Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blood transfusions in critically ill cancer patients remain an area of uncertainty

In a single center, randomized, controlled trial entitled “Liberal Versus Restrictive Transfusion Strategy in Critically Ill Oncologic Patients: The Transfusion Requirements in Critically Ill Oncologic Patients Randomized Controlled Trial”, the authors conclude that a liberal strategy for blood transfusions (hemoglobin threshold <9 g/dL) may be more favorable in adult cancer patients with septic shock, compared to a restrictive strategy which utilized a hemoglobin threshold of <7 g/dL (1). The transfusions included only leukodepleted units, and hematologic malignancy patients were excluded due to high inherent transfusion requirements.
Multi-Step Exploitation of Raw Arundo donax L. for the Selective Synthesis of Second-Generation Sugars by Chemical and Biological Route

Lignocellulosic biomass represents one of the most important feedstocks for future biorefineries, being a precursor of valuable bio-products, obtainable through both chemical and biological conversion routes. Lignocellulosic biomass has a complex matrix, which requires the careful development of multi-step approaches for its complete exploitation to value-added compounds. Based on this perspective, the present work focuses on the valorization of hemicellulose and cellulose fractionsof giant reed (Arundo donax L.) to give second-generation sugars, minimizing the formation of reaction by-products. The conversion of hemicellulose to xylose was undertaken in the presence of the heterogeneous acid catalyst Amberlyst-70 under microwave irradiation. The effect of the main reaction parameters, such as temperature, reaction time, catalyst, and biomass loadings on sugars yield was studied, developing a high gravity approach. Under the optimised reaction conditions (17 wt% Arundo donax L. loading, 160 °C, Amberlyst-70/Arundo donax L. weight ratio 0.2 wt/wt), the xylose yield was 96.3 mol%. In the second step, the cellulose-rich solid residue was exploited through the chemical or enzymatic route, obtaining glucose yields of 32.5 and 56.2 mol%, respectively. This work proves the efficiency of this innovative combination of chemical and biological catalytic approaches, for the selective conversion of hemicellulose and cellulose fractions of Arundo donax L. to versatile platform products.
A Full‐Spectrum Bedrock Thermal Expansion Model and Its Impact on the Global Positioning System Height Time Series

Bedrock thermal expansion includes prominent seasonal (annual and semiannual) terms and intricate nonseasonal variations (high‐frequency change and transient signals). However, the nonseasonal variations are usually ignored in geodetic studies due to defects in analytical solutions. In this study, we calculate the full‐spectrum bedrock thermal expansion displacement using the skin temperature from the ERA5 reanalysis data set. The results show that the nonseasonal variations of bedrock thermal expansion, with a range (maximum minus minimum) reaching 3 mm in some regions, can be observed by geodetic instruments and thus cannot be ignored. Moreover, the mean power of the nonseasonal variations accounts for 20% of the entire thermal expansion. Without considering the influence of the nonseasonal variations, this “noise” would remain in the original observations and contaminate related geophysical inversions.
Performance of the T2Candida Panel for the Diagnosis of Intra-abdominal Candidiasis

Abstract Performance of T2Candida for detecting intra-abdominal candidiasis (IAC) was assessed in 48 high-risk patients. T2Candida sensitivity/specificity and positive/negative predictive values were 33%/93% and 71%/74%, respectively. IAC was present in 100% of cases with concordant positive T2Candida/1,3-beta-d-glucan and absent in 90% of concordant negative results. Combination T2Candida/1,3-beta-d-glucan may help guide treatment decisions.
The Vietnam Women’s Union and the Contradictions of a Socialist Gender Regime

ABSTRACT Vietnam’s transition from a centrally planned economy to a “socialist market economy under state guidance” since the late 1980s has provided women with unprecedented opportunities. Their increased mobility and economic power notwithstanding, Vietnamese women continue to be essentialised as mothers and carers in public discourse while their professional achievements and public lives are ostensibly de-emphasised. As the largest state institution tasked with representing women and advancing the Communist Party’s women-focussed social and political agendas, the Women’s Union plays a pivotal role in shaping the ideologies and values that serve to discipline women’s gendered behaviours and regulate their gendered lives. In this article, I examine the femininity ideals promoted by the Women’s Union in order to identify the contradictions in the Vietnamese socialist gender regime that subjects women to immense social pressure and perpetuates gender inequalities. The article invites re-thinking of the taken-for-granted relationship between women’s political representation and their empowerment. It also reveals ambivalence in the socialist state’s attempts to reframe socialist models of personhood at a time when the socialist national narrative is being challenged by globalisation, calling forth alternative modes of governance.
The fallacy of biphasic growth allometry for the vertebrate brain

