Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-regard: a new measure.

OBJECTIVE The status of patients and research subjects is usually considered in terms of self-reported symptoms. Measures seldom include disturbances in a conscious sense of the self. An additional brief measure of the sense of current self-regard is desirable, since a conscious lapse in an integrated self-concept may occur under stressful circumstances. The authors constructed and tested such a measure. METHOD Clinical interviews had indicated five common experiences that occurred more frequently as complaints during stress-induced regressions in the sense of the self as a functioning mind-body agency. An anchored five-item scale, the Self-Regard Questionnaire, was constructed and tested with 79 subjects who were in the midst of grief from the death of a spouse. Data analyses included checks on the internal coherence of questionnaire scale scores and their association with symptom, personality, and social desirability measures. RESULTS The five-item Self-Regard Questionnaire was completed quickly, in less than a minute, and led to internally consistent and unique data. Low levels of overall self-regard were correlated with higher levels of distress and predicted prolonged distress. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the questionnaire is a useful, quick, and easy-to-score self-report tool for assessing, and reassessing over time, current experiences of the self. The five questions may also be useful to clinicians who evaluate patients in contexts other than research.
Current trend of induction and maintenance treatment in positive panel-reactive antibody patients: a report on OPTN/UNOS kidney transplant registry data.

BACKGROUND The status of sensitization in kidney transplant recipients in the last 10 years and the trend of induction and maintenance therapy in patients of different panel-reactive antibody (PRA) levels have not been analyzed. The aim of this study was to investigate the current status of pre-transplant sensitization and its association with graft outcome. METHODS A total of 155 570 kidney transplants reported to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) during 2000 - 2009 were included in this study. We investigated the current status of pre-transplant sensitization and its association with graft outcome, and also compared the usage trend of 16 induction agents and 7 maintenance immunosuppressants in patients at different PRA levels. The difference of distributions of categorical variables between groups was investigated using the chi-square test. Unpaired t test or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for numerical variables. The survival rates of transplant recipients were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods and significance was determined by Log-rank test. Two-side P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All statistical analyses were performed using STATA 10 with all available updates as of March 2010 (StataCorp LP, College Station, Texas 77845, USA). RESULTS Despite the fact of the decreased percentages of kidney transplant recipients with presensitization history, the mean PRA levels of all kidney recipients has been increasing in the last 7 years, which was possibly due to the introduction of more sensitive antibody testing techniques. The percentage of patients with treated rejection episodes within one year post-transplant were significantly higher in sensitized patients (PRA = 50% - 100%:14.3% and PRA = 1% - 49%:13.9%) than in non-sensitized patients (12.4%). Both 1- and 5-year graft survival rates improved in the last 10 years; this was more significant in high PRA patients. Thymoglobulin was the most commonly used induction agent in last 10 years. Its users increased from 10% to 46% in non-sensitized patients, from 12% to 57% in PRA 1% - 49% patients, and from 19% to 63% in PRA 50% - 100% patients. The users of Campath, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and Rituximab have been increasing and reached 16%, 20%, and 11% in highly sensitized patients. In the last 5 years, steroid-free patients were 33% - 36%, 30% - 37%, and 10% - 25% for PRA 0, 1% - 49%, and 50% - 100% respectively. Almost 90% of patients were on Prograf at discharge. It seems that Myfortic users have been increasing since 2005 and it may soon replace mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) if long-term follow-up study conforms its safety and efficacy. CONCLUSIONS Application of sensitive antibody testing techniques increased the mean PRA levels of transplant recipients in spite of a decreased percentage of sensitized recipients. Induction and maintenance therapy differed in patients at different PRA levels.
Summary of clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis using infliximab, an anti-TNFα treatment

