Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hours, sleep, teamwork, and stress

For every complex problem there is a simple solution … and it's wrong H L Mencken Many studies show that the quality of patient care can be severely affected by the stress levels of clinical staff, particularly doctors.1 We know too that doctors suffer high levels of stress and depression,2 more so than other workers.3 Strategies aimed at resolving the working difficulties of British doctors in training have been concerned primarily with the long, often excessive, hours worked. Following tough central directives and hard work by local task forces, many doctors now work fewer hours than five years ago. Has this reduced stress levels—or is there more to be done? Hours of work are easy to measure and as a strategy of stress reduction reducing them has an attractive logic. However, very little evidence confirms a relation between the number of hours worked and the level of stress or depression experienced.1 Moreover, other factors cause junior doctors greater stress than hours alone—for example, difficult relationships with senior doctors.4 Not surprisingly therefore recent studies show stress levels to be …
Con fl ict effects without con fl ict in anterior cingulate cortex : Multiple response effects and context speci fi c representations

Article history: Received 27 June 2008 Revised 16 March 2009 Accepted 8 April 2009 Available online 16 April 2009 The error likelihood computational model of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (Brown, J.W., Braver, T.S., 2005. Learned predictions of error likelihood in the anterior cingulate cortex. Science 307: 1118–1121) has successfully predicted error likelihood effects, risk prediction effects, and how individual differences in conflict and error likelihood effects vary with trait differences in risk aversion. The same computational model now makes a further prediction that apparent conflict effects in ACC may result in part from an increasing number of simultaneously active responses, regardless of whether or not the cued responses are mutually incompatible. In Experiment 1, the model prediction was tested with a modification of the Eriksen flanker task, in which some task conditions require two otherwise mutually incompatible responses to be generated simultaneously. In that case, the two response processes are no longer in conflict with each other. The results showed small but significant medial PFC effects in the incongruent vs. congruent contrast, despite the absence of response conflict, consistent with model predictions. This is the multiple response effect. Nonetheless, actual response conflict led to greater ACC activation, suggesting that conflict effects are specific to particular task contexts. In Experiment 2, results from a change signal task suggested that the context dependence of conflict signals does not depend on error likelihood effects. Instead, inputs to ACC may reflect complex and task specific representations of motor acts, such as bimanual responses. Overall, the results suggest the existence of a richer set of motor signals monitored by medial PFC and are consistent with distinct effects of multiple responses, conflict, and error likelihood in medial PFC. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
EKSISTENSI TUHAN DALAM PANDANGAN ATEISME

Abstrak Ateisme adalah suatu paham filsafat yang menolak adanya eksistensi Tuhan. Ateisme mempuyai bentuk yang bermacam-macam dan di kembangkan dalam aliran-aliran filsafat seperti Empirisme dengan tokohnya David Hume, aliran filsafat Positivisme dengan tokohnya Auguste Comte, aliran Materialisme dengan tokohnya Ludwig Feuerbach dan Karl Marx, aliran Humanisme dan Eksistensialisme dengan tokohnya Nietzsche dan J.P Sartre. Pada intinya mereka menolak dan menentang eksistensi Tuhan dan agama. Ia adalah musuh kemanusian, musuh agama dan kepercayaan terhadap Allah. Kata Kunci: Eksistensi, Tuhan, Ateisme.
Corruption and the military in politics: theory and evidence from around the world

Recent theoretical developments and case study evidence suggests a relationship between the military in politics and corruption. This study contributes to this literature by analyzing theoretically and empirically the role of the military in politics and corruption for the first time. By drawing on a cross sectional and panel data set covering a large number of countries, over the period 1984-2007, and using a variety of econometric methods substantial empirical support is found for a positive relationship between the military in politics and corruption. In sum, our results reveal that a one standard deviation increase in the military in politics leads to a 0.22 unit increase in corruption index. This relationship is shown to be robust to a variety of specification changes, different econometric techniques, different sample sizes, alternative corruption indices and the exclusion of outliers. This study suggests that the explanatory power of the military in politics is at least as important as the conventionally accepted causes of corruption, such as economic development.
Prognostic significance of DNA ploidy, S‐phase fraction, and P‐glycoprotein expression in colorectal cancer

