to the learning problem implies a quantum algorithm for GapSVP and SIVP. A main open question is whether this reduction can be made classical (i.e., nonquantum). We also present a (classical) public-key cryptosystem whose security is based on the hardness of the learning problem. By the main result, its security is also based on the worst-case quantum hardness of GapSVP and SIVP. The new cryptosystem is much more efficient than previous lattice-based cryptosystems: the public key is of size Õ(n2) and encrypting a message increases its size by a factor of Õ(n) (in previous cryptosystems these values are Õ(n4) and Õ(n2), respectively). In fact, under the assumption that all parties share a random bit string of length Õ(n2), the size of the public key can be reduced to Õ(n).
Apelin (APLN) regulates progesterone secretion and oocyte maturation in bovine ovarian cells.

APLN and its G-protein coupled receptor APLNR are expressed in the bovine ovary. However their role in granulosa cells and oocytes is unknown. Here, we studied their expression in bovine ovarian cells and investigated their regulation in cultured luteinizing granulosa cells in response to IGF1 and FSH. We determined the effect and the molecular mechanism of APLN (isoforms 17 and 13) on bovine granulosa cell progesterone secretion and on oocyte maturation. By RT-qPCR and immunoblot, we showed that the expression of both APLN and APLNR in granulosa and oocytes significantly increased with ovarian follicles size whereas it was similar in theca interstitial cells. In vitro, in unstimulated luteinizing bovine granulosa cells and in response to IGF1 (10-8 M) but not to FSH (10-8 M), we observed that APLN (-17 and -13) (10-9 M) increased progesterone production; this was abolished in response to the APLNR antagonist ML221. These latter effects were dependent on the MAPK ERK1/2 kinase. Furthermore, we showed that APLN (-17 and -13) (10-9 M) increased cell proliferation through AKT signaling. Conversely, the addition of APLN-13 and APLN-17 to in vitro maturation medium containing IGF1 (10-8 M) but not FSH (10-8 M) arrested most oocytes at the germinal vesicle stage, which was associated with a decrease in progesterone secretion, an inhibition in MAPK ERK1/2 phosphorylation and an increase in PRKA phosphorylation in oocytes. Thus, APLN can increase progesterone secretion and cell proliferation in bovine luteinizing granulosa cells in vitro, while it blocks meiotic progression at the germinal vesicle stage during bovine oocyte in vitro maturation.
Loss of focal adhesions in glia disrupts both glial and photoreceptor axon migration in the Drosophila visual system

Many aspects of glial development are regulated by extracellular signals, including those from the extracellular matrix (ECM). Signals from the ECM are received by cell surface receptors, including the integrin family. Previously, we have shown that Drosophila integrins form adhesion complexes with Integrin-linked kinase and talin in the peripheral nerve glia and have conserved roles in glial sheath formation. However, integrin function in other aspects of glial development is unclear. The Drosophila eye imaginal disc (ED) and optic stalk (OS) complex is an excellent model with which to study glial migration, differentiation and glia-neuron interactions. We studied the roles of the integrin complexes in these glial developmental processes during OS/eye development. The common beta subunit βPS and two alpha subunits, αPS2 and αPS3, are located in puncta at both glia-glia and glia-ECM interfaces. Depletion of βPS integrin and talin by RNAi impaired the migration and distribution of glia within the OS resulting in morphological defects. Reduction of integrin or talin in the glia also disrupted photoreceptor axon outgrowth leading to axon stalling in the OS and ED. The neuronal defects were correlated with a disruption of the carpet glia tube paired with invasion of glia into the core of the OS and the formation of a glial cap. Our results suggest that integrin-mediated extracellular signals are important for multiple aspects of glial development and non-autonomously affect axonal migration during Drosophila eye development.
Software prefetching

We present an approach, called software prefetching, to reducing cache miss latencies. By providing a nonblocking prefetch instruction that causes data at a specified memory address to be brought into cache, the compiler can overlap the memory latency with other computation. Our simulations show that, even when generated by a very simple compiler algorithm, prefetch instructions can eliminate nearly all cache misses, while causing only modest increases in data traffic between memory and cache.
Harnessing developmental processes for vascular engineering and regeneration