The concept of biphasic, loglinear growth of the vertebrate brain is based on graphical displays of logarithmic transformations of the original measurements. Such displays commonly give the appearance of two distinct mathematical distributions – one set of observations following a steep trajectory at the low end of the size range and another set following a shallow trajectory at the high end. However, the appearance of two distributions is an artefact resulting from the logarithmic transformations. Observations of brain mass vs. body mass in each of the eight vertebrate species examined in the current investigation conform to a single mathematical distribution that is well described by a single equation fitted to the original, untransformed data by non-linear regression. Data for carp, chickens, kangaroos and rabbits are described by three-parameter power equations whereas those for dolphins and primates are described by exponential functions that rise rapidly to a maximum. The brain continues to grow throughout life in carp, chickens, kangaroos and rabbits but not in dolphins and primates. Future investigations of relative growth of the brain should be based on graphical and analytical study of observations expressed on the native mathematical scale.
Prevalence and management of menopausal symptoms in malaysian women during peri and post menopause

Women upon reaching menopause often silently suffer debilitating physical and psychological symptoms. The peri and postmenopausal period constitutes a challenging transition time for women’s health, and good menopausal health is a crucial aspect in healthy and successful aging. These situations affects women globally however Malaysian women are mostly unaware how to manage onset of menopause. This study aims to systematically review published data for the prevalence and management of menopausal symptoms in Malaysian women. Findings indicated that Malaysia women experienced similar menopausal symptoms as other women globally. However, these studies indicated that Malaysian women lack the knowledge to manage and prepare for menopause. The menopausal transition demarks dramatic changes at the hormonal, physiological, and metabolic level. Eventually, our study will develop an online tool to provide information and manage menopausal symptom.
Generation Z in Thailand

Generation Z has been said to have more in common with their global generational cohort than they do with their parents. The 24/7 access to information, through increasingly ubiquitous Internet access, has been credited as the facilitator of the spread of generational values and characteristics. While this may apply to Generation Z in many developed countries, does it apply in developing nations such as Thailand? For example, by the year 2015, only 40 percent of the Thai population had access to the Internet. Thus, this study attempts to understand to what extent proclaimed Generation Z characteristics and values ring true for a segment of Thai youth with the necessary access to and corresponding usage of connected technology. A literature review was conducted of both English and Thai language literature. Thai Generation Z university students were surveyed, and the results were analyzed using structural equation modeling. On the one hand, the results did support an affinity toward technology, on the other hand, it suggested that Thai youth valued and used the technology differently than their generational cohort in the west, especially concerning content creation. Furthermore, they differed from their global cohort in their preference for collectivism. They also differed from national cultural expectations as they showed tendencies toward low power distance. Finally, work values were largely consistent with international generational expectations in that they showed the strongest preference toward intrinsic and altruistic rewards. It will be essential for Human Resources (HR) to communicate these rewards to attract and retain this next generation of employees. This article contributes to the greater cross-cultural management scholarship by filling a gap in understanding the cultural and work values of a generational cohort in Thailand. It does this by highlighting the institutional and cultural setting this cohort came of age in and surveys cohort members to understand their values and preferences.
Cortisol and inflammation in delirium and long-term cognitive decline after hip fracture

xxii Lay Summary . i 1 Chapter 1: General Introduction . 1 1.1 Delirium . 1 1.1.1 Delirium Definition . 1 1.1.2 Delirium Epidemiology . 2 1.1.3 Delirium Features . 4 1.1. 4 Delirium Assessment . 4 1.1. 5 Delirium Outcomes . 5 1.1. 6 Conclusions . 6 1.2 Delirium and its relationship to cognitive dysfunction . 7 1.2. 1 Definitions . 7 1.2. 2 Postoperative cognitive dysfunction . 9 1.2. 3 Cognitive decline . 10 1.2. 4 Mild Cognitive Impairment. 10 1.2. 5 Dementia . 10 1.2. 6 Conclusions . 11 1.3 Delirium pathophysiology . 12
The effect of oral royal jelly on clinical disease activity index (CDAI) and morning stiffness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA); A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease which can cause articular destruction and disability in patients. Current therapies are relatively effective and sometimes harmful. Royal Jelly with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties may be used as an adjunct therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Royal Jelly on Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and morning stiffness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: According to American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1987 classification criteria, 80 patients with RA, who had active disease (CDAI > 2.8), were randomly assigned to receive Royal Jelly or placebo beside background treatment for 3 months. Morning stiffness, tender joint count (TJC), swollen joint count (SJC), evaluator global assessment (EGA) and patient's global assessment (PGA) based on visual analogue scale (VAS) were determined before and after 3 months of intervention. The changes in aforementioned indexes were analyzed by SPSS software. Findings: 65 patients completed the study (35 in Royal Jelly and 30 in placebo group). The sex, age, residence, disease duration and drug consumption had no significant changes (P > 0.050). In the first group, CDAI (P = 0.012), SJC (P = 0.024), TJC (P = 0.027), and morning stiffness (P = 0.004) had significant statistical changes; but only changes in morning stiffness were statistically different between the two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Royal Jelly has good effect on morning stiffness but not on CDAI and may be a suitable adjunct therapy. Further studies may demonstrate more significant results.
Digital FPGA implementation of spontaneous astrocyte signalling

