Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of social anxiety disorder with depression and quality of life among medical undergraduate students

Objective: Social anxiety disorder (SAD), (also known as social phobia), is characterized by intense fear of social interaction and often associated with social avoidance and impairments. There is high risk for depression, substance use disorder, and suicide among them. Subjects and Methods: It is an observational, cross-sectional, single centered, questionnaire-based study assessing the frequency of SAD and depression and their possible association with quality of life among 290 consenting medical undergraduate students. Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI II), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment scale (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to screen and assess severity of SAD, depression, and quality of life, respectively. The statistical analysis of proportions was done by Chi-square test, while the scores of SPIN, BDI II, and WHOQOL-BREF was compared using Mann–Whitney test or Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn posttest multiple comparison, using GraphPad InStat version 3.06. Results: Frequency of SAD is 11.37%, and depression is 8.96%. Females are more likely to experience SAD. Participants with SAD are more likely to experience depression (P < 0.0001) and have poor quality of life (P = 0.01). Participants with depression have higher SPIN score (P < 0.0001) and poor quality of life (P < 0.0001). Females are more likely to experience social fear (P = 0.02). Participants staying away from their family are more likely to experience social anxiety in comparison to their peers (P = 0.01). Severity of depression is correlated with severity of social anxiety (Spearman r = 0.4423 [0.3416–0.5329], P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Participants with SAD are more likely to experience depressive symptoms and have poor quality of life and vice versa.
Arterial to end-tidal carbon dioxide gradient and physiological dead space monitoring during general anaesthesia: effects of patients' position.

METHODS One hundred and five ASA I-II patients, scheduled for elective surgical procedures were studied in order to evaluate the effect of different surgical postures on physiological pulmonary dead space (VDphys/ VT) and arterial to end-tidal carbon dioxide gradient [P(a-Et)CO2]. Patients were divided into four groups according to their position on the operating table: supine position (acting as control group, n = 33), 20 degree Trendelenburg position (n = 24), lateral position (n = 24) and prone position with convex saddle frame (n = 24). Physiologic dead space was measured using Enghoff modification of Bohr equation. Arterial CO2 partial pressure was measured by blood gas analysis and end tidal CO2 was measured by means of an infrared CO2 analyser. All measurements were performed 20 minutes after general anaesthesia induction, with patients mechanically ventilated by a constant inspiratory flow (TV = 8 ml kg-1, RR = 10-14, EIP = 10%) in order to reach a steady state end tidal CO2 ranging between 32 and 36 mmHg; afterwards surgery started. RESULTS Arterial blood pressure showed a mean decrease of about 5-10% compared to baseline values, but no significant differences in arterial pressure decrease were found between the four groups. A significant VDphys/VT increase in postures other than supine was observed, unless it was statistically significant in lateral and prone position only; while P(a-Et)CO2 was higher in all postures compared to supine. Changes of intrapulmonary gas and blood distribution due to patients' posture are probably responsible for the observed physiologic dead space and CO2 gradient differences. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, the clinical practice of predicting PaCO2 from EtCO2 must be tempered by recognition of the potential magnitude of P(a-Et)CO2 gradient, which is higher than normal during general anaesthesia and further increased when positioning the patient other than supine.
Short-sellers and analysts as providers of complementary information about future firm performance

Short-sellers and Analysts as Providers of Complementary Information about Future Firm Performance. (May 2009) Michael Stephen Drake, B.S., Brigham Young University; M.Acc. , Brigham Young University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Senyo Tse This study examines whether short-sellers and financial analysts develop complementary information about future earnings and returns and assesses whether investors can improve predictions made by each of these intermediaries using information provided by the other. The first main result is that the relative short interest ratio (shares sold short divided by total shares outstanding) contains information that is useful for predicting future earnings, beyond (i.e., incremental to) the information in analyst forecasts. I also find that analysts do not fully incorporate short interest information into their forecasts and demonstrate that analyst forecasts can be improved (i.e., can be made to be less biased and more accurate) by adjusting for short interest information. The second main result is that analyst forecast revisions contain information that is useful for predicting future abnormal returns, beyond the information in the relative short interest ratio. I demonstrate that portfolios of stocks formed based on consistent signals from short-sellers and analysts produce abnormal return spreads that are significantly larger than spreads produced by portfolios formed using signals
Network intrusion detection for cyber security using unsupervised deep learning approaches

