Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics in chains and networks

Network theory has continued to evolve in recent years, but empirical studies are still lagging behind. Complex hybrid forms, meanwhile, are actually being structured in the real world of organizations, leaving a gap to be filled by theoretical and applied research. On the theoretical side some consolidation is necessary, and on the empirical side a research agenda has yet to be properly developed. This paper introduces and analyzes the dyadic perspective and the social embeddedness of networks. It offers a critical analysis challenging the radical social perspective of the new institutional approach. In addition, the paper introduces the possibility of observing trustless networks and adds six empirical questions in the format of a research agenda.
Climatic factors associated with hospitalizations for rotavirus diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age

SUMMARY This study compares the seasonality of rotavirus diarrhoeal hospital admissions and its relationship to climatic factors across three Australian cities. Weekly admission of rotavirus diarrhoea (1993–2003) in children aged <5 years and weekly average temperature and relative humidity for each city were modelled using a log-linear model with a cubic trend and season. Interactions were included to test for differences in the effect of temperature and humidity between seasons and between cities. Admissions of rotavirus diarrhoea peaked in winter and spring and were lowest in summer. Higher temperature and humidity in the previous week were associated with a decrease in rotavirus diarrhoeal admissions in three cities. The effects of both temperature and humidity on rotavirus admissions in Brisbane differed across seasons. Strategies to combat outbreaks of rotavirus diarrhoea should take climatic factors and seasonal effects into consideration to plan for the excess seasonal hospital admissions.
Conducting the ACTIVE randomized trial in hospice care: Keys to success

Background Untreated pain is common for patients at the end of life. Informal caregivers, often family or friends of patients, are responsible for working with hospice staff to provide pain management. Interdisciplinary team meetings conducted in hospices every 2 weeks provide an opportunity for hospice staff to communicate about pain management with informal caregivers of hospice patients. Purpose We present challenges, solutions, and keys strategies for carrying out a randomized trial in the hospice setting. Methods We are conducting the Assessing Caregivers for Team Intervention through Video Encounters (ACTIVE) study to determine whether regular videoconferencing between hospice patients’ informal caregivers and the hospice care team alters caregivers’ perceptions of pain management and patients’ pain. Participants must be primary caregivers for a hospice patient, at least 18 years of age, capable of providing informed consent, and have access to a computer with a high-speed Internet connection or a telephone. We randomized caregivers to participate in biweekly team meetings through video or phone conferencing (intervention) or to receive usual care from the hospice. All patients receive standard hospice care regardless of the group assignment of their informal caregiver. Results As of 1 July 2012, there have been 1038 new admissions to the participating hospices. Of 391 cases in which no contact was made, 233 patients had died or had life expectancy less than 14 days. Home visits were made to 271 interested and eligible caregivers; 249 caregivers of 233 patients were randomly assigned to the usual care or intervention arm. Enrollment is on pace to meet recruitment goals. Lessons Learned Thorough pilot testing of instruments and procedures helped us overcome barriers to conducting research in this vulnerable population. Keys to success included obtaining support from hospice medical directors, including hospice staff in study preparation, minimizing the burden on hospice staff, housing research staff in each participating hospice, using newsletters to enhance communication, developing and maintaining a detailed procedural manual, producing regular data quality reports, developing a secure site to facilitate coding videos for qualitative studies, and holding regular teleconferences with key staff. Limitations Late enrollment of many patients in hospice left little to no time for their caregivers to take part in the intervention. Assisting caregivers of patients with very short life expectancy may require different methods. Conclusions The challenges of conducting randomized trials with hospice patients and caregivers can be addressed with appropriate study design, well-tested research methods, and proactive monitoring of any issues or problems.
Endogenous Opioid-Mediated Analgesia Is Dependent on Adaptive T Cell Response in Mice

Pain is an inherent component of inflammation often accompanying immune response. A large spectrum of molecules released within the inflamed tissue induces pain by stimulating primary afferent neurons in situ. Activity of primary sensitive fibers can be counteracted by local opioid release by leukocytes. In this study, we investigated the endogenous regulation of CFA-induced inflammatory pain in the context of adaptive T cell immune response. The nociceptive response to mechanical stimuli was studied using von Frey filaments in mice immunized with OVA in CFA. The nociceptive response of nude versus wild-type mice was dramatically increased, demonstrating T cell deficiency associated with increased pain sensitivity. Based on adoptive transfer experiments of OVA-specific CD4+ T lymphocytes into nude mice, we show that Ag-specific activated, but not resting T lymphocytes are responsible for the spontaneous relief of inflammation-induced pain following Ag challenge. The analgesia was dependent on opioid release by Ag-primed CD4+ T lymphocytes at the inflammatory site. Indeed, T cell-mediated analgesia was inhibited by local injection of an opioid receptor antagonist, unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. Notably, we found opioid precursor mRNA to be >7-fold increased in Ag-specific activated CD4+ T lymphocytes, as compared with resting T lymphocytes in vivo. Taken together, our results show that CD4+ T lymphocytes acquire antinociceptive effector properties when specifically primed by Ag and point out analgesia as a property linked to the effector phase of adaptive T cell response.
Adaptation aftereffects in single neurons of cat visual cortex: Response timing is retarded by adapting