The formation of vasculature is essential for tissue maintenance and regeneration. During development, the vasculature forms via the dual processes of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis, and is regulated at multiple levels: from transcriptional hierarchies and protein interactions to inputs from the extracellular environment. Understanding how vascular formation is coordinated in vivo can offer valuable insights into engineering approaches for therapeutic vascularization and angiogenesis, whether by creating new vasculature in vitro or by stimulating neovascularization in vivo. In this Review, we will discuss how the process of vascular development can be used to guide approaches to engineering vasculature. Specifically, we will focus on some of the recently reported approaches to stimulate therapeutic angiogenesis by recreating the embryonic vascular microenvironment using biomaterials for vascular engineering and regeneration.
INFECTIONS WITH HEMOGLOBINOPHILIC BACTERIA

The hemoglobinophilic bacteria comprise a rather large group of bacilli which grow only in an artificial medium containing hemoglobin. This group does not include the many bacteria that, while growing better in mediums containing blood or blood serum, will also grow in mediums not containing hemoglobin. Its representative organism and by far its most important member is Pfeiffer's bacillus ( B. influenzae ), which was discovered by Pfeiffer in the respiratory tract of patients afflicted with influenza during the great pandemic, in 1889-1890. Not only did he discover and isolate this organism at that time, but he definitely proved its hemoglobinophilic character, a property of bacteria hitherto unknown. In his classical paper 1 in which he reported these researches he also described other organisms differing in certain respects from the true influenza bacilli but similar in being hemoglobinophilic. These he called pseudo-influenza bacilli. Since then these pseudo forms, which have also come to
Partial Dominance, Overdominance, Epistasis and QTL by Environment Interactions Contribute to Heterosis in Two Upland Cotton Hybrids

Based on two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations, two corresponding backcross (BC) populations were constructed to elucidate the genetic basis of heterosis in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). The yield, and yield components, of these populations were evaluated in three environments. At the single-locus level, 78 and 66 quantitative trait loci (QTL) were detected using composite interval mapping in RIL and BC populations, respectively, and 29 QTL were identified based on mid-parental heterosis (MPH) data of two hybrids. Considering all traits together, a total of 50 (64.9%) QTL with partial dominance effect, and 27 (35.1%) QTL for overdominance effect were identified in two BC populations. At the two-locus level, 120 and 88 QTL with main effects (M-QTL), and 335 and 99 QTL involved in digenic interactions (E-QTL), were detected by inclusive composite interval mapping in RIL and BC populations, respectively. A large number of QTL by environment interactions (QEs) for M-QTL and E-QTL were detected in three environments. For most traits, average E-QTL explained a larger proportion of phenotypic variation than did M-QTL in two RIL populations and two BC populations. It was concluded that partial dominance, overdominance, epistasis, and QEs all contribute to heterosis in Upland cotton, and that partial dominance resulting from single loci and epistasis play a relatively more important role than other genetic effects in heterosis in Upland cotton.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MILNOR'S $mu$-INVARIANT AND HOMFLYPT POLYNOMIAL (Topology, Geometry and Algebra of low-dimensional manifolds)

For an ordered oriented link in the -sphere, J. Milnor [15, 16] defined a family of invariants, known as Milnor’s $\overline{\mu}$-invariiants. For an $n$-component link $L$ , Milnor invariant is determined by a sequence I of elements in $\{$ 1, 2, . , $n\}$ and denoted by $\overline{\mu}_{L}(I)$ . It is known that Milnor invariants of length two are just linking numbers. In general, Milnor invariant $\overline{\mu}_{L}(I)$ is only well-defined modulo the greatest common divisor $\Delta_{L}(I)$ of all Milnor invariants $\overline{\mu}_{L}(J)$ such that $J$ is a subsequence of $I$ obtained by removing at least one index or its cyclic permutation. If the sequence is of distinct numbers, then this invariant is also alink-homotopy invariant and we call it Milnor’s link-homotopy invariant. Here, the link-homotopy is an equivalence relation generated by ambient isotopy and selfcrossing changes. In [3], N. Habegger and X. S. Lin showed that Milnor invariants are also invariants for string links, and these invariants are called Milnor’s $\mu$-invariants. For any string hnk $\sigma,$
Identifying Genetic Differences Between Dongxiang Blue-Shelled and White Leghorn Chickens Using Sequencing Data

