Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Software Engineering Education: Converging with the Startup Industry

Startups are agents of change that bring in innovations and find solutions to problems at various scales. An all-rounded engineering team is a key driver for the ability to execute the entrepreneurial ambition, from building a minimum viable product to later stages of product vision. Software engineering education provides students with the knowledge to transition to mature companies with defined structure in place successfully. However, the fluidity, risk, time-sensitivity, and uncertainty of startups demand a dynamic and agile set of skills to rapidly identify, conceptualize and deliver features as per market needs. This requires the adoption of latest development trends in software processes, engineering and DevOps practices with automation to iterate fast with low governance and the ability to take on multiple roles. This paper presents a study of the dynamics and engineering at startups and compares it with the current curriculum of software engineering.
The effect of influenza virus A on th1/th2 balance and alveolar fluid clearance in pregnant rats

ABSTRACT Pregnant women are more prone to H1N1 infection and often with severe complications. The authors studied the influence of H1N1 infection on T-helper cell type 1/type 2 (Th1/Th2) balance and alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) in pregnant rats. The pregnant rats were infected intranasally with influenza virus. Peripheral blood interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and AFC was estimated by albumin concentration in alveolar lavage. The ratio of IFN-γ/IL-4 in nonpregnant rats was 21 ± 7. There was significant increase in both cytokines in infected pregnant rats compared with noninfected counterparts, with dramatic reduction in IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio (8 ± 3) compared to that (15 ± 8) in normal pregnant group. AFC of normal nonpregnant rats was 17% ± 3% and H1N1 infection reduced it to 11% ± 2%. AFC of normal pregnant rats was 22% ± 2% and H1N1 infection reduced it to 10% ± 2%. Dexamethasone reversed AFC in both nonpregnant and pregnant groups (14% ± 4% and 13% ± 2%, respectively). These results show that influenza virus A infection leads to Th2-biased immunity and reduces AFC in normal rats, and further worsens these in pregnant rats. Dexamethasone reverses these effects in both pregnant and nonpregnant rats.
The burden of serious fungal diseases in Russia

The incidence and prevalence of fungal infections in Russia is unknown. We estimated the burden of fungal infections in Russia according to the methodology of the LIFE program (www.LIFE‐worldwide.org). The total number of patients with serious and chronic mycoses in Russia in 2011 was three million. Most of these patients (2607 494) had superficial fungal infections (recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis, oral and oesophageal candidiasis with HIV infection and tinea capitis). Invasive and chronic fungal infections (invasive candidiasis, invasive and chronic aspergillosis, cryptococcal meningitis, mucormycosis and Pneumocystis pneumonia) affected 69 331 patients. The total number of adults with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and severe asthma with fungal sensitisation was 406 082.
Effect of gentamicin dosing interval on therapy of viridans streptococcal experimental endocarditis with gentamicin plus penicillin

This study compares the effects of a total daily dose of gentamicin given once a day (q.d.) or three times a day (t.i.d.) in the therapy of experimental endocarditis in rabbits caused by penicillin-susceptible, penicillin-tolerant, or penicillin-resistant viridans streptococci. Four isolates were used in vivo: one penicillin susceptible (MIC < or = 0.03 microgram/ml), one penicillin tolerant (MBC/MIC, < or = 0.03/ > 32 micrograms/ml), and two penicillin resistant (MICs = 0.5 and 2 micrograms/ml). Animals were infected with one of the four isolates and assigned to one of the following treatment regimens: no treatment, procaine penicillin at 1.2 million IU intramuscularly (i.m.) t.i. d. , procaine penicillin plus gentamicin at 1 mg/kg of body weight i.m. t.i. d. , procaine penicillin plus gentamicin at 3 mg/kg i.m. q.d. , or procaine penicillin plus gentamicin at 1 mg/kg i.m. q.d. (only animals infected with the penicillin-susceptible isolate). Serum drug concentrations measured 30 min after administration of 1.2 million IU of penicillin and 1 or 3 mg of gentamicin per kg were 22.6, 3.8, and 8.5 micrograms/ml, respectively. The reduced total daily dose of gentamicin was ineffective among animals infected with penicillin-susceptible viridans streptococci; treatment with 1 mg of gentamicin per kg per day plus penicillin was less effective (P < 0.05) than was treatment with 3 mg of gentamicin per kg per day plus penicillin. The 1-mg/kg/day gentamicin treatment regimen was not further studied. The gentamicin dosing interval did not significantly affect (q.d. versus t.i.d., P > 0.05) the relative efficacy of penicillin plus gentamicin for treatment of experimental endocarditis among animals infected with each of the four isolates tested.
Optimisation of biological and physical parameters for lycopene supercritical CO2 extraction from ordinary and high-pigment tomato cultivars.