Astrocytes are the most abundant type of glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS). These non‐neuronal cells are able to regulate the neurons activity in the different parts of brain tissue by calcium waves generation in its internal space. Moreover, astrocytes interact with neurons and modulate the spiking activity of them. In this paper, a set of piecewise linear estimations of a three‐dimensional spontaneous astrocyte model are presented for digital FPGA realization. This leads to achieve a high‐speed and low‐cost system in large‐scale implementation. In this approach, the three‐dimensional original model is converted to a two‐dimensional one and the hardware overhead have been reduced, significantly due to eliminating the large number of multiplications in the original astrocyte model. Simulation results in MATLAB demonstrate that our method can mimic the original calcium waves in high degree of similarity. To validate our method in case of hardware, the proposed model has been tested and simulated in Modelsim software and also implemented on Spartan3 XC3S50 (TQ144) FPGA board. Hardware realization results show that the proposed model has high similarity by the simulation outputs. Consequently, this reduced‐model of astrocyte can be used in large‐scale networks because of its low‐cost hardware and high‐speed system.
The ethics of nudging: An overview

So-called nudge policies utilize insights from behavioral science to achieve policy outcomes. Nudge policies try to improve people's decisions by changing the ways options are presented to them, rather than changing the options themselves or incentivizing or coercing people. Nudging has been met with great enthusiasm but also fierce criticism. This paper provides an overview of the debate on the ethics of nudging to date. After outlining arguments in favor of nudging, we first discuss different objections that all revolve around the worry that nudging vitiates personal autonomy. We split up this worry into different dimensions of autonomy, such as freedom of choice, volitional autonomy, rational agency, and freedom as nondomination. We next discuss worries that nudging is manipulative, violates human dignity, and prevents more important structural reform. Throughout, we will present responses that proponents of nudging can muster. On the whole, we conclude that the objections fail to establish that the nudge program as a whole should be rejected. At the same time, they give us important guidance when moving towards an ethical assessment of nudges on a case-by-case basis. Towards the end, we provide some possible ways forward in debates around the ethics of nudging.
Urban-level environmental factors related to pediatric asthma

Abstract During the 20th century, urbanization has increasing and represented a major demographic and environmental change in developed countries. This ever-changing urban environment has an impact on disease patterns and prevalence, namely on noncommunicable diseases, such as asthma and allergy, and poses many challenges to understand the relationship between the changing urban environment and the children health. The complex interaction between human beings and urbanization is dependent not only on individual determinants such as sex, age, social or economic resources, and lifestyles and behaviors, but also on environment, including air pollution, indoors and outdoors, land use, biodiversity, and handiness of green areas. Therefore, the assessment and identification of the impact of urban environment on children's health have become a priority and many recent studies have been conducted with the goal of better understanding the impacts related to urbanization, characterizing indoor air exposure, identifying types of neighborhoods, or characteristics of neighborhoods that promote health benefits. Thus, this review focuses on the role of urban environmental factors on pediatric asthma.
Legal Environment and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from State Tax Codes

This study examines the effect of legal environment on corporate state income tax avoidance. We find that the extent of penalties on corporate officers reduces state tax avoidance. However, we find no evidence that the extent of penalties on shareholders reduces state tax avoidance. Thus, the legal environment faced by managers has a greater deterrent effect on tax avoidance than does the legal environment faced by shareholders. Only when managerial ownership is high do we find evidence that shareholder penalties affect corporate tax avoidance behavior. Our study contributes to the literature on agency problems related to corporate tax reporting. JEL Classifications: H25; H26; H71; K34.
Host selection of Dolichogenidea tasmanica: implications for conservation biological control of light brown apple moth