Parameters that allow prediction of the disease course in colorectal cancer would aid the development of improved treatment strategies. For this reason, we evaluated the prognostic value of flow cytometric DNA ploidy and S‐phase fraction (SPF) and P‐glycoprotein (Pgp) expression in this type of tumor.
Alexander of Aphrodisias on universals: Two problematic texts

Two texts that raise problems for Alexander of Aphrodisias' theory of universals are examined. De anima 90.2-8 appears to suggest that universals are dependent on thought for their existence; this raises questions about the status both of universals and of forms. It is suggested that the passage is best interpreted as indicating that universals are dependent on thought only for their being recognised as universals. The last sentence of Quaestio 1.11 seems to assert that if the universal did not exist no individual would exist, thereby contradicting Alexander's position elsewhere. This seems to be a slip resulting from the fact that species with only one member are the exception rather than the rule.
Ethnicity and depression treatment preferences of pregnant women

African American, Hispanic, and White women between 12 and 32 weeks gestation were recruited to examine their depression treatment preferences. The 73 women who participated were interviewed after their prenatal visit. Nineteen percent of women had symptoms of moderate or severe depression. Women with moderate or severe symptoms of depression were more likely to believe that antidepressants were an acceptable treatment than those without symptoms or with only minor depression symptoms. There were only small differences among the three ethnic groups for antidepressant use preference but most women found them to be unacceptable. In contrast, approximately half of the White women felt that herbal medicines were acceptable compared with 16 and 22 percent for African Americans and Hispanics, respectively. Only 44 percent of African American women felt that counseling from a mental health professional was an acceptable treatment for depression compared to 68 percent for White and 61 percent for Hispanic women. Similarly, African American women were less likely to believe that waiting and getting over depression symptoms naturally was acceptable compared to Hispanic and White women.
Phosphorylation and Stabilization of HURP by Aurora-A: Implication of HURP as a Transforming Target of Aurora-A

ABSTRACT Aurora-A, a mitotic serine/threonine kinase with oncogene characteristics, has recently drawn intense attention because of its association with the development of human cancers and its relationship with mitotic progression. Using the gene expression profiles of Aurora-A as a template to search for and compare transcriptome expression profiles in publicly accessible microarray data sets, we identified HURP (encodes hepatoma upregulated protein) as one of the best Aurora-A-correlated genes. Empirical validation indicates that HURP has several characteristics in common with Aurora-A. These two genes have similar expression patterns in hepatocellular carcinoma, liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy, and cell cycle progression and across a variety of tissues and cell lines. Moreover, Aurora-A phosphorylated HURP in vitro and in vivo. Ectopic expression of either the catalytically inactive form of Aurora-A or the HURP-4P mutant, in which the Aurora-A phosphorylation sites were replaced with Ala, resulted in HURP instability and complex disassembly. In addition, HURP-wild-type stable transfectants were capable of growing in low-serum environments whereas HURP-4P grew poorly under low-serum conditions and failed to proliferate. These studies together support the view that the ability to integrate evidence derived from microarray studies into biochemical analyses may ultimately augment our predictive power when analyzing the potential role of poorly characterized proteins. While this combined approach was simply an initial attempt to answer a range of complex biological questions, our findings do suggest that HURP is a potential oncogenic target of Aurora-A.
Age Limit Does Not Replace Serologic Testing for Determination of Immune Status for Measles

Adults more than 40 years old are not necessarily immune to measles. A measles outbreak that involved healthcare workers occurred after contact with a 44-year-old patient. Results of a hospitalwide program of mass screening revealed that 117 (4.5%) of 2,600 individuals tested seronegative for measles; 31 (26.1%) of these 117 individuals were more than 40 years old.
The influence of psychosocial difficulties on women's attrition in an HIV/STD prevention program