The Dongxiang Blue-shelled chicken is one of the most valuable Chinese indigenous poultry breeds. However, compared to the Italian native White Leghorn, although this Chinese breed possesses numerous favorable characteristics, it also exhibits lower growth performance and fertility. Here, we utilized genotyping sequencing data obtained via genome reduction on a sequencing platform to detect 100,114 single nucleotide polymorphisms and perform further biological analysis and functional annotation. We employed cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity, eigenvector decomposition combined with genome-wide association studies (EigenGWAS), and efficient mixed-model association expedited methods to detect areas of the genome that are potential selected regions (PSR) in both chicken breeds, and performed gene ontology (GO) enrichment and quantitative trait loci (QTL) analyses annotating using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. The results of this study revealed a total of 2424 outlier loci (p-value <0.01), of which 2144 occur in the White Leghorn breed and 280 occur in the Dongxiang Blue-shelled chicken. These correspond to 327 and 94 PSRs containing 297 and 54 genes, respectively. The most significantly selected genes in Blue-shelled chicken are TMEM141 and CLIC3, while the SLCO1B3 gene, related to eggshell color, was identified via EigenGWAS. We show that the White Leghorn genes JARID2, RBMS3, GPC3, TRIB2, ROBO1, SAMSN1, OSBP2, and IGFALS are involved in immunity, reproduction, and growth, and thus might represent footprints of the selection process. In contrast, we identified six significantly enriched pathways in the Dongxiang Blue-shelled chicken that are related to amino acid and lipid metabolism as well as signal transduction. Our results also reveal the presence of a GO term associated with cell metabolism that occurs mainly in the White Leghorn breed, while the most significant QTL regions mapped to the Chicken QTL Database (GG_4.0) for the Dongxiang Blue-shelled breed are predominantly related to lesions, bone mineral content, and other related traits compared to tibia length and body weight (i.e., at 14, 28, 42, and 70 d) in the White Leghorn. The results of this study highlight differences in growth, immunity, and egg quality traits between the two breeds, and provide a foundation for the exploration of their genetic mechanisms.
A Bayesian Method for Simultaneously Detecting Mendelian and Imprinted Quantitative Trait Loci in Experimental Crosses of Outbred Species

Genomic imprinting is interpreted as a phenomenon, in which some genes inherited from one parent are not completely expressed due to modification of the genome caused during gametogenesis. Subsequently, the expression level of an allele at the imprinted gene is changed dependent on the parental origin, which is referred to as the parent-of-origin effect. In livestock, some QTL for reproductive performance and meat productivity have been reported to be imprinted. So far, methods detecting imprinted QTL have been proposed on the basis of interval mapping, where only a single QTL was tested at a time. In this study, we developed a Bayesian method for simultaneously mapping multiple QTL, allowing the inference about expression modes of QTL in an outbred F2 family. The inference about whether a QTL is Mendelian or imprinted was made using Markov chain Monte Carlo estimation by comparing the goodness-of-fits between models, assuming the presence and the absence of parent-of-origin effect at a QTL. We showed by the analyses of simulated data sets that the Bayesian method can effectively detect both Mendelian QTL and imprinted QTL.
The egg membrane microdomain-associated uroplakin III-Src system becomes functional during oocyte maturation and is required for bidirectional gamete signaling at fertilization in Xenopus laevis

