Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing adherence to evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and management of uncomplicated urinary tract infection.

OBJECTIVE To assess adherence to evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and management of uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) in a family medicine residency clinic setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of female patients seen in 2005 at the Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Center in Scottsdale, Ariz, who were identified by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code 599.0 (UTI). We assessed documentation rates, use of diagnostic studies, and antibiotic treatments. Antibiotic sensitivity patterns from outpatient urine culture and sensitivity analyses were determined. RESULTS Of 228 patients, 68 (30%) had uncomplicated UTI. Our physicians recorded essential history and examination findings for most patients. Documentation of the risk of sexually transmitted disease differed between residents and attending physicians and was affected by patient age. Urine dipstick and urine culture and sensitivity analyses were ordered in 57 (84%) and 52 (76%) patients, respectively. Eighty percent of patients with positive results on urine dipstick analyses also had urine culture and sensitivity analyses. Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SMX-TMP) was used as initial therapy in 26 patients (38%). Sixty-one percent of SMX-TMP and ciprofloxacin prescriptions were appropriately provided for 3 days. Escherichia coil was sensitive to SMX-TMP in 33 (94%) of 35 cultures. Treatment was not changed in any patient with an uncomplicated UTI because of results of urine culture and sensitivity analyses. Antibiotic sensitivity patterns for outpatients were significantly different from those for inpatients. CONCLUSION Only 30% of our patients had uncomplicated UTI, making their management within clinical guidelines appropriate. However, of those patients with uncomplicated UTI, less than 25% received empirical treatment as suggested. Urine culture and sensitivity analyses were performed frequently, even in patients who already had positive results on a urine dip-stick analysis. Although SMX-TMP is effective, it is underused. On the basis of these findings, we hope to provide interventions to increase SMX-TMP prescription, decrease use of urine culture and sensitivity analyses, and increase the frequency of 3-day antibiotic treatments at our institution.
A Comprehensive Comparison of Open-Bay and Single-Family-Room Neonatal Intensive Care Units at Sanford Children's Hospital

Objective: This paper summarizes the results of a comprehensive comparison of open-bay (OPBY) and single-family-room (SFR) neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) designs. Background: The NICU expanded from 7000 ft2 in two large rooms to 27,000 ft2 with 45 individual family spaces. Results: Sound measurements indicated a significant reduction in the unoccupied SFR to less than half of the levels in the OPBY NICU. However, respiratory support equipment generated levels well above those of the ambient environment. Illumination was significantly reduced in the SFR. Ambient illumination in nursing work areas was less than recommended. In other comparisons with the OPBY NICU the SFR NICU was shown to have: a shorter interval until full enteric feedings were established; improved parent satisfaction; improved staff perceptions of the environment and care; a decrease in nurses State-Trait Anxiety scores; an increased need for total numbers of staff and nursing staff per shift; increased walking per shift by nurses and nurse practitioners; and improved sleep time in a very small sample of patients. Analysis of the cost of construction showed comparable cost per ft2; however, the cost per bed in the SFR NICU was much greater because of the increased area of this facility. Highly notable findings of this investigation included the same incidence of adverse outcomes of care and a reduction in the adjusted direct cost of care in the SFR NICU. Conclusion: These data overwhelmingly support the SFR NICU in preference to the traditional OPBY facility. They substantiate that the SFR NICU should be the new standard for NICU care.
The Human Microbiome Project strategy for comprehensive sampling of the human microbiome and why it matters

The Human Microbiome Project used rigorous good clinical practice standards to complete comprehensive body site sampling in healthy 18‐ to 40‐yr‐old adults, creating an unparalleled reference set of microbiome specimens. To ensure that specimens represented minimally perturbed microbiomes, we first screened potential participants using exclusion criteria based on health history, including the presence of systemic diseases (e.g., hypertension, cancer, or immunodeficiency or autoimmune disorders), use of potential immunomodulators, and recent use of antibiotics or probiotics. Subsequent physical examinations excluded individuals based on body mass index (BMI), cutaneous lesions, and oral health. We screened 554 individuals to enroll 300 (149 men and 151 women, mean age 26 yr, mean BMI 24 kg/m2, 20.0% racial minority, and 10.7% Hispanic). We obtained specimens from the oral cavity, nares, skin, gastrointestinal tract, and vagina (15 specimens from men and 18 from women). The study evaluated longitudinal changes in an individual's microbiome by sampling 279 participants twice (mean 212 d after the first sampling; range 30‐359 d) and 100 individuals 3 times (mean 72 d after the second sampling; range 30‐224 d). This sampling strategy yielded 11,174 primary specimens, from which 12,479 DNA samples were submitted to 4 centers for metagenomic sequencing. Our clinical design and well‐defined reference cohort has laid a foundation for microbiome research. —Aagaard, K. , Petrosino, J., Keitel, W. , Watson, M. , Katancik, J., Garcia, N. , Patel, S. , Cutting, M. , Madden, T. , Hamilton, H. , Harris, E. , Gevers, D. , Simone, G. , McInnes, P., Versalovic, J. The Human Microbiome Project strategy for comprehensive sampling of the human microbiome and why it matters. FASEB J. 27, 1012–1022 (2013). www.fasebj. org
Effects of Subliminal Anchors upon Judgments of Size