In the paper, we demonstrate novel approach for network Intrusion Detection System (IDS) for cyber security using unsupervised Deep Learning (DL) techniques. Very often, the supervised learning and rules based approach like SNORT fetch problem to identify new type of attacks. In this implementation, the input samples are numerical encoded and applied un-supervised deep learning techniques called Auto Encoder (AE) and Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM) for feature extraction and dimensionality reduction. Then iterative k-means clustering is applied for clustering on lower dimension space with only 3 features. In addition, Unsupervised Extreme Learning Machine (UELM) is used for network intrusion detection in this implementation. We have experimented on KDD-99 dataset, the experimental results show around 91.86% and 92.12% detection accuracy using unsupervised deep learning technique AE and RBM with K-means respectively. The experimental results also demonstrate, the proposed approach shows around 4.4% and 2.95% improvement of detection accuracy using RBM with K-means against only K-mean clustering and Unsupervised Extreme Learning Machine (USELM) respectively.
Regulation of Exocytosis by Cyclin-dependent Kinase 5 via Phosphorylation of Munc18*

Munc18a, a mammalian neuronal homologue ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae Sec1p protein, is essential for secretion, likely as a result of its high affinity interaction with the target SNARE protein syntaxin 1a (where SNARE is derived from SNAP receptor (the soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein)). However, this interaction inhibits vesicle SNARE interactions with syntaxin that are required for secretory vesicles to achieve competency for membrane fusion. As such, regulation of the interaction between Munc18a and syntaxin 1a may provide an important mechanism controlling secretory responsiveness. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5), a member of the Cdc2 family of cell division kinases, co-purifies with Munc18a from rat brain, interacts directly with Munc18a in vitro, and utilizes Munc18a as a substrate for phosphorylation. We have now demonstrated that Cdk5 is capable of phosphorylating Munc18ain vitro within a preformed Munc18a·syntaxin 1a heterodimer complex and that this results in the disassembly of the complex. Using site-directed mutagenesis, the Cdk5 phosphorylation site on Munc18a was identified as Thr574. Stimulation of secretion from neuroendocrine cells produced a corresponding rapid translocation of cytosolic Cdk5 to a particulate fraction and an increase of Cdk5 kinase activity. Inhibition of Cdk5 with olomoucine decreased evoked norepinephrine secretion from chromaffin cells, an effect not observed with the inactive analogue iso-olomoucine. The effects of olomoucine were independent of calcium influx as evidenced by secretory inhibition in permeabilized chromaffin cells and in cells under whole-cell voltage clamp. Furthermore, transfection and expression in chromaffin cells of a neural specific Cdk5 activator, p25, led to a strong increase in nicotinic agonist-induced secretory responses. Our data suggest a model whereby Cdk5 acts to regulate Munc18a interaction with syntaxin 1a and thereby modulates the level of vesicle SNARE interaction with syntaxin 1a and secretory responsiveness.
Complete regression of established murine hepatocellular carcinoma by in vivo tumor necrosis factor alpha gene transfer.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Although tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha possesses a potent antitumor activity, systemic administration of TNF-alpha causes severe side effects. To circumvent this, the efficacy of tumor cell-targeted TNF-alpha gene therapy was investigated. METHODS Murine hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells were infected with MNSM-Alb e/p-TNF-alpha retroviruses carrying the murine TNF-alpha gene under the transcriptional control of the murine albumin gene promoter, and antitumor effects induced by TNF-alpha gene transfer were examined in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS Although MNSM-Alb e/p-TNF-alpha retrovirally infected HCC cells showed the same in vitro cell growth as parental HCC cells, they lost their tumorigenicity when implanted in syngeneic mice and induced tumor immunity against parental HCCs. The retrovirally infected HCC cells also significantly inhibited the tumorigenicity of previously implanted parental HCCs. Furthermore, intratumoral administration of MNSM-Alb e/p-TNF-alpha retroviruses showed the antitumor effect against established HCCs, resulting in significantly prolonged survival periods. Most importantly, intratumoral implantation of MNSM-Alb e/p-TNF-alpha retroviral-producing cells completely abrogated established HCCs in mice. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate the potential efficacy of transferring the TNF-alpha gene via retroviral vectors directly into tumors for gene therapy against HCCs.
Afferent discharges from coronary arterial and ventricular receptors in anaesthetized dogs.