BACKGROUND Lycopene is used for several industrial applications. Supercritical CO(2) (SC-CO(2)) extraction from red-ripe tomato fruits is an excellent technique to replace the use of harmful solvents. In this study, starting from red-ripe tomatoes of ordinary and high-lycopene cultivars, the effect of different agronomical and technical aspects on lycopene content, stability and yield was evaluated throughout the production process from fresh tomatoes to the final SC-CO(2)-extracted oleoresin containing lycopene. RESULTS Red-ripe tomato cultivars differed in their lycopene content. Irrigation excess or deficit caused an increase in the amount of lycopene in the fruits. Fresh tomatoes were processed into a lyophilised matrix suitable for SC-CO(2) extraction, which could be stored for more than 6 months at -20 degrees C without lycopene loss. Under the optimal extraction conditions, efficiencies of up to 80% were achieved, but the recovery of lycopene in the extracted oleoresin was very low (approximately 24%). Co-extraction of the tomato matrix mixed with a lipid co-matrix allowed the recovery of approximately 90% of lycopene in the oleoresin. Using the high-lycopene cultivars, the yield of total extracted lycopene increased by approximately 60% with respect to the ordinary cultivars. Lipids and other biologically active molecules were present in the oleoresin. CONCLUSION A method for extracting, from a tomato matrix, a natural and solvent-free oleoresin containing lycopene dissolved in a highly unsaturated vegetable oil has been described. The oleoresin represents an excellent product for testing on cancer and cardiovascular disease prevention.
Variability of morphological needle traits of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) among populations from mountain and lowland regions of Poland

Abstract The main goal of this work was to examine interpopulational needle traits variability of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) from four mountain, one foothill and three lowland, natural populations located in Poland. This choice of locations was motivated by the presumed different origins of mountainous populations and the necessity to demonstrate how closely they are related to lowland populations. Variation in the studied populations was determined using seven morphological traits of needles: 1 - needle length, 2 - number of stomatal rows on the flat side of a needle, 3 - number of stomata per 2 mm of needle length on the flat side, 4 - number of stomatal rows on the convex side of a needle, 5 - number of stomata per 2 mm of needle length on the convex side, 6 - number of serrations per 2 mm of the needle length on the left side and 7 - number of serrations per 2 mm of the needle length on the right side. Biometric data were analysed statistically, and it was found that (i) needle traits differentiate studied populations; (ii) the postulated division of the population into two groups is reflected in the obtained results; and (iii) a particularly strong relationship was found between two relict pine populations from the Pieniny (Sokolica, Kazalnica, Czertezik) and Tatra Mts. (Wielke Koryciska), which may be the result of the common origins and history of these two populations
The roles of knowledge and supervision in work with suicidal patients

Despite caregivers' impact on suicidal patients' compliance with treatment and suicide prevention, little is known about mental-health professionals' perceptions of work with suicidal patients. The roles of psychiatric staff's training and supervision in the care of suicidal patients were investigated by means of a postal questionnaire sent to a random sample of 1543 psychiatric staff members. The response rates were 71% for psychiatrists and 57% for nurses and assistant nurses. The responses of 53 psychiatrists, 164 nurses and 333 assistant nurses working with suicidal patients on a regular basis were compared and analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Thirty-five per cent of the assistant nurses, 43% of the nurses and 74% of the psychiatrists who worked with suicidal patients on a regular basis perceived that they were sufficiently trained for this work, while 75% of the assistant nurses, 72% of the nurses and 34% of the psychiatrists received supervision in their work with suicidal patients. In spite of receiving supervision, nursing staff who perceived that they lacked training reported uncertainties in their work with suicidal patients to a larger extent than those who perceived that their training was sufficient. Uncertainties were significantly more prevalent among nursing staff than among psychiatrists. Basic and specific training in suicidology is needed and cannot be replaced solely by supervision, since psychiatric staff often have to deal with suicidal patients in emergency situations and must be able to rely on their own skills.
Transcriptional regulation of the muscle creatine kinase gene and regulated expression in transfected mouse myoblasts

