Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phenomenography: A Qualitative Research Approach for Exploring Understanding in Health Care

Phenomenography is a little-known qualitative research approach that has potential for health care research, particularly when people’s understanding of their experience is the goal. Phenomenography is explained as a qualitative, nondualistic research approach that identifies and retains the discourse of research participants. This article seeks to present the major assumptions associated with phenomenographic research. An example of the way in which research outcomes are presented is included to emphasize its distinctiveness. It is noted that phenomenography has potential in the area of qualitative health research and will benefit from ongoing development and application.
Differential Intracellular Compartmentalization of Herpetic Thymidine Kinases (TKs) in TK Gene-Transfected Tumor Cells: Molecular Characterization of the Nuclear Localization Signal of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 TK

ABSTRACT The thymidine kinases (TKs) of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), HSV-2, and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) were expressed in human osteosarcoma cells as fusion proteins with the green fluorescent protein (GFP), and their intracellular localizations were determined. The three TK-GFP fusion products were localized in different subcellular compartments of the transfected tumor cells. HSV-1 TK-GFP was localized exclusively in the nucleus, HSV-2 TK-GFP was predominantly found in the cytosol, while VZV TK-GFP was localized in both the nucleus and the cytosol. In support of these findings, we identified a nuclear localization signal (NLS) in the N-terminal arginine-rich region of HSV-1 TK that was absent in HSV-2 and VZV TK. The first 34 amino acids proved necessary for the specific nuclear localization of HSV-1 TK and, when added to the VZV TK-GFP gene construct, also sufficed to specifically target VZV TK-GFP to the nucleus. Further analysis of this NLS through site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the basic amino acid-rich nonapeptide25R-R-T-A-L-R-P-R-R33 is of crucial importance in the nuclear targeting of HSV-1 TK. In particular, we revealed that the presence of the arginine residues at positions 25, 26, 30, 32, and 33 is obligatory for efficient NLS functioning, whereas arginine and histidine residues outside of the nonapeptide (i.e., residues R18, R20, and H22) did not change the functional properties of the NLS.
Facilitating the Implementation of the Constructivist Approach through the Social Space of Facebook

The proliferation of Facebook use among students and teachers has created a new learning culture by providing innovative ways for teachers to enable learners to engage actively in different learning activities. This paper investigates the potential use of Facebook, to support faculty in implementing a social constructivist approach to facilitate student-centred learning. To alleviate problems arising from poor student engagement in large classes, 240 students from An-Najah National University, Palestine, enrolled in four sections of an undergraduate Educational Technology course, were encouraged to participate in a number of formative activities through Facebook. The contributions of learners during the semester were analyzed. Students were also asked to evaluate their experience through a questionnaire. The results show that Facebook's technological affordances provide valuable support for pedagogical change. Facebook is an engaging and enjoyable tool for digital native learners to be active participants in constructing their knowledge through social interaction. Despite being heavily immersed in Facebook, students are not familiar to use this technology in their learning. Therefore, to take full advantages of this technology, academics should recognize the inherent value of Facebook and rethink its deployment in ways that foster student engagement, interaction and collaboration in a more constructivist and effective learning environment.
Robust Social Decisions

We propose and operationalize normative principles to guide social decisions when individuals potentially have imprecise and heterogeneous beliefs, in addition to conflicting tastes or interests. To do so we adapt the standard Pareto principle to those preference comparisons that are robust to belief imprecision and characterize social preferences that respect this robust principle. We also characterize a suitable restriction of this principle. The former principle provides stronger guidance when it can be satisfied; when it cannot, the latter always provides minimal guidance.
Implementing a new teaching and learning strategy for CVAD care.

BACKGROUND Central venous access devices (CVADs) are now a fundamental part of contemporary healthcare. Despite having many advantages, there are also complications associated with them. Evidence suggests that educating and training health professionals who maintain CVADs is essential for preventing such complications, however, the most effective approach for this training has not been evaluated. AIM The aim of this study was to determine whether the introduction of an innovative educational intervention within a higher education institution (HEI) improved the confidence and knowledge of registered nurses dealing with CVADs. METHODS A survey design consisting of a self-completion questionnaire and open-ended questions was used. RESULTS This study demonstrated that nurses felt more confident following participation in the training. In addition, nurses discussed the advantages of training outside of the clinical setting as it provided them with a safe place to practise and gave them time to learn without interruption. The findings from this study suggest that the HEIs can provide an effective and safe environment for registered nurses to build confidence and knowledge in CVAD management.
Distribution of PER Protein, Pigment-Dispersing Hormone, Prothoracicotropic Hormone, and Eclosion Hormone in the Cephalic Nervous System of Insects