Cytokines play a central part in the human immune response and can generally be categorised as proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory cytokines in nature. Tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) is a proinflammatory cytokine and is a key mediator of inflammation. It has been shown to be pivotal early in the inflammatory cascade. Its effect on upregulation of inflammatory events within the joints makes it an appropriate pharmacological target in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Infliximab, an anti-TNF treatment, has been successful in clinical trials in reducing TNFα induced production of other inflammatory mediators, thereby reducing the signs and symptoms of RA. Infliximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that is 75% human and 25% mouse protein.1 The mouse portion contains a variable region binding site while the human portion is responsible for effector function. Infliximab binds to soluble TNFα as well as membrane bound TNFα. It has also been shown to lyse TNFα producing cells in vitro, although this has not been studied in vivo.2 The antibody binds with high affinity, avidity and specificity to human TNFα. It does not bind to TNFβ, otherwise known as lymphotoxin-α. This high specificity decreases the potential for non-specific effects on other biological pathways. There is a dose proportional neutralisation of TNFα at doses ranging from 0.01 to 10 mg/kg in subjects with increased TNFα levels after endotoxin challenge. Because infliximab is a protein, it is not metabolised by cytochrome P-450 enzymes providing additional advantages. For example, the genetic polymorphisms of P-450 isoenzymes and the consequent variability in metabolism leading to different toxic or inactive metabolites are less of an issue. Also, the likelihood of complex drug interactions are decreased in comparison with small molecules. Infliximab has also been studied in inflammatory bowel disease, specifically Crohn's disease. TNFα seems to play a central part in the inflammatory …
Comparison of “Near Retinoscopy” and Subjective Refraction in Adults

&NA; Static retinoscopy can yield contaminated results because the central rays of the retinoscope beam are oblique with respect to the line of sight of the eye being examined. Additionally, it is difficult to obtain steady distant fixation by children and infants. A nearretinoscopy technique is described, and refractive errors obtained by subjective refraction and near retinoscopy on adults are compared to show that the latter technique yields reliable and valid measures of refraction.
Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Derangements in Obese Mice Are Ameliorated by a Novel Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor γ-sparing Thiazolidinedione*

Background: Thiazolidinediones may have insulin-sensitizing effects independent of the nuclear receptor PPARγ. Results: A novel PPARγ-sparing thiazolidinedione ameliorated insulin resistance and inflammation in obese mice. Conclusion: The insulin-sensitizing effects of thiazolidinediones are separable from the ability to bind PPARγ. Significance: Identification of other molecular targets of thiazolidinediones may generate new therapeutics for treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes. Currently approved thiazolidinediones (TZDs) are effective insulin-sensitizing drugs that may have efficacy for treatment of a variety of metabolic and inflammatory diseases, but their use is limited by side effects that are mediated through ectopic activation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ). Emerging evidence suggests that the potent anti-diabetic efficacy of TZDs can be separated from the ability to serve as ligands for PPARγ. A novel TZD analog (MSDC-0602) with very low affinity for binding and activation of PPARγ was evaluated for its effects on insulin resistance in obese mice. MSDC-0602 treatment markedly improved several measures of multiorgan insulin sensitivity, adipose tissue inflammation, and hepatic metabolic derangements, including suppressing hepatic lipogenesis and gluconeogenesis. These beneficial effects were mediated at least in part via direct actions on hepatocytes and were preserved in hepatocytes from liver-specific PPARγ−/− mice, indicating that PPARγ was not required to suppress these pathways. In conclusion, the beneficial pharmacology exhibited by MSDC-0602 on insulin sensitivity suggests that PPARγ-sparing TZDs are effective for treatment of type 2 diabetes with reduced risk of PPARγ-mediated side effects.
Learner Network Replay Experiences Sampled experience Updated priorities Initial priorities Generated experience Network parameters Actor Environment Network

We propose a distributed architecture for deep reinforcement learning at scale, that enables agents to learn effectively from orders of magnitude more data than previously possible. The algorithm decouples acting from learning: the actors interact with their own instances of the environment by selecting actions according to a shared neural network, and accumulate the resulting experience in a shared experience replay memory; the learner replays samples of experience and updates the neural network. The architecture relies on prioritized experience replay to focus only on the most significant data generated by the actors. Our architecture substantially improves the state of the art on the Arcade Learning Environment, achieving better final performance in a fraction of the wall-clock training time.
EEMCO Guidance to the in vivo Assessment of Tensile Functional Properties of the Skin