The origins of laboratory studies of the effects of subliminal stimulation appear to be almost coincident with the development of experimental psychology itself. The fact thar research in this area continues uninterrupted attests to the conviction of psychologists that stimuli of which 0 is not aware may, and often do, affect his behavior. Even so, Adarns, in a comprehensive review of laboratory findings, concluded that the only kind of data which can easily be replicated are demonstrated in . "Experiments in which the subject knows the specific nature of the cue, but is not aware of the usual sensory qualities nor of the fact chat he is succeeding in discriminating" ( 1, p. 385). But in chis type of study there is a major problem in the definition of the threshold of the stimulus or cue. It is usually defined operarionally in terms of the limiting conditions of stimulus presentation necessary to evoke a particular response. The response chosen is always one which is a directly communicable indication of recognition of the particular sensory input. Too often the threshold is defined very narrowly in terms of the limiting conditions for the occurrence of one particular response rather than for awareness of the stimulus, and this response is presumed to correlate exactly with stimulus discrimination. Whenever 0 is "aware" of any aspect of a stimulus, one is never safe in assuming that his responses to it are not based on its consciously perceptible properties (even rhough 0s repeatedly assert that such is not rhe case). The study by Pierce and Jastrow ( 11) cited by Adams ( 1, p. 385) as a classical example of the type of experiment which consistently produces positive results, is a case in point. A small weight was applied to the top of 0's finger, and, upon a signal from him, was increased or decreased a slight amount, 0 being required to judge the direction of change. Even though 0s reported that their judgments were made with zero confidence, they were correct significantly beyond chance expectancy. It should be noted that the stimuli to which 0s responded were not szbblimiml. Only the changes in stimulus-intensity were subliminal with reference to the threshold for verbal statements of confidence. They were obviously not consistently below the critical cutaneous difference limen as defrned by 0s' judgments of change Since forced-choiced discrimination thresholds are demonsrrably below absolute yes-no discrimination thresholds (3), and 0s were aware of the presence of the stimuli being judged, the assumption of a subliminal
Metabolism of Glycine in the Nonketotic Form of Hyperglycinemia

Extract: Hyperglycinemia is a disorder of amino acid metabolism characterized by the presence of increased concentrations of glycine in the blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid. It is now recognized that there are two forms of hyperglycinemia each representing distinct diseases. These studies were designed to assess the metabolism of glycine in the nonketotic form of hyperglycinemia. Isotope content was assessed in respiratory CO2 and in glycine, serine and the β carbon of serine of plasma after the separate intravenous injections of glycine-I-14C and glycine-2-14C.The specific activities of 14CO2 isolated from expired air after the injection of glycine-1-14C (fig. 2) declined in control subjects from peak values at 10 to 15 minutes in nearly linear fashion over a 2-hour period. In contrast, curves obtained in the patients were rather flat, rising slowly after injection to highest values at about 60 minutes. At 15 minutes, values for the control individuals exceeded those of the patients by a factor of 5− to 10-fold. These data indicate a defect in the formation of 14CO2 from the first carbon of glycine. When the control subjects were infused with nonisotopic glycine to produce pools comparable to those found in the patient, the specific activities of the serine isolated from plasma after the injection of glycine-1-14C (table II) were virtually the same in both groups. The rate of conversion of glycine-2-14C to serine (fig. 3) in the patients was, however, considerably slower than it was in the control subjects for at least the first 30 minutes, and the curves were flat throughout. Degradation of the serine isolated from plasma and precipitation of the β carbon as formaldemethone indicated that the incorporation of the α carbon of glycine into the β carbon of serine was much higher in the controls than in the patients (fig. 4). The curves for the patients approximated the abscissa indicating virtually no conversion.These data indicate that in nonketotic hyperglycinemia there is a defect in the oxidation of carbon 1 of glycine to CO2 and in the conversion of carbon 2 of glycine to carbon 3 of serine. This is consistent with a defect in an enzyme catalyzing the transformation of glycine to CO2, NH3 and hydroxymethyltetrahydrofolate.Speculation: The data obtained indicate that patients with nonketotic hyperglycinemia are unable in vivo to convert the first carbon of glycine directly to CO2 and the second carbon of glycine to the third carbon of serine. This is consistent with a genetic defect in an enzyme which catalyzes decarboxylation and formation of hydroxymethyltetrahydrofolate from glycine. It should be possible to document such a defect at a cellular and subcellular level.
Practical approach for characterization of glucose 6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in countries with population ethnically heterogeneous: Description of seven new G6PD mutants

