Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF SEQUENCE OF OUTPUT TASKS ON NOTICING VOCABULARY ITEMS AND DEVELOPING VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS

This study examined the role of output-first presentation of vocabulary tasks in noticing lexical items and enhancing vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners. The participants were 103 elementary level female Iranian EFL learners who were randomly divided into three groups: input-only, inputoutput, and output-input groups. After all participants took a placement test and a vocabulary pretest, the input-only group of learners received only input tasks, while the members of the other two groups received both input and output tasks in different sequences. All participants then took a vocabulary posttest. Comparison of input-only group with the other two groups showed that participants in the input plus output groups outperformed input-only group in the vocabulary posttest. The results of t-test and Mann-Whitney test indicated that output-input group performed better than the input-output group in both overall vocabulary posttest and the productive vocabulary section of the test. Moreover, the results of the semi-structured interview revealed the positive influence of output-first presentation of vocabulary tasks on noticing the gap in lexical knowledge. The findings of this study suggest presentation of vocabulary tasks in the sequence of output prior to input in order to enhance noticing vocabulary knowledge gap and develop vocabulary knowledge.
Screening for anti-virulence compounds against Escherichia coli and investigation of triclosan resistance development in Staphylococcus aureus

Two strategies to find treatments against nosocomial infections were investigated in this degree project. Anti-virulence is a new concept for antibacterial therapy. Anti-virulence drugs render pathogenic bacteria sensitive to the complement system so that they can be cleared from the body in a natural way. In the first part of the project a high-throughput screening of 14 727 synthetic compounds was performed on Escherichia coli. The other part was involved in the development of a novel antibiotic drug, a FabI inhibitor. The aim was to generate a triclosan resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain for cross-resistance studies with triclosan and to investigate the underlying resistance mechanism of the obtained clones as well as of an S. aureus strain resistant to the FabI inhibitor MUT021142-00-B.
The cardiotoxicity of thiazide diuretics: review of the evidence

Careful consideration of all relevant scientific evidence and a critical assessment of data quality show that thiazide diuretics are not cardiotoxic. Of 12 reported trials only two recorded more coronary heart disease events in thiazide-treated patients than in controls. One of these two was a subgroup of a larger study (Heart Attack Prevention in Primary Hypertension, HAPPHY) which found no difference between thiazide-treated and β -blocker-treated patients. The other, the Oslo study, was too small to allow valid conclusions. Results from a subgroup in the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) that appeared to supply evidence for thiazide-related cardiotoxicity are suspect when examined critically. Further evidence from 24- to 28-h ECC monitoring does not support the hypothesis that thiazide diuretics, either in the presence or absence of hypokalemia, increase the frequency or severity of ventricular arrhythmias. Reports of a thiazide-induced intracellular magnesium deficiency as a cause of ventricular arrhythmias have also not been confirmed; the development of arrhythmias in acute myocardial infarction appears to be due to an increase in catecholamine levels rather than hypokalemia. There appears to be little evidence to support the assumption that long-term use of thiazide diuretics aggravates or accelerates atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries; any fall in serum cholesterol appears to be transient For the great majority of patients with uncomplicated hypertension, without a previous myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus or gout, thiazide diuretics appear to be both safe and effective antihypertensive agents.
Mucopolysaccharidosis type II – genotype/phenotype aspects

Establishing correlations between a patient's genotype and clinical phenotype is based on the assumption that the same clinical consequences will be observed in individuals with the same residual function of a specific metabolic step. In mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II; Hunter disease), patients present with a wide clinical spectrum. Furthermore, current methods for measuring the activity of the deficient enzyme in MPS II – iduronate‐2‐sulphatase (IDS) – are insufficiently sensitive to differentiate between complete absence of activity and the presence of residual activity. Attempts have therefore been made to establish genotype‐phenotype correlations in order to explain the large degree of heterogeneity and to serve as a better guide to prognosis on which to base genetic counselling and treatment options. Using MPS II as an example, this paper illustrates the difficulties and potential advantages of determining genotype‐phenotype correlations in lysosomal storage diseases. The response of patients with MPS II to allogenic bone marrow transplantation provides some insight into the likely influence of certain genotypes on therapeutic efficacy.
Lymphohaematopoeitic cancer mortality among workers with benzene exposure