The muscle-specific form of creatine kinase (MCK) is induced in differentiating myoblast cultures, and a dramatic increase in mRNA levels precedes and parallels the increase in MCK protein. To study this induction, the complete MCK gene was cloned and characterized. The transcription unit was shown to span 11 kilobases and to contain seven introns. The splice junctions were identified and shown to conform to the appropriate consensus sequences. Close homology with branchpoint consensuses was found upstream of the 3' splice sites in six of seven cases. Transcriptional regulation of the gene in differentiating myoblast cultures was demonstrated by nuclear run-on experiments; increases in transcription accounted for a major part of the increased mRNA levels. Regulated expression of a transfected MCK gene containing the entire transcription unit with 3.3 kilobases of 5'-flanking sequence was also demonstrated during differentiation of the MM14 mouse myoblast cell line. The MCK 5'-flanking region was sufficient to confer transcriptional regulation to a heterologous structural gene, since chloramphenicol acetyl transferase activity was induced during differentiation of cultures transfected with an MCK-chloramphenicol acetyl transferase fusion construct. Examination of the DNA sequence immediately upstream of the transcription start site revealed a 17-nucleotide element which occurred three times. Comparisons with other muscle-specific genes which are also transcriptionally regulated during myogenesis revealed upstream homologies in the alpha-actin and myosin heavy chain genes, but not in the myosin light-chain genes, with the regions containing these repeats. We suggest that coordinate control of a subset of muscle genes may occur via recognition of these common sequences.
Dr Lewis and co-workers comment

Sir, Lewis et al.,' reporting on viruses isolated from children with febrile convulsions, found adenovirus in the CSF in 3 cases and parainfluenza virus in the CSF of another. We have studied the viruses in the CSF of children aged under 24 months with febrile convulsions, making use of a virology service in the main hospital, with a technician able to take cultures and inoculate them into the cell lines at the bedside. Viruses were isolated from the CSF in 9 cases out of 66 (herpes simplex type 1 in 1 case, type 2 in 4 cases, type uncertain in 2 cases; echovirus (not typed) 1 case; enterovirus (not typed) 1 case). None of the 9 cases showed clinical laboratory evidence of meningeal irritation. Neurodevelopmental follow-up after 2 years was normal in each case. All were given sodium valproate to prevent recurrences.2 No viruses were isolated from 25 random CSF specimens of patients of the same age without nervous or infectious disease. The significance of these preliminary findings is being examined.
Global Increase in Climate-Related Disasters

Intense climate-related disasters—floods, storms, droughts, and heat waves—have been on the rise worldwide. At the same time and coupled with an increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, temperatures, on average, have been rising, and are becoming more variable and more extreme. Rainfall has also been more variable and more extreme. Is there an ominous link between the global increase of these hydrometeorological and climatological events on the one side and anthropogenic climate change on the other? This paper considers three main disaster risk factors—rising population exposure, greater population vulnerability, and increasing climate-related hazards—behind the increased frequency of intense climate-related natural disasters. In a regression analysis within a model of disaster risk determination for 1971–2013, population exposure measured by population density and people’s vulnerability measured by socioeconomic variables are positively linked to the frequency of these intense disasters. Importantly, the results show that precipitation deviations are positively related to hydrometeorological events, while temperature and precipitation deviations have a negative association with climatological events. Moreover, global climate change indicators show positive and highly significant effects. Along with the scientific association between greenhouse gases and the changes in the climate, the findings in this paper suggest a connection between the increasing number of natural disasters and man-made emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The implication is that climate mitigation and climate adaptation should form part of actions for disaster risk reduction.
Struggling with solutions; a case study of using organisation concepts

Engineers contribute to the constant flow of new tools and organisation concepts. These tend to be presented as solutions to existing organisational problems. These solutions may become problems themselves, however. We present a longitudinal case of how a truck manufacturer struggled with various similar and dissimilar concepts in realising organisational changes. Whilst it may seem idiosyncratic, the company's struggles are probably typical for organisational change praxis. Reflecting on the case, we present a model to help practitioners reflect on their use of concepts and tools (thereby arguably contributing to the issue we signal).
New protein kinase C activator regulates amyloid precursor protein processing in vitro by increasing α‐secretase activity

The beta amyloid (Aβ) cascade has been at the forefront of the hypothesis used to describe the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is generally accepted that drugs that can regulate the processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) toward the non‐amyloidogenic pathway may have a therapeutic potential. Previous studies have shown that protein kinase C (PKC) hypofunction has an important role in AD pathophysiology. Therefore, the effects of a new PKC activator, α‐APP modulator [(2S,5S)‐(E,E)‐8‐(5‐(4‐(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)‐2,4‐pentadienoylamino)benzolactam (TPPB)], on APP processing were investigated. Using PC12 cells and SH‐SY5YAPP695 cells, it was found that TPPB promoted the secretion of sAPPα without affecting full‐length expression of APP. The increase in sAPPα by TPPB was blocked by inhibitors of PKC, extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK), c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) and tyrosine kinase, suggesting the involvement of these signal transduction pathways. TPPB increased α‐secretase activity [a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM)10 and 17], as shown by direct fluorescence activity detection and Western blot analysis. TPPB‐induced sAPPα release was blocked by the metalloproteinase inhibitor TAPI‐2, furin inhibitor CMK and by the protein‐trafficking inhibitor brefeldin. The results also showed that TPPB decreased β‐secretase activity, Aβ40 release and beta site APP‐cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) expression, but did not significantly affect neprilysin (NEP) and insulin‐degrading enzyme (IDE) expression. Our data indicate that TPPB could direct APP processing towards the non‐amyloidogenic pathway by increasing α‐secretase activity, and suggest its therapeutic potential in AD.
Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Breast A focused review