1. Previous work has shown that increases in aortic root pressure result in reflex vasodilation, and that this response is likely to result mainly from stimulation of receptors in the coronary arteries, although contribution from left ventricular receptors was not excluded. This investigation was undertaken to resolve this question and to determine the afferent nerve fibres likely to be involved in this reflex. 2. In chloralose‐anaesthetized dogs a perfusion circuit was used which allowed us to change the pressures in: (a) the aortic root, coronary arteries and the left ventricle; (b) aortic root and coronary arteries at constant ventricular pressure; and (c) the left ventricle with mean (although not pulse) aortic pressure constant. Electrophysiological recordings were made from slips dissected from the vagus nerve which responded with an increase in discharge to either combined increases in the pressures, or to aortic root injections of veratridine. 3. Recordings were made from twenty‐one vagal afferents. On the basis of their conduction velocities, eleven were classified as non‐myelinated and ten as myelinated. 4. Three non‐myelinated afferents responded to veratridine injections only, three to both veratridine and combined aortic root and ventricular pressure changes, and five to pressure changes only. Responses to pressure occurred only when ventricular systolic pressure exceeded 30 kPa. 5. None of the myelinated afferents responded to veratridine. All showed increases in discharge to combined increases in mean aortic root, coronary arterial and left ventricular systolic pressures, which would be graded over a range similar to that which caused reflex changes. All were more sensitive to changes in mean coronary pressure than to changes in ventricular systolic pressure. 6. We conclude that myelinated vagal afferent nerve fibres, which respond predominantly to changes in mean coronary arterial pressure, are likely to be responsible for the vasodilation to the changes in mean aortic root pressure previously reported. These fibres are probably attached to coronary arterial mechanoreceptors.
The Effects of Organizational Culture and Leader-Member Exchange on Employee Empowerment in the Hospitality Industry

This study of 33 hospitality industry work groups (177 employees) provides empirical evidence for the effects of organizational culture (normative beliefs and shared behavioral expectations) and Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) on empowerment. Constructive and aggressive-defensive normative beliefs were found to foster empowerment while controlling for the effects of LMX. The degree of consensus (“crystallization”) by which group members share norms and behavioral expectations was found to partially neutralize the effects of LMX on empowerment.
Issues in the development of an item bank.

OBJECTIVE To describe and illustrate 2 issues involved in the development of an item bank that can be used to improve measurement across settings and over time. DESIGN Secondary (psychometric) analysis of data collected on existing quality of life (QOL) instruments. SETTING Five cancer clinics in hospital settings in various parts of the United States; 523 solo or group practices in 3 major US cities; and an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in a large metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS Illustration 1: 399 persons being treated for or having a history of cancer, 170 persons being treated for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 328 persons with stroke assessed during and after acute rehabilitation, and 433 persons being treated for multiple sclerosis. Illustration 2: 1714 persons with cancer and/or HIV participating in a large-scale multisite study, 3429 persons with prevalent treatable chronic health conditions, and 125 persons with stage IV metastatic breast cancer. INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES QOL as measured by 10 different instruments. RESULTS The illustrations show that (1). core items, which functioned similarly across 4 diagnostic groups, can be identified and used to construct instruments measuring physical function that are tailored to each of these groups, and (2). items from 3 separate datasets can be linked to create a dataset that can serve as an initial pain item bank. CONCLUSION The methodology exists to develop item banks to develop better measures of QOL.
Environmental accounting : commitment or propaganda

IDEOLOGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND ONE WORLDVIEW: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF NORANDAS ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORTS ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURES IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FIRM CHARACTERISTICS AND THE LEVEL OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE IN FINANCIAL STAEMENT FOOTNOTES ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES, BOND RATINGS AND BOND YIELDS ORGANIZATIONAL ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE A SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING
The developmental stages of synaptic plasticity

Abstract The brain is programmed to drive behaviour by precisely wiring the appropriate neuronal circuits. Wiring and rewiring of neuronal circuits largely depends on the orchestrated changes in the strengths of synaptic contacts. Here, we review how the rules of synaptic plasticity change during development of the brain, from birth to independence. We focus on the changes that occur at the postsynaptic side of excitatory glutamatergic synapses in the rodent hippocampus and neocortex. First we summarize the current data on the structure of synapses and the developmental expression patterns of the key molecular players of synaptic plasticity, N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) and α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, as well as pivotal kinases (Ca2+/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II, protein kinase A, protein kinase C) and phosphatases (PP1, PP2A, PP2B). In the second part we relate these findings to important characteristics of the emerging network. We argue that the concerted and gradual shifts in the usage of plasticity molecules comply with the changing need for (re)wiring neuronal circuits.
Distinct binding of amyloid imaging ligands to unique amyloid‐β deposited in the presubiculum of Alzheimer's disease

Non‐invasive determination of amyloid‐β peptide (Aβ) deposition with radioligands serves for the early diagnosis and clarification of pathogenetic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The polymorphic binding site on multimeric Aβ for current radioligands, however, is little understood. In this study, we investigated the binding of several radioligands including 11C‐Pittsburgh Compound B (11C‐PiB), 3H‐AZD2184, and two recently developed compounds, 125I‐DRM106 and 125I‐DRK092, with unique presubicular Aβ deposits lacking interaction with the commonly used amyloid dyes FSB. 11C‐PiB, 3H‐AZD2184, and 125I‐DRK092 showed overt binding to presubicular Aβ deposits, while 125I‐DRM106 barely bound to these aggregates despite its strong binding in the hippocampal CA1 sector. Unlike neuritic plaques in the CA1, Aβ lesions in the presubiculum were not accompanied by inflammatory gliosis enriched with 18‐kDa translocator protein (TSPO). Thus, there are at least two different components in Aβ aggregates providing distinct binding sites for the current amyloid radioligands, and one of these binding components is distinctly present in the presubicular Aβ deposits. Amyloid radioligands lacking affinity for this component, such as 125I‐DRM106, may selectively capture Aβ deposits tightly associated with TSPO neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration as exemplified by CA1 neuritic plaques. Hence, comparative autoradiographic assessments of radioligand binding in CA1 and presubiculum could serve for the development of an amyloid PET imaging agent visualizing neurotoxicity‐related Aβ pathologies.
Quantitative functional complexity analysis of commercial software systems