Lymphohaematopoeitic cancer mortality was examined among 4417 workers at a chemical plant by cumulative and peak benzene exposure. There was little evidence of increasing risk with increasing cumulative exposure for all leukaemias or acute non-lymphocytic leukaemias (ANL), or the other lymphohaematopoeitic cancers with the exception of multiple myeloma. For multiple myeloma, the SMRs were 1.1 (95% CI 0.3 to 2.5) in the non-exposed group, 1.4 (95% CI 0.2 to 5.1) in the <1 ppm-years, 1.5 (95% CI 0.2 to 5.4) in the 1–6 ppm-years, and 2.6 (95% CI 0.7 to 6.7) in the >6 ppm-years group. We found no trends by peak exposures for any of the cancers. However, when peak exposures over 100 ppm for 40 or more days were considered, the observed number of all leukaemias (SMR = 2.7, 95% CI 0.8 to 6.4), ANL (SMR = 4.1, 95% CI 0.5 to 14.9), and multiple myeloma (SMR = 4.0, 95% CI 0.8 to 11.7) were greater than expected. While the observed number of deaths is small in this study, the number of peak exposures greater than 100 ppm to benzene is a better predictor of risk than cumulative exposure. The dose rate of benzene and a threshold for exposure response may be important factors for evaluating lymphohaematopoietic risk.
C1q/TNF-related protein 6 (CTRP6) links obesity to adipose tissue inflammation and insulin resistance

Obesity is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation, and metabolic regulators linking obesity to inflammation have therefore received much attention. Secreted C1q/TNF-related proteins (CTRPs) are one such group of regulators that regulate glucose and fat metabolism in peripheral tissues and modulate inflammation in adipose tissue. We have previously shown that expression of CTRP6 is up-regulated in leptin-deficient mice and, conversely, down-regulated by the anti-diabetic drug rosiglitazone. Here, we provide evidence for a novel role of CTRP6 in modulating both inflammation and insulin sensitivity. We found that in obese and diabetic humans and mouse models, CTRP6 expression was markedly up-regulated in adipose tissue and that stromal vascular cells, such as macrophages, are a major CTRP6 source. Overexpressing mouse or human CTRP6 impaired glucose disposal in peripheral tissues in response to glucose and insulin challenge in wild-type mice. Conversely, Ctrp6 gene deletion improved insulin action and increased metabolic rate and energy expenditure in diet-induced obese mice. Mechanistically, CTRP6 regulates local inflammation and glucose metabolism by targeting macrophages and adipocytes, respectively. In cultured macrophages, recombinant CTRP6 dose-dependently up-regulated the expression and production of TNF-α. Conversely, CTRP6 deficiency reduced circulating inflammatory cytokines and pro-inflammatory macrophages in adipose tissue. CTRP6-overexpressing mice or CTRP6-treated adipocytes had reduced insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation and glucose uptake. In contrast, loss of CTRP6 enhanced insulin-stimulated Akt activation in adipose tissue. Together, these results establish CTRP6 as a novel metabolic/immune regulator linking obesity to adipose tissue inflammation and insulin resistance.
Constraints on dark matter annihilation from CMB observations before Planck

We compute the bounds on the dark matter (DM) annihilation cross section using the most recent Cosmic Microwave Background measurements from WMAP9, SPT'11 and ACT'10. We consider DM with mass in the MeV–TeV range annihilating 100% into either an e+e− or a μ+μ− pair. We consider a realistic energy deposition model, which includes the dependence on the redshift, DM mass and annihilation channel. We exclude the canonical thermal relic abundance cross section (⟨σv⟩ = 3 × 10−26cm3s−1) for DM masses below 30 GeV and 15 GeV for the e+e− and μ+μ− channels, respectively. A priori, DM annihilating in halos could also modify the reionization history of the Universe at late times. We implement a realistic halo model taken from results of state-of-the-art N-body simulations and consider a mixed reionization mechanism, consisting on reionization from DM as well as from first stars. We find that the constraints on DM annihilation remain unchanged, even when large uncertainties on the halo model parameters are considered.
VALUE OF SEQUENTIAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN THE MULTIMODALITY TREATMENT OF GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME

Previous assessments of the value of sequential computed tomographic (CT) scanning in brain tumor patients have suffered from the heterogeneous nature of the study populations in regard to (a) pathology, (b) treatment plan, and (c) time of scanning. This report is based on the first 21 of 30 consecutive cases of glioblastoma multiforme entered into a cumulative high dose chemotherapy study. Each patient received a maximal surgical resection, 5800 to 6300 rads of radiation therapy, and BCNU (1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea) chemotherapy (beginning at 100 mg/m2/day X 3 days) every 8 to 10 weeks for the life of the patient. CT scans were obtained pre- and postoperatively at each admission for chemotherapy; the scan at the time of the first BCNU course served as the postradiotherapy scan. Edema was present on 94% of the initial scans, and 94% of the tumors demonstrated contrast enhancement. In 70 instances it was possible to compare clinical status and an enhanced scan at the time of adjuvant treatment. When the scan was improved or unchanged so was the patient (46 of 46), but worsening of the scan was accompanied by worsening of the patient only 62% of the time (15 of 24). Sequential CT scanning proved useful in (a) detecting the positive effect of a treatment plan in clinically stable patients; (b) detecting non-tumor related causes of clinical deterioration; (c) detecting early treatment failure as a prelude to reoperation and/or a change in drug protocol before clinical deterioration; and (d) detecting asymptomatic complications of the treatment plan (i.e., a 20% incidence of ventricular enlargement).
Comparative study of nanomaterials' effective properties using canonical formations

An analytical study of artificial materials created by embedding spherical nano-particles in an infinite homogenous medium is presented in this paper. Propositions by various contributors to this area of the nanomaterials' field have been compared with respect to their approaches in finding the effective constituent parameters, over wide frequency ranges. Their closed form equations were examined to check if their results were reproducible. Some of the main variables affecting the characteristics of these structures were varied individually to understand their role in determining the effective constituent parameters of the mixture. Finally, a choice was made on the most consistent proposition for examining structures created from nanomaterials.
Coding complexity: US Health Care gets ready for the coming Of ICD-10.

A data deluge is fast approaching for health care providers, including Robert Callahan, a family physician who shares an office with two other family doctors in a brick house on a busy commercial strip in Newark, Delaware. Behind the front desk are shelves crammed with paper charts dating back thirty years to the time when one of the doctors opened the office. Callahan, 38, is a quiet, serious man who left the Air Force four years ago to practice here. After all of his medical and military training, he’s nowpreparing to take onhis next challenge: a federal requirement that all physician practices, hospitals, and health plans switch from the current system of classifying diagnoses and procedures—known as ICD-9—to a dramatically different and expanded ICD-10 coding system on October 1, 2013. At that time, the number of diagnostic codes— in effect, the alphanumeric name badges that diagnoses carry for insurance billing and other purposes—will increase from about 14,000 to 69,000. Simultaneously, the number of codes for procedures that can be performed on an inpatient basis in hospitals will jump from about 3,800 to 72,000. The shift will affect just about every aspect of clinical and business operations, since the codes document what clinicians do with patients and are embedded in nearly all clinical information and billing operations nationwide. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011. 0319 HEALTH AFFAIRS 30, NO. 5 (2011): 968–974 ©2011 Project HOPE— The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.
An introduction to new advances in diabetes