Investigations performed on adult insects revealed that putative components of the central pacemaker, the protein Period (PER) and the pigment-dispersing hormone (PDH), are immunocytochemically detectable in discrete sets of brain neurons throughout the class of Insecta, represented by a bristletail, mayfly, damselfly, 2 locust species, stonefly, 2 bug species, goldsmith beetle, caddisfly, honeybee, and 2 blowfly species. The PER-positive cells are localized in the frontal protocerebrum and in most species also in the optic lobes, which are their only location in damselfly and goldsmith beetle. Additional PER-positive cells occur in a few species either in the deuto- and tritocerebrum or in the suboesophageal ganglion. The PER staining was always confined to the cytoplasm. The PDH immunoreactivity consistently occurs in a cluster of perikarya located frontoventrally at the proximal edge of the medulla. The mayfly and both locust species possess additional PDH neurons in 2 posterior cell clusters at the proximal edge of the medulla, and mayfly, waterstrider, and 1 of the blowfly species in the central brain. PDH-positive fibers form a fanlike arrangement over the frontal side of the medulla. Two or just 1 bundle of PDH-positive fibers run from the optic lobe to the protocerebrum, with collaterals passing over to the contralateral optic lobe. Antisera to the prothoracicotropic (PTTH) and the eclosion (EH) hormones, which in some insects regulate the molting and ecdysis rhythms, respectively, typically react with a few neurons in the frontal protocerebrum. However, the PTTH-positive neurons of the mayfly and the damselfly and the EH-positive neurons of the caddisfly are located in the suboesophageal ganglion. No PTTH-like antigen was detected in locusts, and no EH-like antigens were detected in the damselfly, stonefly, locusts, and the honeybee. There are no signs of co-localization of the PER-, PDH-, PTTH-, and EH-like antigens in identical neurons.
Survival trends in mantle cell lymphoma in the United States over 16 years 1992–2007

Abstract A retrospective analysis was done using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER) database to determine the trends in overall survival and identify prognostic factors in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). In total 5367 cases of MCL identified from 1992 to 2007 were split into three cohorts, group 1(1992–1999), group 2 (2000–2003) and group 3 (2004–2007). Survival was analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards model to correct for age, gender and stage of disease. The proportion of patients with advanced disease at diagnosis, male gender and advanced age increased over time and these were all associated with increased mortality. The overall survival remained unchanged. However, when adjusted for the increased proportion of patients with poor prognostic features noted above, we found a significant improvement in survival. The adjusted model also showed an improvement in predicted survival over time in patients with advanced stage. No change in survival was seen in patients with localized disease. Although this analysis is not designed to evaluate specific treatment modalities, these data suggest that the development of new treatment strategies over the past decade may be impacting the survival of patients with advanced MCL despite the finding that the overall survival remains unchanged in the general US population.
Use of Pet/Ct Scanning in Cancer Patients: Technical and Practical Considerations

This overview of the oncologic applications of positron emission tomography (PET) focuses on the technical aspects and clinical applications of a newer technique: the combination of a PET scanner and a computed tomography (CT) scanner in a single (PET/CT) device. Examples illustrate how PET/CT contributes to patient care and improves upon the previous state-of-the-art method of comparing a PET scan with a separate CT scan. Finally, the author presents some of the results from studies of PET/CT imaging that are beginning to appear in the literature.
Investigations of Plasma Dynamics Within and After Laser Pulse Using Optical Streak Camera

Plasma dynamics within and after the laser pulse irradiation at different ambient gas pressures in air were investigated from the laser ablated Al plasma (1064 nm, 15 ns, and 1.8 J/mm2) using an optical streak camera. At 50 and 400 Pa, front positions of the fast moving part fitted well with the Drag model once the laser started. At 1 atm, multiple radiation regions caused by the laser-target ablation and air breakdowns were observed.
The Effect of Determining Topography Parameters on Analyzing Elastic Contact Between Isotropic Rough Surfaces

Elastic contact between two computer-generated isotropic rough surfaces is studied. First the surface topography parameters, including the asperity density, mean summit radius, and standard deviation of asperity heights of the equivalent rough surface, are determined using an 8-nearest neighbor summit identification scheme. Second, many cross-sections of the equivalent rough surface are traced and their individual topography parameters are determined from their corresponding spectral moments. The topography parameters are also obtained from the average spectral moments of all cross-sections. The asperity density is found to be the main difference between the summit identification scheme and the spectral moments method. The contact parameters, such as the number of contacting asperities, real area of contact, and contact load for any given separation between the equivalent rough surface and a rigid flat, are calculated by summing the contributions of all the contacting asperities using the summit identification model. These contact parameters are also obtained with the Greenwood-Williamson (GW) model using the topography parameters from each individual cross-section and from the average spectral moments of all crosssections. Three different surfaces characterized by a different autocorrelation length, and three different sampling intervals were used to study how the method to determine topography parameters affects the resulting contact parameters.
A Design of an Optimized ORB Accelerator for Real-Time Feature Detection