ABSTRACT An understanding of host selection by parasitoids can help in evaluating alternative host candidates to make conservation biological control of a target pest more reliable. This study investigated the host selection behaviour of Dolichogenidae tasmanica (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in response to two related tortricid host species (Lepidoptera). The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is the biological control target in Australian vineyards, while Merophyas divulsana was selected to evaluate its potential as an alternative host. We quantified the effects of host species, ages and experiences on the landing preferences of the parasitoid in dual choice tests. The effects of these host species on developmental time, sex ratio and body size of adult parasitoids were also examined. During all observations, D. tasmanica exhibited no statistically significant preferences in response to these hosts. Host species did not affect the body size of the wasp, but did influence its developmental time, possibly due to a trade-off between body size and developmental time of the wasp, which took longer in the smaller host, M. divulsana. The sex ratio was similar within host instars and between host species. These results suggest that M. divulsana should be a promising alternative host to support the local parasitoid population in vineyards as part of a conservation biological control programme that targets E. postvittana.
In vitro Analysis of Rhizobacteria against Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. Causing Charcoal Rot of Sorghum

A total of seven rhizobacterial isolates (AUDT 240, AUDT 248, AUDT 502, AUDT 801, AUDT 807, AUDT 811and AUDP 139) and one reference isolate of Trichoderma harzianum were examined for antagonistic activities against five different isolates of Macrophomina phaseolina viz., Belavadi, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Savanur and Vijayapura. The isolate AUDP 139 (Pseudomonas fluorescens) showed maximum mean per cent inhibition (56.50 %) followed by AUDT 240 (47.24 %) and AUDT 801(46.33 %). Results indicated that the isolates AUDP 139, AUDT 240 and AUDT 801 could be a novel biocontrol agents for the management of charcoal rot of sorghum.
The Role of Marriage and Military Service on Reoffending: Race, “The Respectability Package,” and the Desistance Process

We build on prior research examining military involvement and criminal involvement by investigating the importance of acquiring the more complete “respectability package” that includes marriage as well as military experience and variations among White and Black respondents. Using data from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; n = 5,801), analyses use logistic regression models to assess associations of military service, marriage, and race with odds of reoffending among White and Black young adults who reported offending at Wave I. Military involvement was associated with lower odds of offending for Black respondents only, while marriage was associated with decreased odds of reoffending across both groups. Among Black respondents, analyses also highlighted the importance of acquiring both components of the respectability package (military service and marriage) in the context of today’s all-volunteer force in reducing criminal involvement.
Patient's Perception in Bicruciate-Retaining Total Knee Arthroplasty

In treatment of advanced osteoarthritis, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with the sacrifice of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the standard treatment. There is high proportion of patients who report residual knee symptoms after TKA without any identifiable objective clinical or radiological reasons. In regards to cruciate-retaining knee arthroplasty in the last decade, knee surgeons have mainly focused on the posterior cruciate ligament [1-4]. However, anatomic studies have shown cruciate ligaments; especially anterior cruciate ligament contains a considerable number of proprioceptive nerve cells. Sacrifice of the ACL can also be accompanied with abnormal kinematics resulting in functional limitations and a reduced balance [3,4]. Reduced balance capacity can cause various problems in activity of daily living (ADL). Balance problems due to limitations in proprioception after TKA can cause frequent falls. Besides this, reduced balance after the arthroplasty can lead to a situation where patient senses the joint as a foreign body which can be associated with non-specific pain and can cause functional deficit [1,4-6]. First generation bicruciateretaining total knee arthroplasty (BCR-TKA) was developed in the 1960s which aimed for a natural knee joint movement. Bicruciateretaining implants have shown a more physiologic anterior femorotibial contact point and a greater posterior translation in motion compared to ACL-sacrificing implants Cloutier et al.[1,3,6-10].
Parenting stress, social support and parenting self-efficacy in Chinese families : does the number of children matter?

ABSTRACT This study examined the differences between the one-child family and two-child family regarding the effect of social support on parenting stress through parenting self-efficacy using multiple group structural equation modelling. A Chinese sample of 6131 one-child families and 4816 two-child families participated in the study. Parents independently completed self-report measures to evaluate social support, parenting self-efficacy and parenting stress. The results showed that the two-child family reported more parenting stress, less social support and lower parenting self-efficacy than the one-child family. Social support directly and indirectly alleviated parenting stress for the one-child family, and it only indirectly related to parenting stress through parenting self-efficacy for the two-child family. Overall, this study emphasized the effect of social support and parenting self-efficacy on parenting stress, and provided an empirical basis for alleviating parenting stress for parents with one or two young children.