Abstract Extracellular single-unit recordings were made from simple cells in area 17 of anesthetized cats. Cells were tested with drifting gratings under control and adapted conditions. Response amplitude and phase were measured as a function of either contrast or temporal frequency. Adapting not only reduces amplitude, but also retards phase. Adaptation alters the responses of simple cells in a particular way: the onset of the response to each cycle of a sinusoidally modulated stimulus is delayed. Once cells start to respond during each cycle, however, they generally recover to control levels, and the offset of the response is unaffected by adapting. The timing aftereffects are independent of the amplitude aftereffects. Timing aftereffects are tuned around the adapting temporal frequency, with a bias toward lower temporal frequencies. Adaptation thus modifies cortical responses even more specifically then previously thought. Firing rates are depressed primarily at response onset, even after several stimulus cycles have occurred following the end of adapting. Because all cells appear to adapt in this way, the data offer an opportunity to theorize about cortical connectivity. One implication is that inhibition onto a simple cell arises from other simple cells with similar response properties that fire a half-cycle out of phase with the target cell.
Volunteering is Associated with Delayed Mortality in Older People: Analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Aging

The Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA) assessed the health and social functioning of a representative sample of 7527 American community-dwelling older people (> 70 years). We tested the hypothesis that frequent volunteering is associated with less mortality risk when the effects of socio-demographics, medical status, physical activity and social integration are controlled. We used Cox proportional hazards analyses to assess the unadjusted and adjusted associations between frequency of volunteering and time-to-death (96-month follow-up). Death occurred in 38.3 percent of the sample. After adjusting for covariates, frequent volunteers had significantly reduced mortality compared to non-volunteers. This association was greatest for those who frequently visited with friends or attended religious services.
He Paid, She Paid: Exploiting Israeli Courts' Rulings on Litigation Costs to Explore Gender Biases

This study documents gender disparities in litigation‐cost rulings in Israel. It expands on the existing literature on judicial bias in at least two important ways: by controlling for the merits of the cases and by focusing on civil litigation. The first improvement is methodological. The unique Israeli regime of litigation costs allows us to control for the merit of the cases, as well as for other typically unobservable variables, and thus to isolate and observe judicial bias. The second improvement on the existing literature on judicial bias involves focusing on outcome disparities in the civil (rather than criminal) justice system. Although numerous studies explore gender‐based disparities in the criminal justice sphere, only a very small number of studies explore such disparities in the civil arena. We found clear disparities in the allocation of litigation costs between men and women. Male plaintiffs who lost were ordered to pay the winners' legal fees more often than were losing women as sole plaintiffs or as part of all‐women plaintiff groups. Likewise, the fees women plaintiffs who lost a case were obliged to pay were less than those required of losing men, and women defendants who won cases received higher fee awards than similarly situated men.
Rise of Big Data and related issues

We are living in an era of big data - an age of huge information. Big Data incorporate endless information. Big Data is getting larger in industries and providing better business. It has changes the world in the terms of predicting customer's behaviour. Another buzz word these days is social networks and relation between two of these is very obvious yet complicated. Both Big Data and Social network are interdependent to each other as most of the data is generating from social networking sites but not all the Big Data is useful. The actual challenge of Big Data is not collecting it but managing it and making sense out of it. While working with Big Data, most crucial part is to predicting that whether it will bring more money than spent on its storage and maintenance or not. Several tools are being designed for better understanding of huge data to make better business. Researchers and practitioners are trying to look into the future of big data so that more and more benefit can be taken out of the large amount of data. Hadoop MapReduce is getting prominent in the field of Big Data. Big Data is being used in several research areas related to health-care, location based services, satellite information usage as well as online advertising and retail marketing. In coming years Internet of Things (IoT) will increase the amount of data present in the world and exponential raise in data will be noticed.
Quality of life as a construct in health and disability research.

