Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feasibility of a Photovoice Study Promoting Respirator Use among Russian Health Care Workers.

OBJECTIVES Russian health care workers in tuberculosis hospitals have a high incidence of nosocomial TB. Proper use of respirators in high-risk settings can lower this threat, but health care workers do not always follow protocols that minimize risk. Our objectives were to: (1) determine feasibility of conducting a larger scale study, and (2) test effectiveness of a photovoice intervention for changing attitudes and behaviors of Russian HCWs with regard to following protocols. DESIGN AND SAMPLE A convenience sample of 20 HCWs was recruited from a regional TB hospital in Russia to participate in this single-group experimental-design feasibility study. MEASURES Participants completed a survey prior to and following the intervention. INTERVENTION Participants photographed someone important to them then wrote a short narrative describing why that significant other motivated them to wear and fit-check respirators. AUTHOR As per journal style, "Intervention" subheading to be included in the "Abstract" section if this heading appears in the "Methods" section. Therefore, either include this heading in the "Methods" section or delete the subheading "Intervention" along with its text found in the "Abstract" section. RESULTS We identified four areas to revise prior to undertaking a larger experimental study. The intervention had a significant effect on intention to wear and fit-check respirators. Perceived behavioral control predicted intention to wear respirators, F(3,16) = 20.383, p < . 001. Subjective norm and perceived behavioral control predicted intention to fit-check respirators, F(3,16) = 44.571, p < . 001. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest photovoice may be an efficacious intervention and larger scale testing is warranted.
Stromal cell‐derived factor‐1 (SDF‐1/CXCL12) gene polymorphisms in pulmonary tuberculosis patients of south India

CXCL12 gene polymorphisms influence CXCL12 levels and may be associated with the outcome of host–pathogen interaction. Hence, the present study was carried out to find out whether CXCL12 gene polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility or resistance to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Intron and 3′ untranslated region (UTR) polymorphisms of CXCL12 gene were investigated among 184 patients with PTB and 187 healthy controls (HC) using polymerase chain reaction‐based methods. The results revealed an increased frequency of G/A genotype of In2 +5887 [P = 0.034; odds ratio (OR) 1.66; 95% confidence intervals 1.04–2.66] and a decreased frequency of G/A genotype of 3′UTR +12197 polymorphisms (P = 0.051; OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.4–1.00) among patients than HCs. When the study subjects were categorized based on sex, significantly increased frequencies of G/A genotype (P = 0.013 Pc = 0.039; OR 2.41) of In2 +5887 and G/G genotype (P = 0.005, Pc = 0.015; OR 2.48) of 3′UTR +12197 polymorphisms were observed among female patients with PTB as compared to female HC. A significantly decreased frequency of the haplotype G‐C‐A‐T (P = 0.006, Pc = 0.030; OR 0.48) was noticed among female patients with PTB as compared to female HC. The study suggests that G/A genotype of In2 +5887 and G/G genotype of 3′UTR +12197 polymorphisms may be associated with susceptibility to PTB among females, and the haplotype G‐C‐A‐T of CXCL12 gene may be associated with protection in females.
What is sundowning?

Factors that may cause sundowning: • Mental and physical exhaustion from a full day trying to keep up with an unfamiliar or confusing environment. • Nonverbal behaviors of others, especially if stress or frustration is present, may be inadvertently transferred to the person living with Alzheimer’s. • Reduced lighting can increase shadows and may cause the person living with Alzheimer's to misinterpret what they see and, subsequently, become more agitated.
Lung Tissue Classification in HRCT Data Integrating the Clinical Context

In this paper, we investigate the influence of the clinical context of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images of the chest on tissue classification. Evaluation of the classification performance is based on high-quality visual data extracted from clinical routine. The clinical attributes with highest information gain ratio show to be relevant and consistent for the classification of lung tissue patterns. A combination of visual and clinical attributes allowed a mean of 93% correct predictions of testing instances among the five classes of lung tissue with optimized support vector machines (SVM), which represents a significant benefit of 8% compared to a pure visually-based classification.
Paraplegia after thoracotomy under combined general and epidural anesthesia in a child

A 9‐year‐old boy underwent a thoracotomy for excision of his right third rib under combined general and epidural anesthesia for a Ewings sarcoma. Postoperatively, he was found to have a complete T2–3 paraplegia. Permanent paraplegia was described as a rare complication of thoracotomy in adults, and very rarely after epidural analgesia in adults and babies. This was the first report in a child.
The Battle-Axe Series in Britain