We present a rapid strategy based on Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis to characterize the more frequent glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) variants observed in a population with high gene flow. During a study involving more than 600 patients, we observed mainly G6PD A(-) (c.202G>A, c.376A>G; p.Val68Met, p.Asn126Asp), G6PD Mediterranean (Med) (c.563C>T, p.Ser188Phe), and G6PD Betica (c.376A>G, 542A>T; p.126Asn>Asp, 181Asp>Val) with addition of a few rare ones. A number of 10 abnormalities amounted to 92% of all the molecular defects. In addition, seven new mutations were found: three presented with acute hemolytic anemia following oxidative stress [G6PD Nice (c.1380G>C, p.Glu460Asp), G6PD Roubaix (c.811G>C, p.Val271Leu), and G6PD Toledo (c.496C>T, p.Arg166Cys)], three with different degrees of chronic hemolytic anemia [G6PD Lille (c.821A>T, p.Glu274Val), G6PD Villeurbanne (c.1000_1002delACC, p.Thr334del), and G6PD Amiens (c.1367A>T, p.Asp456Val)] and one found fortuitously G6PD Montpellier (c.1132G>A, p.Gly378Ser).
Interdependence of Calcium Signaling and Protein Tyrosine Phosphorylation in Human Endothelial Cells (*)

The signal transduction cascade which initiates transmembraneous influx of Ca into endothelial cells in response to the discharge of intracellular Ca stores is thought to involve a step sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibition. We investigated the interrelationship between Ca signaling and protein tyrosine phosphorylation following cell stimulation with either the receptor-dependent agonist, bradykinin, or the protein-tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, phenylarsine oxide. In cultured human endothelial cells phenylarsine oxide instigated a concentration-dependent increase in the intracellular concentration of free Ca ([Ca]). This increase in [Ca] was not associated with the tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase C, enhanced formation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, or the rapid depletion of intracellularly stored Ca but was coincident with the enhanced and prolonged tyrosine phosphorylation of a number of cytoskeletal proteins. In bradykinin-stimulated cells the tyrosine phosphorylation of the same cytoskeletal proteins (most notably 85- and 100-kDa proteins) was transient when cells were stimulated in the presence of extracellular Ca, was maintained under Ca-free conditions, and was reversed following readdition of extracellular Ca. These data suggest that the tyrosine phosphorylation of 2 cytoskeletal proteins is determined by the level of Ca present in intracellular stores thus indicating a critical role for tyrosine phosphorylation in the control of capacitative Ca entry in endothelial cells.
Mechanisms of Statin-mediated Inhibition of Small G-protein Function*

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) have been reported to reduce the risk of Alzheimer disease. We have shown previously that statins inhibit a β-amyloid (Aβ)-mediated inflammatory response through mechanisms independent of cholesterol reduction. Specifically, statins exert anti-inflammatory actions through their ability to prevent the isoprenylation of members of the Rho family of small G-proteins, resulting in the functional inactivation of these G-proteins. We report that statin treatment of microglia results in perturbation of the cytoskeleton and morphological changes due to alteration in Rho family function. Statins also block Aβ-stimulated phagocytosis through inhibition of Rac action. Paradoxically, the statin-mediated inactivation of G-protein function was associated with increased GTP loading of Rac and RhoA, and this effect was observed in myeloid lineage cells and other cell types. Statin treatment disrupted the interaction of Rac with its negative regulator the Rho guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (RhoGDI), an interaction that is dependent on protein isoprenylation. We propose that lack of negative regulation accounts for the increased GTP loading. Isoprenylation of Rac is also required for efficient interaction with the plasma membrane, and we report that statin treatment dramatically reduces the capacity of Rac to interact with membranes. These results suggest a mechanism by which statins inhibit the actions of Rho GTPases and attenuate Aβ-stimulated inflammation.
A FIRO-B Analysis of Social Skill Preferences Among Auditors

This study investigates the relative significance of both the social interaction index (SII) and demographic variables by analysing their association to the likelihood in classifying an auditor as internal or external to the firm. This study uses the psychometric technique of the fundamental interpersonal relationship orientation-behavior (FIRO-B) to analyse and compare the social interaction preference of certified internal auditors (CIAs) working for US corporations and certified public accountants (CPAs) employed by public accounting firms. Surveys were developed using the FIRO-B instruments and sent to internal auditors from US corporations located in the western and southeastern sections of the USA. The results of the study show that the scores of the two groups are significantly different. Internal auditors reported lower social interaction preferences than the public accountants.
Hand kinematics estimation using non-invasive surface sensors: a linear system identification approach

