Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Declining health anxiety throughout medical studies: It is mainly about a more relaxed perception of the health-related concerns

Background: Reports on effects of advancing medical education on health anxiety are scarce and contradictory. Aim: To evaluate a hypothesis that its components could be differently affected. Method: A cross-sectional study assessed the Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ), Anxious Thoughts Inventory, and Somatosensory Amplification Scale scores in medical (n = 214) and law (controls, n = 821) students at different study years. Results: In the controls, all outcomes minimally differed across the study-year levels. Medical scores were similar to control scores at the lower and intermediate level and were significantly lower at higher study years. However, health worry, fear, and reassurance seeking only differed mildly between the medical study levels (adjusted effect sizes ≤0.23), whereas tendency toward amplification, meta-worry, social worry, and the HAQ interference with life score were significantly lower at higher than at the lower years (adjusted effect sizes 0.31–0.47). In the medical students, the HAQ interference with life score was affected mainly by the level of meta-worry, whereas in controls the major impact was that of health-related concerns. Conclusions: Studying medicine does not seem to relevantly affect the level of health-related concerns, but the degree by which they are perceived as disruptive declines as a specific function of advancing stages of education. This is closely related to progressively declining tendency toward amplification and levels of meta-worry.
Kinetics of adsorption, desorption, and re‐adsorption of a commercial endoglucanase in lignocellulosic suspensions

This study conducted quantitative kinetic modeling and in situ and temporally resolved measurements of adsorption, desorption, and re‐adsorption of a commercial endoglucanase in lignocellulosic suspensions. The study defined a cellulase adsorption and desorption competition parameter, a pseudo rate of binding and desorption, binding and desorption capacity, as well as cellulase‐binding reversibility (a thermodynamic property) and recyclability (a engineering parameter). The results indicate that both substrate chemical and physical structures play important roles in cellulase binding and desorption. Binding of a commercial cellulase onto a cellulosic substrate was reversible. Bindings to two different lignocellulosic substrates were almost irreversible. While lignin and its structure positively affect binding capacity to substrate, they negatively affect cellulase recyclability. Collapsing of substrate pores reduced cellulose accessibility and cellulase‐binding capacity and increased reversibility and recyclability. Increasing temperature and pH increase cellulase desorption and increased binding reversibility and capacity. This study lays the foundation for developing effective cellulase recycling strategies. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109:1965–1975. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Unified Scaling Theory for Local and Non-local Transfers in Generalized Two-dimensional Turbulence

The enstrophy inertial range of a family of two-dimensional turbulent flows, so-called α-turbulence, is investigated theoretically and numerically. Introducing the large-scale correction into Kraichnan–Leith–Batchelor theory, we derive a unified form of the enstrophy spectrum for the local and non-local transfers in the enstrophy inertial range of α-turbulence. An asymptotic scaling behavior of the derived enstrophy spectrum precisely explains the transition between the local and non-local transfers at α= 2 observed in the recent numerical studies by Pierrehumbert et al. [Chaos, Solitons & Fractals 4 (1994) 1111] and Schorghofer [Phys. Rev. E 61 (2000) 6572]. This behavior is comprehensively tested by performing direct numerical simulations of α-turbulence. It is also numerically examined the validity of the phenomenological expression of the enstrophy transfer flux responsible for the derivation of the transition of scaling behavior. Furthermore, it is found that the physical space structure for the loca.
Smacking--are we being too heavy-handed? Findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study.

AIMS To report the types, frequency, and concordance of physical punishments employed by parents on their Pacific children at ages 1, 2, and 4 years. METHODS A cohort of Pacific infants born during 2000 in South Auckland, New Zealand, was followed. Separate home interviews that included questions about child discipline were undertaken at 1-year, 2-years, and 4-years postpartum for mothers, and 1-year and 2-years postpartum for fathers. RESULTS Maternal interviews were completed from 1224, 1144, and 1048 mothers and 825 and 757 fathers respectively. Over these measurement waves, the prevalence of smacking was 21.5%, 52.0%, and 77.1% for mothers and 24.4% and 78.4% for fathers, while the prevalence of hitting with an object (such as a spoon or belt) was 0.2%, 6.6%, and 24.3% for mothers and 1.3% and 13.2% for fathers. There was poor statistical agreement in physical punishment administered between mothers and fathers, and significant asymmetry with fathers more likely to employ harsher punishment than mothers. CONCLUSIONS Smacking is a widespread form of discipline administered to Pacific children, and hitting with objects is common. If the use of objects constitutes a consequential assault in the newly ratified Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 then many parents within this cohort are in breach of this law. We believe that guidelines for corporal punishment which is legally acceptable needs to be made explicit to all, and widespread culturally sensitive efforts to teach parents positive parent management strategies is urgently required.
Hyperthermia inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis: Relative signaling status of P53, S100A4, and Notch in heat sensitive and resistant cell lines