The literature of the past seventy years relating to battle-axes and axehammers is limited, and relates mainly to the separate publication of individual finds. Sir John Evans, in his classic work, Ancient Stone Implements listed eighty-seven battle-axes from England, Scotland and Wales. R. A. Smith, in 1925, carried out a more detailed survey with emphasis on the associated finds, but drew conclusions about evolution and dating which are untenable according to present archaeological thinking. In 1960, Ashbee briefly delineated five types, making a distinction between ‘axe-hammers’, his Woodhenge and Parcelly Hay groups, and ‘battle-axes’, comprising more evolved implements with connections with the Wessex Culture. In this present survey it is hoped to make good the neglect this subject has suffered, by presenting a corpus of finds which is as complete as possible, together with some considerations on typology, associations, petrology—where details are available—distribution, origins and dating.
Some results on optimal control of stochastic systems with state chance constraints

We consider a continuous-time control problem with random initial condition and chance constraints. We solve this problem by discretizations and we prove that the discrete-time problem is convex and can be solved by the method of the logarithmic barrier function. Then we prove that when the discretization step goes to zero, the cost of the solutions of the discrete-time problems converge to the optimal cost of the continuous-time problem.
Contribution of Gene Amplification to Evolution of Increased Antibiotic Resistance in Salmonella typhimurium

The use of β-lactam antibiotics has led to the evolution and global spread of a variety of resistance mechanisms, including β-lactamases, a group of enzymes that degrade the β-lactam ring. The evolution of increased β-lactam resistance was studied by exposing independent lineages of Salmonella typhimurium to progressive increases in cephalosporin concentration. Each lineage carried a β-lactamase gene (blaTEM-1) that provided very low resistance. In most lineages, the initial response to selection was an amplification of the blaTEM-1 gene copy number. Amplification was followed in some lineages by mutations (envZ, cpxA, or nmpC) that reduced expression of the uptake functions, the OmpC, OmpD, and OmpF porins. The initial resistance provided by blaTEM-1 amplification allowed the population to expand sufficiently to realize rare secondary point mutations. Mathematical modeling showed that amplification often is likely to be the initial response because events that duplicate or further amplify a gene are much more frequent than point mutations. These models show the importance of the population size to appearance of later point mutations. Transient gene amplification is likely to be a common initial mechanism and an intermediate in stable adaptive improvement. If later point mutations (allowed by amplification) provide sufficient adaptive improvement, the amplification may be lost.
Interfacial morphology and nanomechanics of cement of the barnacle, Amphibalanus reticulatus on metallic and non-metallic substrata

The barnacle exhibits a high degree of control over its attachment onto different types of solid surface. The structure and composition of barnacle cement have been reported previously, but mostly for barnacles growing on low surface energy materials. This article focuses on the strategies used by barnacles when they attach to engineering materials such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), titanium (Ti) and stainless steel 316L (SS316L). Adhesion to these substrata is compared in terms of morphological structure, thickness and functional groups of the primary cement, the molting cycle and the nanomechanical properties of the cement. Structural characterization studies using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in conjunction with nanomechanical characterization and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) are used to understand the differences in the adhesion of primary barnacle cement to the different substrata. The results provide new insights into understanding the mechanisms at work across the barnacle–substratum interface.
A new ent-kaurane diterpene from Euphorbia stracheyi Boiss

Abstract The chemical investigation of whole plants Euphorbia stracheyi Boiss from China led to the isolation of one new ent-kaurane diterpene, ent-Kaurane-16β,17,19-triol-3-one (1), along with three known ent-kaurane diterpenoids (2–4) as ent-Kaurane-3α,16β,17-triol (2)，ent-16S,17-dihydroxy-kaurane-3-one (3) and ent-3S,16S,17-trihydroxy-kaurane-2-one (4). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses including 1D, 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and by comparison with the literature. Compound 2 was a new natural product and firstly isolated from nature, while compounds (3–4) were isolated from E. stracheyi for the first time. All isolated compounds (1–4) were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against five human cancer cell lines (including A-549, SMMC-7721, HL-60, MCF-7 and SW-480). Graphical Abstract
Efficient Overlay Multicast Protocol using Unicast Routing Information in Mobile Ad hoc Networks