We examined attrition from an HIV/STD group counselling intervention in two ways: quantitative analyses of the entire sample (n=287) and structured interviews of a subset of 30 women with low attendance. In the interviews, the most common reasons for low attendance were time conflicts and enrolling primarily to obtain the monetary incentives given for completing research questionnaires. Latent class statistical analysis of the full sample identified two subgroups that differed from each other in the number of psychosocial problems recently experienced. Relative to the ‘non-distressed’ class, the ‘distressed’ class members had higher probabilities of psychological distress, low incomes, heavy substance use, sex for trade, relationship violence, and unstable housing. This group had higher HIV/STD risk, but lower intervention attendance. Members also had less education and less knowledge about HIV/STD. A higher proportion of the distressed group was African-American. Study findings suggest that in interventions for women at HIV/STD risk, it is not necessarily enough to ensure cultural relevance and to provide food, childcare, and transportation. To increase retention, interventionists should consider (1) the use of strategies to support attendance (such as monetary incentives and attention to group process factors) and (2) intervention formats that are brief, matched to participants’ stage of change, population-specific, and/or maximally accessible.
Denosumab: Delay of bone metastasis in men with nonmetastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer

In a large multicenter phase 3 randomized controlled trial published in Lancet , Smith and colleagues highlight a potential new indication for denosumab for patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer (1). Already approved for prevention of skeletal-related events in the setting of bone metastases in solid tumors (Xgeva) and prevention of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) induced bone loss (Prolia), the authors theorized that denosumab administered prior to bone metastasis might stabilize the bone microenvironment thus delaying time to first bone metastasis. Men with castrate-resistant nonmetastatic prostate cancer treated with denosumab showed improved bone-metastasis-free survival and delayed time to first bone metastasis compared to those dosed with placebo.
Optimal methods to characterize the G93A mouse model of ALS

In the present study, we used the SOD1 (G93A) mutant transgenic mice as a model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This model is widely used as a laboratory tool to study experimental treatments in vivo for ALS to investigate new therapeutic strategies for this neurodegenerative disease. Such studies require the objective quantification of different parameters while mice develop the disease. We have applied a battery of different and specific tests: scoring of motor deficits by a trained observer, weighing, survival measure, hanging wire test, rotarod task and electromyography, most of them commonly used to evaluate G93A animals. We have critically compared these methods, showing the significant influence of gender on the onset of symptoms, and the optimal moment to apply each test. These results should be taken into account in future therapeutic assays on this ALS model.
Thickened Gastrointestinal Wall Findings on Computed Tomography in Children: A Reason for Endoscopy?

Objectives: Bowel wall thickening on computed tomography (CT) scans in children may raise concern for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The significance of this radiological finding is unclear. Our purpose was to evaluate the clinical outcomes with regard to IBD in children with no known underlying disease, presenting with abdominal pain and thickened bowel wall on CT scan. Methods: A retrospective analysis of pediatric patients with abdominal pain and CT findings of thickened bowel wall was performed between 2006 and 2010. Endoscopic findings, clinical variables, and follow-up assessments were evaluated. Results: Fifty-six patients presenting with abdominal pain and thickened bowel wall findings on CT scan were identified. Overall, 30 (54%) had terminal ileum wall thickening, 17 (30%) had isolated colonic wall thickening, and 9 (16%) had other small bowel wall thickening. Of the 56 patients, 21 (38%) underwent endoscopy, of which 14 (67%) had positive findings—11 (79%) had histologic evidence of chronic colitis, and 5 (36%) had duodenitis/ileitis. Ultimately, 11/56 (20%) were diagnosed as having IBD, 8/56 (14%) with functional abdominal pain/constipation, 9/56 (16%) appendicitis, 10/56 (18%) infectious gastroenteritis, and 18/56 (32%) with miscellaneous diagnoses. Median levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, albumin, and platelet count were significantly abnormal in the IBD group compared to the non-IBD group. Additional follow-up of those who did not undergo endoscopic evaluation revealed no new diagnoses of IBD. Conclusions: The presence of thickened bowel wall on CT scans is a nonspecific finding in children. Laboratory evaluation may help distinguish which patients require additional evaluation and endoscopy.
Flow cytometric analysis of the association between blood group‐related proteins and the detergent‐insoluble material of K562 cells and erythroid precursors