The effects of hyperthermia on the expression of p53, the apoptosis‐associated genes Bax and Bcl‐2, Notch and S100A4 have been studied in the HepG2 cell line and the HUT cell line derived from HepG2, adapted for growth in hyperthermic conditions. Hyperthermia inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis. HepG2 and HUT cells differed in respect of anchorage to growth surface, degree of proliferation and apoptosis and expression of p53, Bax, Bcl‐2, Notch, and S100A4 genes. The induction of apoptosis and the inhibition of cell proliferation occurred independently of p53, and independently also of involvement of the apoptosis family genes Bax and Bcl‐2. We demonstrate novel and marked differences between transient heat shock and heat adaptation in respect of pathways of signaling and generation of phenotypic effects in vitro. Different signaling patterns have been identified here. Pathways of signaling by S100A4, by its interaction with and sequestration of p53, and by Notch also seem differentially operational in the induction of apoptosis, and both appear to be activated as alternative pathways in the context of hyperthermia signaling independently of p53. J. Cell. Biochem. 103: 212–220, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Paronychia induced by the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor cetuximab

While the development of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors has been hailed as a remarkable triumph in the field of oncology, it has inherited with it a host of cutaneous side-effects that have been increasingly observed in a substantial number of patients in the recent years. One cutaneous manifestation that may inflict significant pain and affect activities of daily living among some of the patients receiving epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors is paronychia. A case of paronychia associated with the use of cetuximab in the management of KRAS wild-type midrectal adenocarcinoma along with its management has been described.
West Nile virus and dengue virus capsid protein negates the antiviral activity of human Sec3 protein through the proteasome pathway

Flavivirus capsid (C) protein is a key structural component of virus particles. The non‐structural role of C protein in the pathogenesis of arthropod‐borne flaviviruses is not clearly deciphered. This study showed that West Nile virus (WNV) and dengue virus (DENV) utilized C protein to reduce human Sec3p (hSec3p) levels at post‐transcriptional level through activation of chymotrypsin‐like proteolytic function of 20S proteasome. Mutagenesis studies confirmed amino acids 14, 109–114 of WNV C protein and 13, 102–107 of DENV C protein played an important role in activating the proteolytic function of 20S proteasome. Amino acid residues at 14 (WNV) and 13 (DENV) of C protein were important for C protein‐hSec3p binding and physical interaction between C protein and hSec3p was essential to execute hSec3p degradation. Degradation motif required to degrade hSec3p resided between amino acid residues 109–114 of WNV C protein and 102–107 of DENV C protein. Proteasomes, hSec3p binding motif and degradation motif on C protein must be intact for efficient flavivirus production. Clinical isolates of DENV showed more pronounced effect in manipulating the proteasomes and reducing hSec3p levels. This study portrayed the non‐structural function of C protein that helped the flavivirus to nullify the antiviral activity of hSec3p by accelerating its degradation and facilitating efficient binding of elongation factor 1α with flaviviral RNA genome.
Projections from the cochlear nucleus to the superior paraolivary nucleus in guinea pigs

Axonal tracing techniques were used to study the projection from the cochlear nucleus to the superior paraolivary nucleus in guinea pigs. Different tracers were used to identify the cell types that give rise to the projections, the morphology of their axons, and the cell types that they contact in the superior paraolivary nucleus. Injections of Fluoro‐Gold or peroxidase‐labeled WGA and HRP into the superior paraolivary nucleus labeled multipolar cells and octopus cells bilaterally in the ventral cochlear nucleus, mainly on the contralateral side. Injections of PHAL into the ventral cochlear nucleus labeled two types of axons in the superior paraolivary nucleus. Thin axons branch infrequently and give rise primarily to small, en passant boutons. Thick axons have larger boutons, many of which are terminal boutons that arise from short collaterals. Thin axons appear to originate from multipolar cells, whereas thick axons probably originate from octopus cells. Both types are found bilaterally after an injection into the ventral cochlear nucleus on one side. Individual thick or thin axons may contact multiple cell types in the superior paraolivary nucleus. Individual cells in the superior paraolivary nucleus can receive convergent input from both thick and thin axons. Combined anterograde and retrograde transport of different fluorescent tracers was used to identify the projections of the cells in the superior paraolivary nucleus that receive inputs from the ventral cochlear nucleus. Cells in the superior paraolivary nucleus that projected to the ipsilateral cochlear nucleus or to the ipsilateral inferior colliculus appeared to be contacted by axons that were labeled by anterograde transport from the contralateral ventral cochlear nucleus. Thus the projections to the superior paraolivary nucleus are in a position to affect the activity in both ascending and descending auditory pathways. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sterilization of endoscopic instruments