From an engineering point of view, the skin and subcutaneous tissue represent an integrated load-transmitting structure. It is subjected to intrinsic and environmental influences. An attempt to use a four-layered model is offered to explain how the integument withstands and transmits loads through deforming appropriately. The stratum corneum, the association between the living epidermis and papillary dermis, the reticular dermis and the hypodermis have each their own intimate structures whose tensile functions are ideally balanced to respond adequately to the casual mechanical demands. A series of physiological variables, ageing and skin diseases alter the tensile functions of the organ. In the overall analysis, truly comprehensive multidisciplinary approaches in this field have brought advances in the understanding of functional skin biology. The assessment of tensile functions of skin also provides incentives for progress in skin care.
Adjunctive corticosteroids for adults in Vietnam with bacterial meningitis.

Introduction: Dexamethasone has been shown to reduce mortality and adverse events in patients with bacterial meningitis, but it is uncertain whether all patients with bacterial meningitis would benefi t from this adjunctive modality. In adult patients with bacterial meningitis, a European study demonstrated that adjunctive dexamethasone was associated with a reduction in mortality rates and adverse outcome [ 1 ], most evident in the subgroup of patients with pneumococcal meningitis.
Examining the Effects of Entrepreneurial Competencies on Students' Entrepreneurial Intention

Entrepreneurship is regarded as one of the key development initiatives, which leads to employment and economic growth; therefore, reducing poverty and inequality. Besides providing support to existing entrepreneurs, over the recent years, policy makers have focused on entrepreneurial education to cope with graduate unemployment issues and to foster economic growth. The foundation of quality entrepreneurial education depends on our understanding of entrepreneurial competencies and the effects on a student’s entrepreneurial intention. This study therefore focuses on examining the effect of key entrepreneurial competencies on a student’s entrepreneurial intention. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and a quantitative approach, and collected complete data from 333 students, studying commerce related subjects in Universiti Malaysia Kelantan. Findings of this study revealed that the students’ ability to recognize income-generating opportunities, entrepreneurial training and skills, innovativeness, and information-seeking competencies has a significant effect on their entrepreneurial intention. The education policy makers and the higher learning institutions in Malaysia should therefore emphasize on programs and curriculums to improve the students’ ability to recognize income-generating opportunities, entrepreneurial training and skills, innovativeness and information-seeking competencies, which are expected to reduce the rate of unemployed graduates and foster the economic development in Malaysia. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016. v7n2p119
Vitamin B12 and homocysteine levels in blood of dairy cows during subacute ruminal acidosis

The aim of this study was to investigate the variations of vitamin B12 and homocysteine in blood of dairy cows during subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA). On 228 subjects ruminal liquid was collected through rumenocentesis technique and rumen pH was immediately measured by a portable pH-meter. On the basis of pH values all cows were classified (bovine class) in Group A (animals with rumen pH>5.7), Group B (animals with rumen pH between 5.6 and 5.7) and Group C (animals with rumen pH<5.6). In relation to the acidosis risk depending on the rumen pH (herd class), the herds were classified in Group 1 (normal herds: less than 33 % cows with rumen pH<5.8), Group 2 (critical herds: more than 33 % cows with rumen pH between 5.5 and 5.8) and Group 3 (acidosis herds: more than 33 % cows with rumen pH<5.5). On blood samples, collected by jugular venipuncture, vitamin B12 and homocysteine were measured by chemiluminescent immunological tests. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Bonferroni test, showed significant differences (P<0.05) for vitamin B12 in bovine class and significant differences (P<0.05) for homocysteine in herd class. The influence of rumen pH values resulted in adequate vitamin B12 and homocysteine levels to meet microbial and cow requirements and fatty acids modifications in dairy cows affected by SARA. Moreover, the increase of vitamin B12 could be due to the presence of analogues which interfere with the transport of the vitamin. These findings provide more information on blood modifications during SARA.
Cytogenetic and FISH studies of a single center consecutive series of 152 childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemias

Abstract: Between 1977 and 1996, cytogenetic investigations were performed on 182 childhood (16 yr) acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL), constituting 94% (182 of 194) of all ALL patients diagnosed and treated at the Departments of Pediatrics, Lund and Malmö University Hospitals, Sweden, during these two decades. The cytogenetic analyses were successful in 152 cases (84%). The failure rate was higher for the ALL investigated before 1987 (30% vs. 4%, p<0.0001), and also the incidence of cytogenetically normal cases was higher during 1977–86 (43% vs. 25%, p<0.05). Clonal chromosomal abnormalities were found in 103 (68%) ALL. Structural rearrangements were detected, by chromosome banding alone, in 76 cases (50%). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to identify cases with t(12;21), 11q23 rearrangements, and 9p deletions, using probes for ETV6/CBFA2, MLL, and CDKN2A/B, in 72 cases from which cells in fixative and/or unstained metaphase preparations were available. In total, the most common structural rearrangements were del(9p) (17%), t(12;21) (15%), del(6q) (8%), and MLL rearrangements (4%). Six (32%) of nineteen cytogenetically normal ALL analyzed by FISH harbored cryptic abnormalities; three displayed t(12;21) and four had del(9p), one of which also carried a t(12;21). Five (45%) of the t(12;21)‐positive ALL showed +der(21)t(12;21) or ider(21)(q10)t(12;21), resulting in the formation of double fusion genes. Among the more rare aberrations, eight structural rearrangements were identified as novel recurrent ALL‐associated abnormalities, and nine cases harbored rearrangements previously not reported. Sixteen cases displayed karyotypically unrelated clones at different investigations. Seven ALL (5%) showed simple chromosomal changes, unrelated to the aberrations detected at diagnosis, during morphologic and clinical remission, and in all but one instance the patients remained in remission, with the abnormal clone disappearing in subsequent investigations. This indicates that the emergence of novel clonal chromosomal aberrations during remission in childhood ALL is rather common and does not by necessity predict a forthcoming relapse.
A Comparison of Pre-Season and In-Season Practice and Game Loads in NCAA Division I Football Players.

The aim of the present study was to quantify the individual practice and game loads throughout an NCAA division I football season to determine if significant differences exist between the practice loads associated with pre-season training camp and those undertaken during the in-season period. Thirty-one NCAA division I football players were monitored using GPS and IA (MinimaxX S5; Catapult Innovations, Melbourne, Australia) during 22 pre-season practices, 36 in-season practices, and 12 competitions. The season was divided into four distinct phases for data analysis: pre-season week 1 (pre-season1), pre-season week 2 (pre-season2), pre-season week 3 (pre-season3), and 12 in-season weeks. Individual IA datasets represented players from every offensive and defensive position group (WR: n=5), (OL: n=4), (RB: n=4), (QB: n=2), (TE: n=3), (DL: n=4), (LB: n=4), (DB: n=5). Data were set at the practice level, where an observation for each player's maximum player load (PLMax) or mean player load (PLMean) from each training camp phase was referenced against each player's respective PL from each game, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday practice session. Notable results included significantly (p<0.05) greater PLMax values attributed to pre-season1 compared to PL resulting from all in-season practices, and significantly (p<0.05) higher cumulative PL reported for pre-season1, 2, and 3 compared to every in-season week. Data from the present study augment our understanding of the practice demands experienced by NCAA division I college football players, and provide scope for the improvement of pre-season practice design and physical conditioning strategies for coaches seeking to optimize performance.
Analysis of lymphocyte surface antigen expression by the use of variant cell lines.