In this paper, we propose an ORB hardware accelerator design. Feature-based SIFT and SURF hardware accelerators that detect features in real-time require high hardware costs. To overcome this disadvantage, an ORB algorithm consisting of simple calculations was designed as the hardware accelerator. A comparison between the proposed ORB hardware accelerator with SIFT and SURF accelerators revealed that the block RAM usage of the former decreased by approximately 25% and 83%, and its slice logic usage decreased by approximately 40% and 68%, respectively. As approximately 9 ms were required for processing, it was verified that the proposed hardware accelerator could perform real-time feature detection.
Bidirectional child–family influences on outcomes of traumatic brain injury in children

Child behavior problems, injury-related family burden, and parent psychological distress were assessed longitudinally over the first year post injury in 40 children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), 52 with moderate TBI, and 55 with orthopedic injuries not involving brain insult. Parents rated children's preinjury behavior soon after injury. Postinjury child behavior and family outcomes were assessed at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Findings from path analysis revealed both direct and indirect effects of TBI on child behavior and family outcomes, as well as cross-lagged child-family associations. Higher parent distress at 6 months predicted more child behavior problems at 12 months, controlling for earlier behavior problems; and more behavior problems at 6 months predicted poorer family outcomes at 12 months, controlling for earlier family outcomes. Support for bidirectional influences is tentative given that limited sample size precluded use of structural equation modeling. The findings nevertheless provide impetus for considering the influences of person-environment interactions on outcomes of TBI. (JINS, 2001, 7, 755–767.)
Vitamin A deficiency affects neither frontocortical acetylcholine nor working memory

Vitamin A is quite often implicated in supporting acetylcholine synthesis. Choline acetyltransferase, the enzyme promoting acetylcholine synthesis, and the vesicular acetylcholine transporter are modulated by retinoic acid treatment. This paper illustrates the effect of vitamin A deprivation on acetylcholine content in the hippocampus, striatum and prefrontal cortex of rats, brain regions containing retinoid acid receptors. The effect of vitamin A deprivation on working memory was also examined. The results obtained demonstrate a decrease in acetylcholine content following 12 weeks vitamin A deprivation in the hippocampus and striatum, but not in prefrontal cortex. Working memory performance assessed in the same rats was unaffected, suggesting a higher susceptibility of hippocampus and striatum to vitamin A deficiency, in terms of cholinergic transmission.
Sense of coherence and disability and the relationship with life satisfaction 6–15 years after traumatic brain injury in northern Sweden

The objective of the study was to assess sense of coherence (SOC) many years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and explore the relationship between SOC and self-rated life satisfaction (LS) as well as measures of functioning and disability, sex, age at injury, injury severity and time post-injury. Sixty-six individuals (aged 18–65 years) who were 6–15 years post-injury were interviewed. Data on SOC (SOC-13 item scale), measures of functioning and disability (Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory, MPAI-4), LS (Satisfaction with Life Scale, SWLS), and sex, age at injury, injury severity and time post-injury were analysed with hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The results showed that SOC in the study group did not differ from the general population and was strongly associated with LS. Regression analyses revealed that emotional factors, social participation, SOC, and time since injury, were more influential than sex, age at injury, and injury severity in explaining LS. It was concluded that SOC in this group of individuals with TBI who were many years post-injury was similar to nondisabled individuals. SOC, together with emotional factors, social participation and injury-related factors, were determinants of LS. These results confirm that LS after TBI is a complex phenomenon dependent on several factors that are important targets for rehabilitation professionals.
EXTENT AND MAGNITUDE OF CATECHOLAMINE SURGE IN PEDIATRIC BURNED PATIENTS

Increased catecholamine (CA) levels after severe burn are associated with stress, inflammation, hypermetabolism, and impaired immune function. The CA secretion profiles in burned patients are not well described. Mechanisms, duration, and extent of CA surge are unknown. The purpose of this large unicenter study was to evaluate the extent and magnitude of CA surge after severe burn in pediatric patients. Patients admitted between 1996 and 2008 were enrolled in this study. Twenty-four-hour urine collections were performed during acute hospitalization and up to 2 years postburn. Results from the samples collected from 12 normal, healthy volunteers were compared with the data from the burned patients. Relevant demographic and clinical information was obtained from medical records. Student t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data where appropriate. Significance was accepted at P < 0.05. Four hundred thirteen patients were enrolled in this study; 17 patients died during acute hospitalization. Burn caused a marked stress and inflammatory response, indicated by massive tachycardia and elevated proinflammatory cytokines. In burned patients, CA levels are consistently and significantly modulated after burn when compared with the levels in normal, healthy volunteers. Catecholamine levels were significantly higher in boys compared with girls, correlated with burn size in burns greater than 40%, and were increased in older children. There were differences over time in survivors versus nonsurvivors, with CA levels significantly higher in nonsurvivors at two time points. Inflammatory cytokines show a similar profile during the study period. Our study gives clinicians a useful insight into the extent and magnitude of CA elevation to better design treatment strategies.
Clinicomycological study of coexisting toenail onychomycosis and tinea pedis