Diabetes is a potentially devastating disease with a high morbidity and mortality. There is an excess risk of both microvascular and macrovascular complications with diabetes 1 . Recent studies have emphasised and illustrated how we might be able to limit these diabetic complications. The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) found that improved control of blood glucose reduced the risk of major diabetic eye disease by 25%, serious deterioration of vision by nearly 50%, and early kidney damage by 33%. Other studies including the UKPDS have demonstrated the importance of blood pressure control and reduced cholesterol in addition to the use of aspirin in limiting progression of macrovascular disease. Diabetes is no longer viewed as a disease of sugar alone; a more holistic approach is required if our patients are to benefit from the information we have acquired through these recent studies. Some of the most recent developments in the field are presented in this review. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An Empirical Study Comparing the PEPA Eclipse Plug-in and GPA Tools

Performance modellers rely on the accuracy and correctness of tools in order to derive results that can be trusted to give useful insights into system behaviour. However, different tools may be developed from different perspectives and apparently similar analysis may give different results in some situations. In this paper we explore the use of two tools developed to support the analysis of the stochastic process algebra, PEPA. The tools, the PEPA Eclipse Plug-in and the Grouped PEPA Analyser are shown to give consistent results in many situations, but also show some inconsistencies which may not be predictable by the modeller. Hence this paper aims to give some insight as to where the two tools differ in the context of two models of workflow based systems. © 2015 Newcastle University. Printed and published by Newcastle University, Computing Science, Claremont Tower, Claremont Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, England. Bibliographical details KAMIL, S. N. S; THOMAS, N; An Empirical Study Comparing the PEPA Eclipse Plug-in and GPA Tools [By] S. N. S Kamil, N. Thomas Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University: Computing Science, 2015. (Newcastle University, Computing Science, Technical Report Series, No. CS-TR-1478)
Rare causes of calcitriol-mediated hypercalcemia: a case report and literature review.

CONTEXT Calcitriol-mediated hypercalcemia resulting from elevated extrarenal 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1alpha-hydroxylase (1alpha-hydroxylase) activity has not previously been described in giant cell polymyositis. CASE We report an unusual case of hypercalcemia due to disseminated granulomatous disease in a 62-yr-old woman with profound proximal muscle weakness and weight loss. She was initially diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency myopathy with a low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D; serum calcium at this time was low-normal. Vitamin D(3) 3000 IU daily was prescribed. One month later, blood work showed new hypercalcemia and hypercalciuria with normalized 25-hydroxyvitamin D. 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D was high-normal, despite a suppressed PTH, undetectable PTHrP, and essentially normal renal function. Her hypercalcemia resolved, and her strength improved only after prednisone was added to bisphosphonate therapy. Two weeks later, she died from acute congestive heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Autopsy revealed a disseminated giant cell myositis affecting skeletal, cardiac, and gastrointestinal smooth muscle. Immunohistochemistry localized 1alpha-hydroxylase to the inflammatory infiltrates in skeletal and cardiac muscle. EVIDENCE A review of English publications in Medline and Embase, including a reference search of retrieved articles, revealed that calcitriol-mediated hypercalcemia has been described in over 30 conditions, most of which are granulomatous in nature, ranging from inflammatory conditions and foreign body exposures to infections and neoplasms. CONCLUSIONS Hypercalcemia resulting from autonomous 1alpha-hydroxylase activity may be unmasked by low-dose vitamin D supplementation and should not be excluded from the differential diagnosis of nonparathyroid causes if the serum calcitriol is inappropriately normal, rather than frankly elevated.
The rate of growth and apparent duration of untreated primary bronchial carcinoma

RIMARY CARCIXOMA OF THE LUNG IS, IN CEhP eral, a tumor of rapidly lethal potential, as measured from the time of clinical recognition. Some years ago we rcmported an a series of 275 untreated patients who were not terminal at diagnosis.9 The average survival time in this group was 3.2 months from the time of such diagnosis (and 8.3 monlhs from the time of onset of recognized symptoms). Most patients (about SO'%) with radiological evidence of primary lung cancer, who have previous roentgenograms available for review, are found to have had negative roentgenogra-
Clinical study on the therapeutic role of midodrine in non azotemic cirrhotic patients with tense ascites: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial.