In Xenopus laevis, sperm-egg interaction promotes partial proteolysis and/or tyrosine phosphorylation of uroplakin III (UPIII) and the tyrosine kinase Src, which both localize to the cholesterol-enriched egg membrane microdomains (MDs). Here we show that sperm promote proteolysis and/or tyrosine phosphorylation of UPIII and Src in MDs isolated from ovulated and unfertilized eggs (UF-MDs). An antibody against the extracellular domain of UPIII interferes with these events. Inhibition of fertilization by anti-UPIII antibody is rescued by co-incubation with UF-MDs. This suggests that, like MDs in intact eggs, the isolated UF-MDs are capable of interacting with sperm, an interaction that does not interfere with normal fertilization but rather augments the ability of sperm to fertilize eggs pretreated with anti-UPIII antibody. This unexpected effect of UF-MDs on sperm requires UPIII function in UF-MDs and protein kinase activity in sperm. MDs isolated from progesterone-treated mature oocytes, but not ovarian immature oocytes, are similarly functional as UF-MDs. The anti-UPIII extracellular domain antibody binds more effectively to the surface of mature than immature ovarian oocytes. We propose that the structural and functional competency of the UPIII-Src signaling system in MDs is strictly regulated during oocyte maturation and subsequently in sperm-mediated egg activation and fertilization. The fertilization-related signaling properties seen in UF-MDs can be partially reconstituted in MDs of human embryonic kidney 293 cells (293-MDs) expressing UPIII, Src and uroplakin Ib. However, 293-MDs expressing a proteolysis-resistant mutant of UPIII are less functional, suggesting that the availability of UPIII to protease action is important for MD function.
An Evaluation of Functional, School-Based Therapy Services for Children with Special Needs

Millions of dollars are spent each year on school-based therapy services, yet little is known about whether these services improve the educationally relevant, functional outcomes of children with special needs. This program evaluation study used goal attainment scaling to examine whether 50 children with special needs (ranging in age from 5 to 12 years) attained their therapy goals in the real-world, functional areas of communication, school productivity, or mobility. Sixteen children received speech-language therapy for communication difficulties, 21 received occupational therapy for classroom productivity difficulties, and 13 received physical therapy services for mobility difficulties at school. The service delivery model incorporated direct therapy, monitoring, and collaborative consultation between therapists, teachers, and parents. In addition to goal attainment scaling, standardized measures of functional status were used to examine changes in the function of the children from pretest to posttest and at a five- to six-month follow-up. Measures of parent and teacher satisfaction with the services also were employed. The findings suggest that therapy services targeting communication, productivity, and mobility make a difference in how children with special needs function in the school setting. Children showed statistically and often clinically significant change in their outcomes over the intervention period, with these improved outcomes lasting at the five- to six-month follow-up.
Exploring the Use of the Internet by Caregivers of People with Autism Spectrum Disorders to Obtain Caregiving Information

This paper reports on data from a population of caregivers of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to examine the extent and motivations for their use of the Internet to obtain information on caregiving. The study found not only considerable interest for web-based information but also a strong bifurcation among respondents on the preferential type of information. The majority of respondents indicated that websites that provide factual information about caregiving are most important. Other respondents saw the Internet as a vehicle for social exchanges about ASD. Regardless of their preferred method to consume web-based information, all respondents reported using websites to obtain caregiving information.
ADEQUACY OF LYMPH NODE STAGING IN COLORECTAL CANCER: ANALYSIS OF 250 PATIENTS AND ANALYTICAL LITERATURE REVIEW

Background: The extent of lymph node involvement is the most important prognostic factor in resected locoregional colorectal cancer. Currently, examination of at least 12 lymph nodes is recommended for adequate colorectal cancer staging. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the adequacy of lymph node staging in 250 patients with colorectal cancer and analytical literature review. Patients and Methods: Two hundred fifty patients with histologically proven locoregional invasive colorectal adenocarcinoma from 2005 to 2011 were included. All patients were treated by standard surgical resection for their disease. Twenty-three patients with rectal cancer received neoadjuvant treatment. All potential tumor, patient and treatment variables were evaluated for their impact on the average total number of lymph node examined. Results: In this study, 147 men and 103 women with a median age of 54 (range 23-84) years were included. The median total number of lymph nodes examined was 7 (mean 9.35). Sixty-nine patients (27.6%) had adequate (≥ 12) lymph nodes examination, and twenty patients (8%) had no nodes examined. In univariate analysis, younger age, colon primary site, larger tumor size, the presence of lymphatic vascular invasion, the lack of neoadjuvant treatments, individual surgeon B and Hospital B were more associated with the average total number of lymph node examined. Conclusion: This study indicates that only less than a third of patients with colorectal cancer underwent adequate lymph nodes examination. Further investigation using careful pathologic reviewing of specimens with inadequate lymph node examined is suggested for differentiating true inadequate lymph node dissection from inadequate lymph node detection.