Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detecting differences in quality of care: the sensitivity of measures of process and outcome in treating acute myocardial infarction

The merits or otherwise of publishing hospital specific death rates are much debated. This article compares the relative sensitivity of measures of process and outcome to differences in quality of care for the hospital treatment of myocardial infarction. Aspects of hospital care that have a proved impact on mortality from myocardial infarction are identified, and the results from meta-analysis and large randomised controlled trials are used to estimate the impact that optimal use of these interventions would have on mortality in a typical district general hospital. Sample size calculations are then performed to determine how many years of data would be needed to detect significant differences between hospitals. A comparison is then made with the amount of data that would be needed to detect significant differences if information about process of care was being collected. Process measures based on the results of randomised controlled trials were found to be able to detect relevant differences between hospitals that would not be identified by comparing hospital specific mortality, which is an insensitive indicator of the quality of care.
The multiple logics of tourism development in China

ABSTRACT It has been widely demonstrated and accepted in the sustainable tourism literature that tourism development involves multiple stakeholders. However, little research has been conducted to examine the logics guiding and explaining the behaviours of the stakeholders in tourism development. Guided by the institutional logics perspective and stakeholder theory, this study identifies the logics of different stakeholders in China's tourism development through fieldwork in two tourism development cases (Yalong Bay and Haitang Bay) in Hainan Province and content analysis on secondary data from multiple sources. The logic of pursuing political legitimacy, the logic of fiscal income maximisation, the dual logics of the market and politics, and the logic of pursuing economic benefits were identified to be the dominant logics driving the behaviours of the central government, local government, tourism enterprises and local communities, respectively, in China's tourism development. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of tourism development in China.
The thought-translation device (TTD): neurobehavioral mechanisms and clinical outcome

The thought-translation device (TTD) consists of a training device and spelling program for the completely paralyzed using slow-cortical brain potentials (SCP). During the training phase, the self-regulation of SCPs is learned through visual-auditory feedback and positive reinforcement of SCPs; during the spelling phase, patients select letters or words with their SCPs. A psychophysiological system for detection of cognitive functioning in completely paralyzed patients is an integral part of the TTD. The neurophysiological and anatomical basis of SCP-regulation was investigated by recording of BOLD-response in functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results showed involvement of basal ganglia and premotor cortex for required SCP positivity. The clinical outcome of 11 paralyzed patients using the TTD and quality of life of severely paralyzed patients is described. First attempts to improve learning of brain regulation with transcranial magnetic stimulation were successful.
Comparative analysis of book tags: a cross-lingual perspective

In the era of social media, users all over the world annotate books with social tags to express their preferences and interests. The purpose of this paper is to explore different tagging behaviours by analysing the book tags in different languages. ,This investigation collected nearly 56,000 tags of 1,200 books from one Chinese and two English online bookmarking systems; it combined content analysis and machine-processing methods to evaluate the similarities and differences between different tagging systems from a cross-lingual perspective. Jaccard’s coefficient was adopted to evaluate the similarity level. ,The results show that the similarity between mono-lingual tags of the same books is higher than that of cross-lingual tags in different systems and the similarity between tags of books written for specialties is higher than that of books written for the general public. ,Those who have more in common annotate books with more similar tags. The similarity between users in tagging systems determines the similarity of the tag sets. ,The results and conclusion of this study will benefit users’ cross-lingual information retrieval and cross-lingual book recommendation for online bookmarking systems. ,This study may be one of the first to compare cross-lingual tags. Its methodology can be applied to tag comparison between any two languages. The insights of this study will help develop cross-lingual tagging systems and improve information retrieval.
Protein Kinase A and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways Antagonistically Regulate Fission Yeast fbp1Transcription by Employing Different Modes of Action at Two Upstream Activation Sites

ABSTRACT A significant challenge to our understanding of eukaryotic transcriptional regulation is to determine how multiple signal transduction pathways converge on a single promoter to regulate transcription in divergent fashions. To study this, we have investigated the transcriptional regulation of theSchizosaccharomyces pombe fbp1 gene that is repressed by a cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) pathway and is activated by a stress-activated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. In this study, we identified and characterized twocis-acting elements in the fbp1 promoter required for activation of fbp1 transcription. Upstream activation site 1 (UAS1), located approximately 900 bp from the transcriptional start site, resembles a cAMP response element (CRE) that is the binding site for the atf1-pcr1 heterodimeric transcriptional activator. Binding of this activator to UAS1 is positively regulated by the MAPK pathway and negatively regulated by PKA. UAS2, located approximately 250 bp from the transcriptional start site, resembles a Saccharomyces cerevisiae stress response element. UAS2 is bound by transcriptional activators and repressors regulated by both the PKA and MAPK pathways, although atf1 itself is not present in these complexes. Transcriptional regulation offbp1 promoter constructs containing only UAS1 or UAS2 confirms that the PKA and MAPK regulation is targeted to both sites. We conclude that the PKA and MAPK signal transduction pathways regulatefbp1 transcription at UAS1 and UAS2, but that the antagonistic interactions between these pathways involve different mechanisms at each site.
Identification of Gene Expression Changes in the Aorta of ApoE Null Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