Purpose of review Sterilization of endoscopic instruments is an important but often ignored topic. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature on the sterilization of endoscopic instruments and elaborate on the appropriate sterilization practices. Recent finding Autoclaving is an economic and excellent method of sterilizing the instruments that are not heat sensitive. Heat sensitive instruments may get damaged with hot sterilization methods. Several new endoscopic instruments such as flexible ureteroscopes, chip on tip endoscopes, are added in urologists armamentarium. Many of these instruments are heat sensitive and hence alternative efficacious methods of sterilization are necessary. Although ethylene oxide and hydrogen peroxide are excellent methods of sterilization, they have some drawbacks. Gamma irradiation is mainly for disposable items. Various chemical agents are widely used even though they achieve high-level disinfection rather than sterilization. This article reviews various methods of endoscopic instrument sterilization with their advantages and drawbacks. Summary If appropriate sterilization methods are adopted, then it not only will protect patients from procedure-related infections but prevent hypersensitive allergic reactions. It will also protect instruments from damage and increase its longevity.
Large Scale Image Categorization in Sparse Nonparametric Bayesian Representation

There are two main contributions in this paper: (1) A new hierarchical sparse coding algorithm is proposed, which combines hard and soft assignment coding in a fully unsupervised manner for image categorization. Hard coding assigns data into independent cluster globally to enable local dictionary learning to be learned by soft coding. The new coding algorithm is characterized by better fitting of data, more discriminative global clustering, low computational complexity and convergence speed up. (2) We utilize variational inference optimization on large data to solve regularized and optimization problem in the proposed hard soft sparse coding algorithm. Different from other convex optimization algorithm for sparse coding, the proposed algorithm has no limitation or preference on the data with proper prior estimation. In our experiments, we tested MIT 8 scene categories data-set and achieved a 10% improvement on the best existing algorithm with faster convergence rate.
Specific Gravity and Particle Size of Passage Marker

According to Van Soest’s “Hotel Theory” feed particles in rumen compete on retention for digestion or passage (Van Soest, 1994). Ruminants consuming forage diets need to balance the advantages of rapid transit of digesta through the gut to maintain high feed intake, against allowing sufficient time for fermentation by rumen microbes of fiber to maximize the digestion and yield of energy. In order to predict the quantitative importance of rumen digestion on fiber, information is needed on the flow rate of feed particles from rumen. The Kp can be measured by tagging the feed with various indigestible markers. An ideal marker should: 1) be inert without toxic physiological effects on the animal or microflora, 2) not be absorbed or metabolized within the gastrointestinal tract, 3) not influence gastrointestinal secretion, digestion, absorption, or motility, 4) have physiochemical properties that allow for precise, quantitative analysis, and it must not interfere with other analyses and finally and 5) flow parallel with or be physically similar to or intimately associated with the material it is to mark. Rare earth-labeled particles and chromium (Cr)This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of specific gravity (SG) and particle size (PS) of Chromium-mordanated alfalfa neutral detergent fiber (NDF) markers on estimation of particulate rumen turnover. Thirty-two multiparous, mid lactation Holstein dairy cows (body weight=654±24 kg) were allotted to a completely randomized design experiment with two replications in a 4×4 factorial method. The experiment was accomplished over 21 d (adaptation, 14 d; sample collection, 7 d). Cows were ad libitum fed twice daily at 09:00 and 21:00 with similar total mixed rations. To prepare the marker, alfalfa in the individual bales was chopped for theoretical cut length 19, 10 and 5 mm. The fine alfalfa was prepared by grinding the 5 mm cut alfalfa through a 2 mm screen. The marker preparation followed a modified procedure of Uden et al. (1980) by different PS (8.45, 4.38, 3.00 and 1.10 mm) and K2Cr2O7 concentration in mordanting solution (50, 300, 500 and 900 g/kg K2Cr2O7 instead of 300 g/kg). Fecal grab samples were taken at 0, 6, 12, 16, 20, 24, 30, 36, 48, 60, 72, 96, 120 and 144 h after dosing. Reduction of PS and enhancement of K2Cr2O7 concentration increased SG of marker, ruminal passage rate, but decreased ruminal mean retention time, time delay and total mean retention time. The coefficient of correlation between SG and PS of marker, ruminal passage rate, time delay and ruminal mean retention time were -0.62, -0.70 and 0.65; 0.45, 0.75 and 0.12, respectively. The SG of themarker was the most influential factor affecting ruminal passage rate and mean retention time.
Distribution of actinomycetes in near-shore tropical marine sediments