Definitional issues that affect the measurement of quality of life (QOL) in health care research are discussed. In reviewing a broad sample of health- and disability-related QOL studies, the authors note several characteristics in which respective approaches to measurement differ: (a) In various measurement tools, QOL has been located either within the insider's (i.e., the person being measured) judgment of the 'goodness' of his or her life or outside this judgment. (b) The insider's and/or outsider's values may hold sway in deciding the elements of life that are relevant to QOL within the measurement process, and in rating the degree of 'goodness' of these life domains. (c) QOL models incorporate domains of items varying in breadth and specificity; and they take either a negative or neutral view of functioning. (d) QOL models vary in their complexity, type of linkage between components, and inclusion (or not) of both the insider's judgment and external predictors of QOL. These distinctions are used by the authors in recommending approaches to QOL measurement suitable for health care research aimed at outcome assessment and description of populations.
Children orphaned by AIDS in Uganda: Can they thrive under orphanage care?

Pflege fur verwaiste Kinder gehort zu den zentralen Herausforderungen fur von AIDS betroffene Gemeinden. Normalerweise werden verwaiste Kinder von Grosfamilien betreut; alternative Wohnformen umfassen aber auch Kinderheime und von Kindern gefuhrte Haushalte. Diese Studie konzentriert sich auf die Waisenversorgung um (1) Bewaltigungsstrategien von verwaisten Kindern im Umgang mit verschiedenen Herausforderungen zu identifizieren und (2) um den Beitrag von Kinderheimen auf das Wohlbefinden verwaister Kinder zu erforschen. Dazu wurden zwolf Kinder, welche in einem extern finanzierten, familienahnlichen Kinderheim leben, die Mitarbeiter aus dieser Einrichtung und Mitarbeiter von zwei weiteren Organisationen fur Waisenkinder (sechs insgesamt) befragt. Die Herausforderungen mit denen die Kinder konfrontiert sind beinhalten Trauer uber den Verlust der Eltern, Sehnsucht nach Verwandten und Stigmatisierungsprozesse von HIV-positiven Kindern. Die Kinder bewaltigten ihre Lage durch Glauben, durch Schliesen von Freundschaften, durch Vermeidung und ignorieren. Die Grundbedurfnisse der Kinder wurden durch das Waisenhaus gut versorgt, dennoch zeigen sich in der psychosozialen Unterstutzung Defizite. Bei mehreren Kindern fehlten Kontakte zu Verwandten.
Direct Evidence of in Vivo Nitric Oxide Production and Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase mRNA Expression in the Brain of Living Rat during Experimental Meningitis

To detect endogenous nitric oxide (NO) produced in a rat bacterial meningitis model, the authors applied an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) NO-trapping technique. Iron complex with N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate were used as a trapping agent. Experimental meningitis was induced by a mixture of lipopolysaccharide and interferon-γ. Sequential changes of NO formation under meningitis were observed in rat brain tissue by using X-band (9 GHz) EPR spectroscopy, and endogenous NO was detected in the head of a living rat with a 700-MHz EPR system. Inducible NO synthase mRNA expression in the brain tissues also was proven by using a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction technique.
Messaging without a Message: Executive Value and Social Media Activity

We show that executives who start tweeting benefit from better career options. We motivate this finding using the well-established theory of limited attention. Consistent with this explanation, we find that content is irrelevant. Comparative statics are also consistent with our framework. In particular, the effect of Twitter is greater for executives who were largely unrecognized and who were underpaid before they started tweeting, who garner greater public attention from their social media activity, who enjoy higher professional mobility, and who operate in environments where compensation setting is less structured.
Characteristics Transformation of Humic Acid During Ozonation and Biofiltration Treatment Processes

Characteristics transformation of humic acid extracted from natural water during the ozonation and biofiltration treatment processes was investigated based on the analyses of total organic carbon, UV absorbance, infrared spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography. With ozone doses of 1, 4, and 7 mg/L, high‐molecular‐weight humic acid was cleaved into low‐molecular‐weight particles and accumulated at group 6 (molecular weight ≤4000 g/mole) on the Sephadex G‐75 (Pharmacia Fine Chemicals, Uppsala, Sweden) fraction. Furthermore, the molecular‐size distribution of organic compounds by Sephadex G‐25 was shifted from groups 2 (molecular weight = 4000 to 400 g/mole) and 3 (molecular weight = 400 to 180 g/mole) to groups 2, 3, and 4 (molecular weight ≤180 g/mole) under ozone doses of 1 and 4 mg/L. An increased ozone dose destroyed functional groups C = C and C‐O of aromatic and phenolic compounds and increased UV‐insensitive biodegradable organic carbon for subsequent biofiltration.
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: a review of the neuroimaging features and differential diagnosis