Correspondence: Dr. Hamed Mohamed Abdo, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt Phone: +201066339011 E-mail: hamed392@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Background: Tinea pedis is frequently associating with toenail onychomycosis. The causative fungi are usually the same but may also be different. Aim: To correlate and find out the etiology of coexisted toenail onychomycosis and tinea pedis in patients presenting with both of them. Patients and methods: The study population included 44 patients with clinically suspected, combination of toenail onychomycosis and tinea pedis. The nails and feet were evaluated clinically and mycologically. Nail bed/plate specimens were obtained with sterilized instruments and scales were collected from clinically suggestive tinea pedis lesions. All samples were examined by direct microscopy and fungal culture. Results: Of the 44 patients, 33 had toenail onychomycosis (75%) while 40 had tinea pedis (90.9%). Distal/lateral subungual onychomycosis and dry hyperkeratotic tinea pedis were the most common types of nail and foot diseases (n=22-66.66%; n=1947.5% respectively). Middle aged males were the commonest infected population. From nails, direct microscopy and culture were positive in 31 (70.45%) and 33 (75%) patients respectively. Dermatophytes were the most prevalent isolated species (n=24/33; 72.73%) followed by non-dermatophytic molds (n=5/33; 15.15%) and yeasts (n=4/33; 12.12%). From tinea pedis lesions, direct microscopy and culture were positive in 36 (81.81%) and 35 (79.54%) respectively. Dermatophytes were the most prevalent species (n=25/35; 71.43%) followed by yeasts (n=7/35; 20%) and non-dermatophytic molds (n=3/35; 8.57%). Trichophyton rubrum was the most common isolate from nail and foot lesions (45.83% and 56% respectively) Conclusion: Majority of the coexisting toenail onychomycosis and tinea pedis were caused by single and the same pathogen. The presence of the same fungi in toenail and foot lesions may explain auto-infectivity, chronicity and recurrence of these infections. When both conditions are concurrent, a nail-targeted treatment plan should be considered.
Bone Metaplasia in a Case of Bilateral Renal Cell Carcinoma

We present a case of synchronous, bilateral renal cell carcinoma with osseous metaplasia. In renal cell carcinoma, bone can originate through two different processes: osseous differentiation or osseous metaplasia. The case we report here represents the second process. We discuss pathological differential diagnosis and prognosis of the infrequent tumor.
Analysis of Osteopontin at the Maternal-Placental Interface in Pigs1

Abstract Noninvasive, epitheliochorial placentation in the pig follows a prolonged preimplantation period characterized by migration, spacing and elongation of conceptuses, and secretion of estrogen for maternal recognition of pregnancy. Osteopontin (OPN) is an extracellular matrix protein that binds integrins to promote cell-cell attachment and communication. OPN appears to play a key role in conceptus implantation and maintenance of pregnancy in sheep; however, a role for OPN in the porcine uterus has not been established. Therefore, this study examined OPN expression and function in the porcine uterus and conceptus (embryo/fetus and associated extraembryonic membranes). Northern and slot blot hybridization detected an increase in endometrial OPN expression between Days 25 and 30, and levels remained elevated through Day 85 of pregnancy. In situ hybridization localized OPN mRNA to discrete regions of the uterine luminal epithelium (LE) on Day 15 of pregnancy and to the entire LE thereafter. Glandular epithelial (GE) expression of OPN mRNA was first detected on Day 35 of pregnancy and increased through Day 85. Both 70- and 45-kDa forms of OPN protein were detected in cyclic and pregnant endometrium by Western blotting. OPN protein was localized to the LE and GE by immunofluorescence; however, only the 70-kDa OPN was detected in uterine flushings. OPN protein was present along the entire uterine-placental interface after Day 30 of pregnancy. In addition, OPN mRNA and protein were localized to immune-like cells within the stratum compactum of the endometrium in both Day 9 cyclic and pregnant gilts. Incubation of OPN-coated microbeads with porcine trophectoderm and uterine luminal epithelial cells induced Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)-dependent integrin activation and transmembrane accumulation of cytoskeletal molecules at the apical cell surface as assessed by immunofluorescence detection of talin or α-actinin as markers for focal adhesions. These results suggest that OPN, expressed by uterine epithelium and immune cells, may interact with receptors (i.e., integrins) on conceptus and uterus to promote conceptus development and signaling between these tissues as key contributors to attachment and placentation in the pig.