Actinomycetes were isolated from near-shore marine sediments collected at 15 island locations throughout the Bahamas. A total of 289 actinomycete colonies were observed, and all but 6 could be assigned to the suprageneric groups actinoplanetes and streptomycetes. A bimodal distribution in the actinomycete population in relation to depth was recorded, with the maximum numbers occurring in the shallow and deep sampling sites. This distribution can be accounted for by a rapid decrease in streptomycetes and an increase in actinoplanetes with increasing depth and does not conform to the theory that actinomycetes isolated from marine sources are of terrestrial origin. Sixty-three of the isolated actinomycetes were tested for the effects of seawater on growth. Streptomycete growth in nonsaline media was reduced by 39% compared with that in seawater. The actinoplanetes had a near obligate requirement of seawater for growth, and this is presented as evidence that actinomycetes can be physiologically active in the marine environment. Problems encountered with the enumeration of actinomycetes in marine sediments are also discussed.
Treatment Outcome of Combined Continuous Venovenous Hemofiltration and Hemoperfusion in Acute Paraquat Poisoning: A Prospective Controlled Trial

Objectives: To investigate whether combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion among paraquat-poisoned patients would improve survival. Design: Prospective, controlled interventional study over 4 years. Setting: Single, tertiary, academic medical center. Patients: We recruited patients admitted to Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital within 48 hours after paraquat ingestion. Exclusions were under 14 years old, ingestion of paraquat with other toxicants, pregnant, a history of chronic pulmonary disease, psychosis, hyperthyroidism, or diabetes with impaired liver or renal function. Interventions: All patients were assigned to receive continuous venovenous hemofiltration with hemoperfusion therapy (continuous venovenous hemofiltration group) and to receive conventional therapy (conventional group). The study outcomes were death from any cause within 90 days after paraquat ingestion and the frequencies of hypoxia, acute kidney injury, or adverse events. Measurements and Main Results: Of the 110 enrolled patients, 59 were assigned to continuous venovenous hemofiltration group and 51 to conventional group. The two groups had similar baseline demographics and clinical features. At 90 days after paraquat ingestion, 19 of 59 patients (32.2%) in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group and 29 of 51 patients (56.9%) in the conventional group had died (hazard ratio, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.24–0.76; p = 0.004). In multivariable Cox proportional hazard models controlling for baseline characteristics, combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion was independently associated with reduced risk of death compared with conventional therapy (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.19–0.64; p = 0.001). Patients in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group, as compared to the conventional group, had a reduced occurrence rate of hypoxia (40.7% vs 72.5%; p = 0.001) and of acute kidney injury (59.3% vs 78.4%; p = 0.03). Hypophosphatemia and thrombocytopenia were more common in the continuous venovenous hemofiltration group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: In patients with paraquat poisoning, treatment with combined continuous venovenous hemofiltration and hemoperfusion significantly improved 90-day survival rates.
An Evaluation of Open Airways for Schools: Using College Students as Instructors

Fifteen years ago, Open Airways for Schools (OAS) was found to be an effective asthma education program for elementary school children when taught by professionals. To determine whether OAS is effective when taught by college students and whether it could withstand potential cohort effects, 54 inner-city fourth and fifth graders were taught OAS. Paired t-tests revealed that OAS improved asthma knowledge, self-efficacy, self-management skills, social support, and perception of well-being (p < 0.05). Fifteen years later, OAS continues to improve children's self-management skills. Facilitators with little prior experience who received brief training in asthma knowledge and group leadership skills can effectively teach OAS.
Space–Time Trellis Codes for Two-Way Relay MIMO Channels With Single-Antenna Relay Nodes

In this paper, the analysis and design of space-time trellis codes (STTCs) for two-way relay channels (TWRCs) with multiantenna source and destination and single-antenna relay nodes, assuming perfect channel state information (CSI) at the destination nodes, is considered. We derive a pairwise error probability (PEP) expression for the performance of STTCs in this type of channels. A simple upper bound on the PEP is then derived and used to find optimum STTCs. We prove that the designed STTCs based on the derived criterion achieve full diversity and significant coding gain in TWRCs, particularly at high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs).
The hospice movement: An oncologist's viewpoint

In this broad survey, we have touched on the recent creation of special facilities for patients with advanced cancer and their relevance to the overall program of cancer control. Also discussed were a number of ethical dilemmas arising from our efforts to provide improved care for the social and emotional problems afflicting our patients. When all is said and done, however, all our efforts are designed to alleviate human suffering. There may not be such a large gap between basic cancer research, medical oncology, and the hospice movement as has sometimes been perceived.