Atherosclerosis is a chronic multifactorial inflammatory disease with high worldwide prevalence, and has become the leading cause of death. In the present study, we analyzed global gene expression changes in the aorta of Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) null mice fed a high-fat diet by using RNA-seq. We identified a total of 280 differentially expressed genes, of which 163 genes were upregulated and 117 genes were downregulated by high-fat diet compared with normal diet. Functional clustering and gene network analysis revealed that fatty acid metabolic process is crucial for atherosclerosis. By examining of the promoter regions of differentially expressed genes, we identified four causal transcription factors. Additionally, through connectivity map (CMap) analysis, multiple compounds were identified to have anti-atherosclerotic effects due to their ability to reverse gene expression during atherosclerosis. Our study provides a valuable resource for in-depth understanding of the mechanism underlying atherosclerosis.
Human Well-Being and Land Cover Types in the Southeastern U.S.A.

The west-central region of Alabama is rich in natural resources. Yet changes in land use seem unrelated to improvements in human well-being. Satellite imagery and U.S. census data for 1980 and 2000 were analyzed to test whether changes in land cover were related to changes in a human well-being index - of income, employment, and education at the Census Block Group (CBG) level. A spatial regression model revealed that considerable human well-being improvements were only weakly, though significantly, correlated with changes in land covers. This relationship varied over geographic locations in response to the initial human well-being and socioeconomic conditions as well as changes in racial composition, population structure, income distribution, and industry structure. The results suggest that lack of understanding of the regional phenomenon may increase the risk of misguided economic development policies.
Sparse Array Quiescent Beamformer Design Combining Adaptive and Deterministic Constraints

In this paper, we examine sparse array quiescent beamforming for multiple sources in interference-free environment. To maximize the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the beamformer design comprises two intertwined stages, the determination of beamforming weights and the reconfiguration of array structure. The SNR maximization may produce high sidelobe levels, making the receiver vulnerable to interferences. We consider the problem of achieving maximum SNR beamforming subject to specified quiescent pattern constraints and, as such, combine both adaptive and deterministic approaches for sparse array configurations. We employ two convex relaxation methods and an iterative linear fractional programming algorithm to solve the nonconvex antenna selection problem for sparse array beamformers. Simulation examples demonstrate that the array configuration plays a vital role in determining the beamforming performance in interference-free scenarios.
Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Chemotherapy of Cervical Cancer: Mature Results of the Phase 2 PBM-PFU Protocol

Objective The mature results of the neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy arms of the nonrandomized, phase 2 Yale University cisplatin, bleomycin, methotrexate, and 5-FU protocol are presented. Methods Sixty-seven patients were prospectively accrued with a median follow-up of 5.4 years, and standard parameters of toxicity and efficacy were studied. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were applied. Results The 5-year disease-free survival of 78% for the 25 patients in the adjuvant group, of which 80% had high-risk features including positive margins, parametria, and lymph nodes and 28% had adenocarcinomas, was comparable to recent relevant literature. Only 64% of patients in this group received consolidation radiation therapy, which did not impact on survival. Only 12% of patients recurred distantly. Notably, those who received 4 months or more of chemotherapy had prolonged survival (P = 0.012). In the neoadjuvant group, chemotherapy response rate among 42 patients (with stages 1B-IIIB cancer) was 79% (50% partial response, 29% complete response), and no patient progressed. In the subgroup of 22 patients who underwent surgery after chemotherapy, 59% had nonsquamous histology. Forty-five percent of patients with stage IIB cancer were deemed operable after chemotherapy. Ninety-five percent received postoperative radiation therapy. There was a 9% pathologic complete response rate, with positive lymph nodes found in 27%. Notably, those who received 3 months or less of chemotherapy had improved overall survival (P = 0.030). Survival rates of these 22 patients at 3 and 5 years were 73% and 63%, respectively. Although not randomized, these survival rates were similar to those achieved with chemoradiation. Conclusions Although there are several logistical/design features of the cisplatin, bleomycin, methotrexate, and 5-FU regimen that are not in line with the current chemotherapy era, our experience with this well-tolerated regimen can serve as a proof of principle. Our data suggests that both neoadjuvant and adjuvant cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy may have their place. It also raises the possibility that the optimal duration of chemotherapy in adjuvant cases should be longer than in neoadjuvant cases.
A practical driver fatigue detection algorithm based on eye state