This dissertation describes the development and validation of a software complexity analysis strategy based on the functional requirements of commercial systems that are to be developed using automated tools and techniques. Software complexity has long been acknowledged as having a significant impact on software product quality, in terms of the number of post-delivery errors, and on the development process , in terms of personnel effort requirements. Such has been the extent of this impact that more than ninety distinct techniques for complexity assessment have been proposed. Changes in development technology, however, mean that many are now obsolete; furthermore, problems of late derivation, subjectivity, environment and personnel dependence and a lack of validation have impeded the widespread acceptance of most techniques. The increasing use of automated assistance in software development, however, has provided an opportunity for significant advances to be made in commercial software complexity assessment. Computer-aided software engineering ( CASE) tools and application generators are now mature enough to enable extensive system generation to be performed-direct transformation from specifications to final systems is therefore possible. This process significantly reduces the influence of personnel a:rid environmental factors on development, thus enabling more objective assessment to be undertaken. A specification-based complexity analysis strategy has therefore been developed and validated in this study. The effectiveness of the approach in the discrimination and estimation of development effort and post-delivery error occurrence has been tested using data taken from sixteen commercial projects developed by ten different ? rganisations. The results of the analysis confirm the assertion that functional complexity indicators are related to both system effort requirements and the likelihood of post-delivery system errors. It is therefore recommended that the results should be acted upon by project managers, and that the analysis scheme should be tested with data from other projects to frirther enhance the assistance that it provides.
State estimation for unmanned underwater vehicles with the extreme information rate

This paper addresses the state estimation problem for unmanned, underwater vehicles, where sensors and controllers are connected via a digital communication channel with limited information rate. Communication constraints result in poor control performance. The information rate limitation even destabilizes the system. An encoding and decoding scheme is presented to ensure observability of the system. Furthermore, we derive the extreme information rate for observability of unmanned underwater vehicles. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Prospective Study of Vitamin D Status at Initiation of Care in Critically Ill Surgical Patients and Risk of 90-Day Mortality*

Objectives:1) To characterize vitamin D status at initiation of critical care in surgical ICU patients and 2) to determine whether this vitamin D status is associated with the risk of prolonged hospital length of stay, 90-day readmission, and 90-day mortality. Design:Prospective cohort study. Setting:A teaching hospital in Boston, MA. Patients:Hundred surgical ICU patients. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:Mean (± SD) serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels were 17 ± 8 ng/mL and 32 ± 19 pg/mL, respectively. Mean calculated bioavailable 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D were 2.5 ± 2.0 ng/mL and 6.6 ± 5.3 pg/mL, respectively. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that all of four vitamin D measures predicted the three clinical outcomes; total 25-hydroxyvitamin D was not inferior to the other measures. Median (interquartile range) hospital length of stay was 11 days (8–19 d). Poisson regression analysis, adjusted for biologically plausible covariates, demonstrated an association of total 25-hydroxyvitamin D with hospital length of stay (incident rate ratio per 1 ng/mL, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.97–0.98). The 90-day readmission and mortality rates were 24% and 22%, respectively. Even after adjustment for biologically plausible covariates, there remained significant associations of total 25-hydroxyvitamin D with readmission (odds ratio per 1 ng/mL, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74–0.95) and mortality (odds ratio per 1 ng/mL, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.73–0.97). Conclusions:Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels within 24 hours of ICU admission may identify patients at high risk for prolonged hospitalization, readmission, and mortality. Randomized trials are needed to assess whether vitamin D supplementation can improve these clinically relevant outcomes in surgical ICU patients.
The Market’s Response to Unanticipated Events

We examine the reaction of prices, volume, spreads, and trading location when firms experience unanticipated events. These events are totally unanticipated by the market in terms of both timing and content. Due to the distinct nature of these news announcements, trading patterns are somewhat different from those documented for scheduled or partially anticipated announcements. We find that the response time is clearly longer than that reported in prior event studies of anticipated events. Moreover, selling pressure, wider spreads and higher volume remain significant for over an hour. In addition, we find an immediate price reaction at the opening call market. However, for events that occur while the market is open, price reaction, the increase in volume and selling pressure, and wider spreads take eight to fourteen minutes to ‘catch up’ to those for the overnight events. Therefore, while trading may not be necessary to process new public information it may take time to settle differences of opinion.