Hand kinematics or joints angle estimation using sensors to control prosthetic devices is one of the growing research areas in today's biomedical engineering. The need for continuous and proportional control of movements makes the regression methods more suitable than classification approaches. In system identification like regression it is possible to find a model which tracks the behavior of an input-output relation without knowing much information about the details of the inside model (black box models). In this paper we have a comprehensive study on some well-known linear models and introduce the best one for joints angle estimation in prosthetic control. The Output Error (OE) model is introduced as the best one and RMS feature as the best feature to transform sensor signals into feature domain. For the input of the model we used both surface Electromyographic (sEMG) signals and accelerometers attached on them. As these sensors are non-invasive, there is huge interest in using them for commercial purposes. We showed that this combination results in a better performance than using each of them alone. Finally, we proposed a combinational model using different pre-processing steps to estimate all joints with good estimation and low cost with less than 10 degrees of average error. This result is comparable with state of the art methods in the literature.
Interventions to Reduce Sexual Prejudice: A Study-Space Analysis and Meta-Analytic Review

Sexual prejudice is an important threat to the physical and mental well-being of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people. Therefore, we reviewed the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce such prejudice. A study-space analysis was performed on published and unpublished papers from all over the world to identify well-studied and underexplored issues. Most studies were conducted with North American undergraduates and were educational in nature. Dissertations were often innovative and well designed but were rarely published. We then performed meta-analyses on sets of comparable studies. Education, contact with gay people, and combining contact with education had a medium-size effect on several measures of sexual prejudice. The manipulation of social norms was effective in reducing antigay behavior. Other promising interventions, such as the use of entertainment media to promote tolerance, need further investigation. More research is also needed on populations other than American students, particularly groups who may have higher levels of sexual prejudice.
Effects of balanced scorecard on performance of firms in the service sector

This study sought to establish the effects of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) on performance of firms in the service sector. The study location was in Kakamega Municipality, Kenya and a survey research design involving 200 service providing firms was utilized. Stratified random sampling procedure was adopted with the strata organized based on the nature of services offered. After the stratification, simple random sampling was utilized to select the respondent firms. Semi-structured questionnaires were employed to collect primary data which were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The study revealed that non-financial criteria are as important as financial criteria in measurement systems and when both measures are integrated in the system, they lead to superior results.
Study on AC Artificial-Contaminated Flashover Performance of Various Types of Insulators

Artificial pollution tests have been carried out to study AC flashover performances of various types of porcelain, glass, and polymeric insulators in this paper. The experimental results show that the polluted flashover voltage Uf is affected by equivalent salt deposit density rhoESDD and nonsoluble deposit density rhoNSDD, the influences of which are independent of each other. Based on the analyses of the flashover voltages, the correction formulas of the flashover voltages Uf of various insulators at various rhoESDD and rhoNSDD levels are pointed out. The experimental results also show that there is a distinct difference among the flashover voltages of various types of polluted insulators. At the same pollution degree, the antipollution performance of the fog-type glass insulator is better than those of the outer-rib porcelain insulators. In terms of the effectiveness of creepage distance of insulators, the antipollution performance of polymeric insulators is superior to those of porcelain and glass insulators.
Candy as a scapegoat in the prevention of food aversions in children receiving chemotherapy

The effectiveness of a method for reducing the incidence of chemotherapy‐induced learned food aversions was examined. Candy (coconut or rootbeer Lifesavers) was used as a scapegoat and given between the consumption of a meal and the administration of chemotherapy to determine whether this would lead to a greater willingness to consume items in that meal at a future test. This procedure produced evidence that the scapegoat had a significant protective effect: children were twice as likely to eat some portion of their test meal at the time of assessment if they had received the scapegoat at conditioning than when there was no intervention. Thus, the consumption of strongly flavored candies before chemotherapy appears to be a simple and effective way to reduce the impact of chemotherapy on preference for normal menu items.
Using self-efficacy as a client-centred outcome measure.

Background The concept of self-efficacy has been proposed as a suitable outcome measure in psychiatry. Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief that he or she can control important aspects of his or her life. An audit of 67 consecutive clients attending an acute psychiatric day unit was conducted, measuring self-efficacy at admission to the unit and at discharge. Conclusion The concept of self-efficacy was easily explained to clients, and was measured using a 15-point questionnaire. Self-efficacy increased following treatment in the day unit, and this increase appears to reflect an underlying change in the individual's self-belief.