Fatigue driving is an important reason of traffic accidents. This paper proposes a practical algorithm to detect eye closure using an infrared camera to monitor and recognize driver dozing. Face and eye of the driver are first localized and then marked in every frame. After extracting the eye region, the proposed algorithm can detect eye corners, and with the eye corners restrictions, eyelids movement can be detected precisely and whether the eye closed or not can also be classified. An alarm is generated if the eye is closed for more than a specified period of time. The accuracy of the algorithm is demonstrated using real data under day and night with different drivers.
Discovery and characterization of a new hydrothermal vent based on magnetic and acoustic surveys

A new hydrothermal vent site in the southern Mariana Trough has been discovered using acoustic and magnetic surveys. Two stage surveys by the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Urashima (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, JAMSTEC) and the manned submersible Shinkai 6500 (JAMSTEC) were conducted in 2009 and 2010, respectively. In the first stage, we detected a clear magnetization low that extends from a previously known hydrothermal vent site, the Pika site, by using a vector magnetometer attached to the AUV. The acoustic signals suggest the presence of hydrothermal plumes emanating from the seafloor within the water column of the 120kHz side scan sonogram; 10 m scale chimney like structures in the 400-kHz multibeam bathymetry data were also detected in the area of low magnetization. These observations strongly suggest the presence of an unseen hydrothermal vent. The subsequent submersible dive discovered a new vent site, which was named the Urashima site [1]. The calculated absolute magnetization using the submersible-attached magnetometer succeeded in estimating the extent of hydrothermally altered zone for both the Pika and Urashima sites. It should be emphasized that the search for a hydrothermal vent site was a direct consequence of the geophysical surveys undertaken in the first stage. Our method can bridge the gap between conventional hydrothermal plume surveys (resolution on a scale of 103 m) and visual/photographic surveys (resolution on a scale of 100 m) and can precisely delineate the hydrothermally altered zone.
Increased p21-activated kinase-1 expression is associated with invasive potential in uveal melanoma

Prognosis in patients with uveal melanoma is poor as approximately half of all tumors metastasize and currently there are no effective treatments for disseminated disease. Differences in invasiveness between uveal melanomas could therefore be of major significance regarding clinical outcome. To identify genes associated with invasive potential, we have used microarray expression profiling combined with phenotypic characterization of uveal melanoma and melanocyte cell lines to define a gene signature associated with cellular invasion. A panel of 14 uveal cell cultures was assessed using three assays of invasiveness: matrigel invasion chamber system, scratch wound closure and cell motility. We identified a set of 853 differentially expressed transcripts (Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test, P<0.01) that discriminated between samples with high or low invasive capacity based on a composite phenotype that takes into account behavior across all three assays. Of particular interest, expression of two members of the p21-activated kinase (PAK) family, PAK1 and PAK7, was elevated in the more invasive cultures. PAK1 has previously been shown to play a central role in regulating cell motility and invasiveness in other cell types, and increased expression has been observed in breast and colorectal carcinomas. Using small interfering RNA-mediated PAK1 knockdown, we showed up to a five-fold decrease in invasion through matrigel, indicating that elevated levels of PAK1 are associated with invasive potential in uveal melanoma. These data implicate PAK1 as a potential new target for therapy of these tumors.
UV‐C mediated rapidcarotenoid induction and settling performance of Dunaliellasalina and Haematococcus pluvialis

Microalgae are primary producers of organic pigments carotenoids in aquatic environments. However, commercial‐scale microalgae application for high value carotenoids production is rarely economical due to the cost‐effectiveness of carotenoid induction and microalgal harvesting process. Here, we present a novel approach, using a small dose of externally applied UV‐C radiation, to rapidly induce unsaturated fatty acids and carotenoid biosynthesis in Dunaliella salina and Haematococcus pluvialis, and also to significantly promote their swimming cells settling for primary dewatering. The amount of total carotenoids and β‐carotenoid were doubled in 24 h on D. salina upon 50 mJ/cm2 of UV‐C radiation, whereas the astaxanthin yield of H. pluvialis was increased five times in 48 h at 30 mJ/cm2. Meanwhile, 95% of algal cells of D. salina and H. pluvialis settled in 15 h and 2 h, respectively. This novel technique represents a convenient, time‐saving and cost‐effective method for commercial microalgal carotenoids production. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2015;112: 2106–2114. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Dopaminergic Regulation of Inhibitory and Excitatory Transmission in the Basolateral Amygdala–Prefrontal Cortical Pathway