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is the most common epithelial malignancy of the minor salivary glands, where it follows an aggressive course with a strong predilection for metastases; by contrast, breast adenoid cystic carcinoma (bACC) represents only 0.1% of breast malignancies and has an indolent natural history with metastases occurring as an uncommon event. Identification of bACC is challenging, as patient risk factors, clinical presentation, and imaging features on ultrasound and MRI are similar to other breast malignancies. Histopathological evaluation is, therefore, critical to the accurate diagnosis of bACC. Additionally, despite being a triple negative hormonal breast cancer, bACC is relatively indolent with excellent overall survivorship; however, delayed metastases are reported up to ten years following initial diagnosis and therefore longterm surveillance is strongly recommended. This manuscript provides an overall Focused Review on the epidemiology, clinical features, diagnostic workup, pathogenesis, treatment and prognostic/predictive factors of bACC as currently available in the published literature.
Ovarian Steroids Regulate the Expression of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor and its mRNA in Fibroblasts Derived from Uterine Endometrium

The role of stromal cells in basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF) supply for endometrial neovascularization during the menstrual cycle was investigated. The concentrations of intracellular and secreted FGF, and FGF mRNA expression were determined in fibroblasts derived from uterine endometrium as a substitute for stromal cells. The influence of sex steroids on protein and mRNA expression was investigated. The concentration of FGF and its mRNA expression in the fibroblasts was significantly increased by oestradiol, and these increased concentrations were diminished by progesterone. It is suggested that oestrogen stimulates FGF secretion from the stromal cells, an effect which is inhibited by progesterone. Therefore, endometrial neovascularization might be partially regulated by stromal-derived FGF under the influence of sex steroids, through a paracrine cell-to-cell interaction.
Exponential stability criterion for neural networks with time-varying delay

This paper focuses on the problem of exponential stability for neural networks with time-varying delay. By introducing a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, a new criterion of exponential stability is derived. This newly presented criterion does not require all the symmetric matrices involved in the employed integral terms of the quadratic Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional to be positive definite. The obtained criterion proves to be truly less conservative than some of the most recent results. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to verify the effectiveness and benefit of the presented criterion.
The Software Engineering Timeline: A Time Management Perspective

This paper addresses time management in software development processes. The rationale for this investigation stems from the observation that many of the problems associated with software projects, such as planning, time pressure and late deliveries, are time related. The analysis presented is based both on a literature review and on illustrations of data taken from our research on different software project management paradigms - mainly heavyweight and agile software development.
How do patients choose physicians? Evidence from a national survey of enrollees in employment-related health plans.

OBJECTIVE This study examines the process by which patients search for and choose physicians. DATA SOURCE A survey to a random sample of individuals between the ages of 21 and 64 with employer-related health benefits, drawn from a nationally representative panel of households. STUDY DESIGN Logit models are used to measure the effect of patient characteristics on the probability of (1) using alternative sources of information to support the choice of a current physician, (2) seriously considering another physician before choosing a current physician, and (3) stating a willingness to switch physicians when information suggests that other health plan doctors receive higher quality ratings. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Although a minority of respondents actively searches for a physician, there appears to be substantial variation in the degree of consumer activism across patient subgroups. Poor health status, higher levels of service use in the past year, and stronger ties to individual physicians are associated with less consumer activism. At the same time, greater levels of consumer activism were found among racial and ethnic minorities, among those who report using information to choose their physicians, and among those who switched physicians as a result of dissatisfaction some time in the past five years. Source of quality information (medical experts versus patient advocates) did not influence stated willingness to switch physicians. CONCLUSIONS Despite predictions of the increasing importance of consumer choice in shaping the health care delivery system, the results largely confirm the image depicted in the previous literature of patients as passive health care consumers of physician services, and highlight the importance of investments in the development of decision support tools in consumer-driven health care systems.
Mobile Pedunculated Left Ventricular Masses in a Man with Recurrent Emboli

A 51-year-old man was found to have left ventricular masses by transthoracic echocardiography, one attached to the posterior wall of the left ventricle and another attached to the anterolateral wall of the left ventricle. He had several events of systemic embolization over the last few weeks. Surgical excision was recommended to avoid further embolization. The patient underwent successful resection of the left ventricular masses under cardiopulmonary bypass through the left atrial and transverse aortotomy approach. Histopathologic exam was diagnostic for organized thrombi.