The linkage between blood group‐related cell surface proteins and the detergent‐insoluble material (DIM) was estimated by flow cytometry using a panel of specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as a comparison of the antibody‐binding capacity of intact and Triton‐X100‐treated cells. Studies were performed with K562 cells expressing endogenous or recombinant proteins and with human erythroid progenitors during their proliferation and differentiation in vitro. Glycophorin C (GPC) was found to be Triton‐insoluble in both cellular models. When expressed (erythroid progenitors), Band 3 remained Triton‐insoluble. Glycophorin A (GPA), however, behaved as Triton‐soluble or insoluble according to the absence (K562) or the presence (erythroid progenitors) of Band 3 respectively. Comparison of the cellular models regarding the proteins that compose the Rh complex also indicated that Rh(D), RhAG and CD47 were resistant to Triton extraction in cells lacking Band 3. Similarly, RhAG and CD47 remained predominantly Triton‐insoluble in K562 cells and early progenitors before Rh and Band 3 expression. Further analysis showed that the Kell protein was DIM‐associated. In contrast, CD99 and DARC (Fy) proteins were not, or were very poorly, DIM‐associated. Additionally, the adhesion molecules CD44 and Lu were completely or partially resistant to detergent extraction respectively. Deletion of the Lu cytoplasmic tail or its replacement by the cytoplasmic domain of GPC resulted in significant increase or decrease of the Triton solubility of the transfected proteins respectively. These data suggest that Triton insolubility of Lu results in part from direct attachment of its cytoplasmic tail with the cytoskeleton. We assume that this method should provide a useful tool to map interaction sites localized in the cytoplasmic domain of recombinant transmembrane proteins.
Ultra-wideband power dividers with good isolation and sharp roll-off skirt

In this paper, an UWB power dividers based on single-layer microstrip topology is proposed, analyzed and designed. Following the basic idea of the design of UWB bandpass filters, quarter-wavelength short-circuited stubs are placed at the two output ports of a traditional single-stage Wilkinson divider. The expected ultra-wideband power-splitting performance can be realized with good impedance matching at the input port and 3-dB power transmission from the input to the two output ports. As a proper resistor is placed between two output ports, good isolation can be achieved in the overall UWB region. This UWB power divider has several attractive features that include, size-compactness with 0.39lambda2 in area (lambda is the guided wavelength at center frequency), high in-band selectivity, sharp roll-off skirt, less number of resistors only one isolation resistor is required against several resistors and easy for fabrication on single-layer PCB technology. A prototype power divider is then designed and fabricated on the RT/Duroid 6010 substrate with a dielectric constant of 10.8, loss tangent of 0.0023 and thickness of 0.635 mm.
Experimental analysis of characteristic temperature in quantum-well semiconductor lasers

Temperature dependence of the gain characteristics in a 1.31-/spl mu/m GaInAsP/InP quantum-well laser was measured and compared with that in a 0.98 /spl mu/m GaInAs/GaAs laser. It was found that the low characteristic temperature T/sub 0/ in the 1.31-/spl mu/m laser was determined by the temperature dependence of the transparent current density J/sub tr/.
Dissociation of phenotypic and functional endothelial progenitor cells in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Objectives: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are circulating mononuclear cells with the capacity to mature into endothelial cells and contribute to vascular repair. We assessed the effect of local vascular injury during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on circulating EPCs in patients with coronary artery disease. Design and setting: Prospective case-control study in a university teaching hospital. Patients: 54 patients undergoing elective coronary angiography. Interventions and main outcome measures: EPCs were quantified by flow cytometry (CD34+KDR+ phenotype) complemented by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the colony forming unit (CFU-EC) functional assay, before and during the first 24 hours after diagnostic angiography (n = 27) or PCI (n = 27). Results: Coronary intervention, but not diagnostic angiography, resulted in an increase in blood neutrophil count (p<0.001) and C-reactive protein concentrations (p = 0.001) in the absence of significant myocardial necrosis. Twenty-four hours after PCI, CFU-ECs increased threefold (median [IQR], 4.4 [1.3–13.8] vs 16.0 [2.1–35.0], p = 0.01), although circulating CD34+KDR+ cells (0.019% (SEM 0.004%) vs 0.016% (0.003%) of leucocytes, p = 0.62) and leucocyte CD34 mRNA (relative quantity 2.3 (0.5) vs 2.1 (0.4), p = 0.21) did not. There was no correlation between CFU-ECs and CD34+KDR+ cells. Conclusions: Local vascular injury following PCI results in a systemic inflammatory response and increases functional CFU-ECs. This increase was not associated with an early mobilisation of CD34+KDR+ cells, suggesting these cells are not the primary source of EPCs involved in the immediate response to vascular injury.
Level of distress predicts subsequent survival in successfully treated head and neck cancer patients: a prospective cohort study