Projections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and dopamine (DA) input from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) converge in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), forming a neural circuit implicated in certain cognitive and emotional processes. However, the role that DA plays in modulating activity in the BLA–mPFC pathway is unknown. The present study investigated the mechanisms by which DA modulates BLA-evoked changes in mPFC neural activity, using extracellular single-unit recordings in urethane-anesthetized rats. BLA stimulation evoked two distinct types of responses in separate populations of mPFC neurons: monosynaptic, excitatory responses and, more commonly, inhibition of spontaneous firing. Stimulation of the VTA or local iontophoretic application of DA attenuated BLA-evoked inhibition of PFC neuron firing. Administration of selective DA receptor agonists revealed that these effects were mediated by D2 and D4 (but not D1) receptors. In addition, VTA stimulation or DA application attenuated BLA-evoked firing of a separate population of mPFC neurons in a frequency-dependent manner; firing evoked by higher-frequency stimulation of the BLA was less inhibited than that evoked by single-pulse stimulation. Attenuation of BLA-evoked firing was also induced by of D1 (but not D2 or D4) receptor agonists. These data indicate that dissociable DA receptor mechanisms regulate the balance of excitatory and inhibitory transmission in BLA–mPFC circuits, biasing toward an increase in the excitatory influence that the BLA exerts over populations of mPFC neurons. These findings may have important implications for understanding the pathophysiology underlying emotional and cognitive disturbances present in disorders such as depression and drug addiction.
The Mydriatic Effect of Multiple Doses of Tropicamide

Purpose. We investigated whether two drops of 0.5% tropicamide produced a wider pupillary dilation when compared with a single drop and saline control in subjects with dark-colored irides. Methods. Twelve young adult subjects with dark irides and who were free from ocular disease participated in the study. One eye of each subject, selected at random, was designated as experimental and the fellow eye as control. A single drop of 0.5% tropicamide was instilled in the lower cul-de-sac of each eye in turn. Immediately after, a second drop of 0.5% tropicamide was instilled in the experimental eye and a single drop of unpreserved saline into the control eye. A double-masked experimental protocol was followed. Digital images of both pupils of each subject were taken at baseline (predrug instillation) and then every 5 minutes up to 30 minutes postdrug instillation and at 40, 50, and 60 minutes. The images were subsequently viewed on a PC monitor, and pupil size was measured using a calibrated millimeter scale. Results. Pupil diameter increased as a function of time for both conditions reaching a maximum between 20 and 30 minutes after drop instillation. Pupil diameter was greater under the experimental condition compared with the control (analysis of variance p < 0.001). Pupil diameter reached at least 6 mm under both the experimental and control conditions. Conclusion. In young healthy subjects, compared with a single drop of tropicamide, two drops were associated with a greater degree of pupillary dilation on average over the 60-minute study period. However, the magnitude of the difference was small and not clinically significant. A single drop of tropicamide produced a pupillary diameter of at least 6 mm, which should be sufficient for the conduct of a thorough dilated fundus examination.
Cellular Uptake Behavior of Doxorubicin-Conjugated Nanodiamond Clusters for Efficient Cancer Therapy.

This paper describes the design and fabrication of doxorubicin (Dox)-conjugated nanodiamond (ND) clusters with controlled sizes and cellular uptake behaviors of free Dox and Dox-conjugated ND clusters. The ND clusters with an average size of 45.84 nm exhibited a higher amount of cellular uptake as compared to the ND clusters with larger sizes. The amount of Dox taken up as free Dox increased initially and then decreased over time. In contrast, the amount of Dox taken up as Dox-ND clusters continuously increased and reached a plateau, resulting in high ablation efficiency. At the same Dox concentration, the cell viabilities after treatment with free Dox and Dox-ND clusters were 26.38 and 5.31%, respectively. The Dox-ND clusters potentially could be employed as efficient drug carriers for efficient cancer therapy.
On college English teaching reform

This article emphatically analyzes some main problems existed in college English teaching,the challenge higher education faced with and new demand for college English teaching in the 21st century.It points out that college English teaching should attach more importance to quality education,that is,begin with improving students' practical ability of language.In addition,it produces concrete reform assumptions and measures.