The cell surface is believed to be the site of many important functions, including cell recognition and the regulation of cell growth. It is also probable that tissue-specific surface molecules play a role in the differentiated functions of that tissue. That these concepts can still only be considered in the most general terms reflects the present lack of detailed knowledge about the organization of the plasma membrane, the structure of its individual components, and their biosynthesis. The type of approach described here to attack these problems, which uses both genetic and structural analysis, offers some promise of contributing to their future solution.
Contributions to Multi-Armed Bandits: Risk-Awareness and Sub-Sampling for Linear Contextual Bandits. (Contributions aux bandits manchots : gestion du risque et sous-échantillonnage pour les bandits contextuels linéaires)

This thesis focuses on sequential decision making in unknown environment, and more particularly on the Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) setting, defined by Lai and Robbins in the 50s. During the last decade, many theoretical and algorithmic studies have been aimed at cthe exploration vs exploitation tradeoff at the core of MABs, where Exploitation is biased toward the best options visited so far while Exploration is biased toward options rarely visited, to enforce the discovery of the the true best choices. MAB applications range from medicine (the elicitation of the best prescriptions) to e-commerce (recommendations, advertisements) and optimal policies (e.g., in the energy domain). The contributions presented in this dissertation tackle the exploration vs exploitation dilemma under two angles. The first contribution is centered on risk avoidance. Exploration in unknown environments often has adverse effects: for instance exploratory trajectories of a robot can entail physical damages for the robot or its environment. We thus define the exploration vs exploitation vs safety (EES) tradeoff, and propose three new algorithms addressing the EES dilemma. Firstly and under strong assumptions, the MIN algorithm provides a robust behavior with guarantees of logarithmic regret, matching the state of the art with a high robustness w.r. t. hyper-parameter setting (as opposed to, e.g. UCB (Auer 2002)). Secondly, the MARAB algorithm aims at optimizing the cumulative 'Conditional Value at Risk' (CVar) rewards, originated from the economics domain, with excellent empirical performances compared to (Sani et al. 2012), though without any theoretical guarantees. Finally, the MARABOUT algorithm modifies the CVar estimation and yields both theoretical guarantees and a good empirical behavior. The second contribution concerns the contextual bandit setting, where additional informations are provided to support the decision making, such as the user details in the ontent recommendation domain, or the patient history in the medical domain. The study focuses on how to make a choice between two arms with different numbers of samples. Traditionally, a confidence region is derived for each arm based on the associated samples, and the 'Optimism in front of the unknown' principle implements the choice of the arm with maximal upper confidence bound. An alternative, pioneered by (Baransi et al. 2014), and called BESA, proceeds instead by subsampling without replacement the larger sample set. In this framework, we designed a contextual bandit algorithm based on sub-sampling without replacement, relaxing the (unrealistic) assumption that all arm reward distributions rely on the same parameter. The CL-BESA algorithm yields both theoretical guarantees of logarithmic regret and good empirical behavior.
Multivariate analysis of the relationship between survival and the microstage of primary melanoma by clark level and breslow thickness

Background. The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) uses both Breslow thickness and Clark level in its staging system for malignant melanoma. Stage I corresponds to Breslow thicknesses less than 1.5 mm and Clark levels II and III. Stage II corresponds to Breslow thicknesses of at least 1.5 mm and Clark levels IV and V. However, most investigators have found Clark level to be of no prognostic significance once Breslow thickness has been taken into consideration by multivariate analysis.
The ethical problems with sham surgery in clinical research.

The recent use of sham surgery in randomized, controlled trials raises three critical questions about research involving human subjects. The first question concerns the tension between the highest standard of research design and the highest standard of ethics.1 When these two standards come into conflict and researchers cannot simultaneously meet both, which should prevail, and how should a balance be struck? The second question points to ongoing uncertainties and disagreements in assessing the risks and benefits of research protocols. When reasonable people — the members of well-established institutional review boards or the sponsors of research — disagree in their risk–benefit .