Abstract Conclusion: Our findings indicate a unique survival prediction from general health questionnaire (GHQ) sum scores in successfully treated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients and also to some extent with inclusion of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores. Objective: To examine the survival prediction from the level of distress, measured by GHQ scores obtained from at inclusion successfully treated HNSCC patients. Methods: Structured interviews were conducted for 135 successfully treated cognitive functioning HNSCC patients 67 ± 31 (mean ± SD) months after diagnosis following a regular follow-up visit. GHQ scores, alcohol consumption history, smoking status, present comorbidities, level of neuroticism, choice of psychological coping with the cancer disease, and HRQoL scores (EORTC QLQ-C30 and -H&N35) were determined. The TNM stage, treatment provided and tumour site were obtained from the hospital records. Forty-three deaths were noted during a minimum 8.5 years of observation. Results: The GHQ sum scores predicted survival in univariate (p < 0.05) and multivariate analyses with the above-mentioned covariates included (p < 0.01). Using clinically relevant cut-off levels, GHQ scores predicted survival in both univariate (hazard ratio (HR) 1.9; p = 0.05) and multivariate Cox regression analyses (HR 3.8; p = 0.001). We also demonstrated survival prediction from GHQ scores when adjusted by HRQoL scores.
Assessing the Value of Children's Asthma Camps

The Consortium of Children's Asthma Camps Directors commissioned a study to determine the value of asthma camps. This study aimed to identify the opportunities and the Consortium's role in this future direction. A multi-method, retrospective study was conducted with the following findings: camper demographics; camps provide a unique experience; there is moderate to high level of published evidence regarding children's asthma camps; camps are managed by organizations with extensive experience and by minimal paid staff; and the components of asthma education are fairly consistent across camps, while the duration of education, curricula used, and use of asthma action plans are not.
Response of Bacillus subtilis to Cerulenin and Acquisition of Resistance

ABSTRACT Cerulenin is a fungal mycotoxin that potently inhibits fatty acid synthesis by covalent modification of the active site thiol of the chain-elongation subtypes of β-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthases. The Bacillus subtilis fabF (yjaY) gene (fabFb) encodes an enzyme that catalyzes the condensation of malonyl-ACP with acyl-ACP to extend the growing acyl chain by two carbons. There were two mechanisms by which B. subtilis adapted to exposure to this antibiotic. First, reporter gene analysis demonstrated that transcription of the operon containing the fabF gene increased eightfold in response to a cerulenin challenge. This response was selective for the inhibition of fatty acid synthesis, since triclosan, an inhibitor of enoyl-ACP reductase, triggered an increase in fabF reporter gene expression while nalidixic acid did not. Second, spontaneous mutants arose that exhibited a 10-fold increase in the MIC of cerulenin. The mutation mapped at the B. subtilis fabF locus, and sequence analysis of the mutant fabF allele showed that a single base change resulted in the synthesis of FabFb[I108F]. The purified FabFb and FabFb[I108F] proteins had similar specific activities with myristoyl-ACP as the substrate. FabFb exhibited a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of cerulenin of 0.1 μM, whereas the IC50 for FabFb[I108] was 50-fold higher (5 μM). These biochemical data explain the absence of an overt growth defect coupled with the cerulenin resistance phenotype of the mutant strain.