BACKGROUND Midodrine is an α-agonist prodrug of desglymidodrine used for the management of hypotension. Midodrine has demonstrated usefulness in hepatorenal syndrome. OBJECTIVE The objective of the present work was to study the role of midodrine in patients with non-azotemic cirrhosis with tense ascites. METHODS This prospective randomized double blind placebo-controlled study was conducted on 67 non azotemic inpatients with liver cirrhosis and tense ascites (52 men and 15 women; age range, 45-72). One patient declined to participate in the study, 33 patients were randomly assigned to take midodrine hydrochloride, and 33 patients were randomly assigned to take placebo. Out of 67 enrolled patients, 60 patients (30: in midodrine group; 30: in placebo group) completed the study and 6 patients lost to follow up. Patients were assessed for patients’ characteristics, history of tapping their ascetic fluid, laboratory values, and Doppler parameters before and after the study. Average 24-h urine volume was assessed before and after the start of the study. RESULTS significant reduction in body weight and abdominal girth was observed after 2 weeks of midodrine therapy. CONCLUSION Midodrine appeared to be effective in lowering body weights and abdominal girths of non azotemic cirrhotic patients with tense ascites.
Value of duplex Doppler ultrasonography in non-invasive assessment of children with chronic liver disease.

AIM to investigate the value of duplex Doppler ultrasonography (US) in the assessment of the hemodynamics of the portal and hepatic veins in a cohort of children with chronic liver disease (CLD) and to detect any relationship between the US changes, etiology and severity (or stage) of CLD. METHODS we prospectively enrolled 25 children with biopsy-proven CLD. Thirteen had cirrhosis (aged 8.9 ± 2.0 years) and 12 had chronic hepatitis (aged 9.3 ± 2.3 years). Gray scale and color-coded duplex Doppler US were performed for all, as well as 30 healthy age and sex-matched controls. Findings were correlated with clinical, laboratory and histopathological characteristics. RESULTS prominent caudate lobe was detected in 100% of cirrhotics, but none of the chronic hepatitis or controls. Thickened lesser omentum and loss of the triphasic waveform of the hepatic vein were present in 69.2% and 53.8% of cirrhotics vs 33.3% and 8.3% of chronic hepatitis respectively. Portal vein flow velocity was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) and the congestion index was significantly higher (P < 0.005) in both patient groups compared to controls. Child-Pugh's staging showed a positive correlation with both abnormal hepatic vein waveform and direction of portal blood flow; and a negative correlation with both hepatic and portal vein flow velocities. No correlation with the etiology of CLD could be detected. CONCLUSION duplex Doppler added to grayscale US can detect significant morphologic and portal hemodynamic changes that correlate with the severity (stage) of CLD, but not with etiology.
Behavioral measures of cortical hyperexcitability assessed in people who experience visual snow

Objective: To determine whether visual perceptual measures in people who experience visual snow are consistent with an imbalance between inhibition and excitation in visual cortex. Methods: Sixteen patients with visual snow and 18 controls participated. Four visual tasks were included: center-surround contrast matching, luminance increment detection in noise, and global form and global motion coherence thresholds. Neuronal architecture capable of encoding the luminance and contrast stimuli is present within primary visual cortex, whereas the extraction of global motion and form signals requires extrastriate processing. All these tasks have been used previously to investigate the balance between inhibition and excitation within the visual system in both healthy and diseased states. Results: The visual snow group demonstrated reduced center-surround contrast suppression (p = 0.03) and elevated luminance increment thresholds in noise (p = 0.02). Groups did not differ on the global form or global motion task. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that visual perceptual measures involving the suprathreshold processing of contrast and luminance are abnormal in a group of individuals with visual snow. Our data are consistent with elevated excitability in primary visual cortex; however, further research is required to provide more direct evidence for this proposed mechanism. The ability to measure perceptual differences in visual snow reveals promise for the future development of clinical tests to assist in visual snow diagnosis and possibly a method for quantitatively assaying any benefits of treatments.