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is an uncommon and often fatal demyelinating disease of human central nervous system, which is caused by reactivation of the polyomavirus JC (JCV). PML generally occurs in patients with profound immunosuppression such as AIDS patients. Recently, a number of PML cases have been associated with administration of natalizumab for treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Diagnosis and management of PML became a major concern after its occurrence in multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab. Diagnosis of PML usually rests on neuroimaging in the appropriate clinical context and is further confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for JCV DNA. Treatment with antiretroviral therapies in HIV‐seropositive patients or discontinuing natalizumab in MS patients with PML may lead to the development of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) which presents with deterioration of the previous symptoms and may lead to death. In patients under treatment with monoclonal antibodies in routine practice, or new ones in ongoing clinical trials, differentiating PML from new MS lesions on brain MRI is critical for both the neurologists and neuroradiologists. In this review, we discuss the clinical features, neuroimaging manifestations of PML, IRIS and neuroimaging clues to differentiate new MS lesions from PML. In addition, various neuroimaging features of PML on the non‐conventional MR techniques such as diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and MR spectroscopy (MRS) are discussed.
Role of food-derived antioxidant agents against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity

Abstract Context Acetaminophen (APAP), also known as paracetamol and N-acetyl p-aminophenol, is one of the most frequently used drugs for analgesic and antipyretic purposes on a worldwide basis. It is safe and effective at recommended doses but has the potential for causing hepatotoxicity and acute liver failure (ALF) with overdose. To solve this problem, different strategies have been developed, including the use of compounds isolated from food, which have been studied to characterize their efficacy as natural dietary antioxidants. Objective The objective of this study is to show the beneficial effects of a variety of natural compounds and their use against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity. Methods PubMed database was reviewed to compile data about natural compounds with hepatoprotective effects against APAP toxicity. Results and conclusion As a result, the health-promoting properties of 13 different food-derived compounds with protective effect against APAP-induced hepatotoxicity were described as well as the mechanisms involved in hepatoprotection.
Predictive factors of ictal SPECT findings in paediatric patients with focal cortical dysplasia

AimsTo identify variables that influence the extent of ictal single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) findings in paediatric patients with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). MethodsWe visually evaluated 98 ictal SPECT studies from 67 children treated surgically for intractable epilepsy caused by FCD. SPECT findings were classified as “non-localised”, “well-localised”, and “extensive” and compared with parameters of injected seizures (seizure type and duration, injection time, and scalp EEG ictal pattern), presence of structural pathology on MRI, type of surgery performed after SPECT study, and histological findings.ResultsA shorter injection time and duration of injected seizure was associated with more localised SPECT hyperperfusion. SPECT findings were not significantly influenced by type of injected seizure. Widespread ictal scalp EEG patterns were associated with extensive SPECT findings. Larger zones of hyperperfusion were more common in patients with lesional MRI and patients undergoing multilobar resections. SPECT studies demonstrating good localisation were more common in patients with mild malformations of cortical development.ConclusionEarly ictal SPECT radiotracer injection is crucial for successful localisation of the epileptogenic zone. Seizure duration, type of scalp EEG findings, and presence of structural pathology on MRI may influence the extent of ictal SPECT hyperperfusion, which was associated with certain types of epilepsy surgery aswell as histopathological findings.
Morbidity and mortality in HIV-exposed under-five children in a rural Malawi setting: a cohort study

Paediatric HIV infection significantly contributes to child morbidity and mortality in southern Africa. In Malawi as in most countries in the region, care of HIV‐exposed children is constrained by the lack of area‐specific information on their risk to dying and morbidity. This research estimates and compares morbidity and mortality events between HIV‐exposed and ‐unexposed under‐five children in a rural Malawian setting.
Introducing a large dataset of Persian license plate characters

Abstract. A large dataset of Persian license plate characters is introduced. These extracted characters are provided by Bani Nick Pardazesh Company, which is a pioneer in the intelligent transportation systems field, and its license plate recognition system has been used for many applications in Iran. Natural scene vehicle images delivered from this company were in various conditions. Most of them were taken with visible light during day and a few of them by infrared light with 850 nm wavelength during night. The vehicle images were achieved by color, black and white, or infrared cameras from front view and back view of automobiles in ∼20 different indoor and outdoor locations, such as streets, roads, and parking lots, for different purposes, such as traffic control, issuing fines, etc. The images are different in size and angle and were taken in light and dark backgrounds, where the direction and intensity of the light varied. Also, some of the license plates were muddy and had parts that were shadowed. Out of all the available images, ∼20,145 Persian characters were extracted by an intelligent system and verified by human observers. The extracted images are different in size, and some of them suffer from elimination, distortion, rotation, and noise.