Overlay multicast protocols in mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) have advantages that are low overhead and robustness in dynamic network topology by using the unicast routing protocol between group members. However, overlay data paths in overlay multicast can remain static even though the underlying physical topology is changing. Overlay multicast may lead to sub-optimal overlay data paths, since the communicating group members are not aware of the underlying physical topology. Therefore, overlay multicast protocols requires periodic control messages for the overlay data path management in dynamic environment. In this paper, we propose an efficient overlay multicast protocol (EOMP) using unicast routing information. Multicast state information of each group member in EOMP is created by its unicast routing table. Therefore, multicast data packets between group members are delivered through the overall optimal paths in physical networks. Meanwhile, the overlay data path in EOMP can be managed without periodic control messages in the dynamic environment. Finally, we evaluate EOMP performance with other multicast protocols proposed for ad hoc networks. Simulations show enhanced results of proposed protocols.
A real-time vision-based guided method for autonomous landing of a rotor-craft unmanned aerial vehicle

We introduce a real-time vision-based guided method for autonomous landing of rotor-craft unmanned aerial vehicle. In the process of designing the pattern of landing target, we have fully taken consideration how to make this easier for simplified identification. A linear algorithm was also applied using a three-dimensional structure estimation, thus achieving a fast frame rate at 25Hz. In addition, multiple view vision technology is utilized to calibrate intrinsic parameters of camera online, so calibration prior to flight is unnecessary and the focus of camera can be changed freely in flight, thus upgrading flexibility and practicality of the method.
High-Performance Electrically Tunable RF Phase Shifter With the Application of PZT and Permalloy Thin-Film Patterns

A fully electrically tunable RF phase shifter enabled with lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and Permalloy (Py) thin-film patterns based on the step impedance slow wave structure is well designed and fabricated. Tunable metal-insulator-metal structure capacitor enabled with the PZT thin film is integrated into the phase shifter so that the working frequency can be tuned by dc voltage, and the tuning voltage is significantly decreased compared with the previous research. The Py thin film is patterned and is deposited on the signal line of the proposed phase shifter that enables a tunable working frequency by dc current. Both inductive and capacitive tunability of phase shifter are achieved simultaneously. When 200 mA dc current is provided between two ports of phase shifter, the working frequency tuning range is 2% from 1.98 to 2.04 GHz. The tuning range is 5% from 1.98 to 2.08 GHz when 8 V dc voltage is added between the signal line and the ground. When both 8 V dc voltage and 200 mA dc current are applied, the working frequency of the proposed phase shifter is tunable from 1.98 to 2.12 GHz with a tunability of 7.1%.
A psychometric assessment of Disturbances in Self-Organization symptom indicators for ICD-11 Complex PTSD using the International Trauma Questionnaire

ABSTRACT Background: Two ‘sibling disorders’ have been proposed for the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11): Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (CPTSD). To date, no research has attempted to identify the optimal symptom indicators for the ‘Disturbances in Self-Organization’ (DSO) symptom cluster. Objective: The aim of the current study was to assess the psychometric performance of scores of 16 potential DSO symptom indicators from the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ). Criteria relating to score variability and their ability to discriminate were employed. Method: Participants (N = 1839) were a nationally representative household sample of non-institutionalized adults currently residing in the US. Item scores from the ITQ were examined in relation to basic criteria associated with interpretability, variability, homogeneity, and association with functional impairment. The performance of the DSO symptoms was also assessed using 1- and 2-parameter item response theory (IRT) models. Results: The distribution of responses for all DSO indicators met the criteria associated with interpretability, variability, homogeneity, and association with functional impairment. The 1-parameter graded response model was considered the best model and indicated that each set of indictors performed very similarly. Conclusions: The ITQ contains 16 DSO symptom indicators and they perform well in measuring their respective symptom cluster. There was no evidence that particular indicators were ‘better’ than others, and it was concluded that the indicators are essentially interchangeable.
Frequency-domain properties of locally stationary improper second-order stochastic processes

This paper concerns continuous-time second-order complex improper stochastic processes that satisfy Silverman's condition of local stationarity, which is a generalization of wide-sense stationarity (WSS). We study their spectral relations, proving a necessary condition that is related to a characterizing inequality of the pair of complementary spectral measure and spectral measure in the WSS case.
Midwest ( MWAIS ) 5-2012 Agile Software Development Documentation and Maintainability

This research seeks to identify or create best docu mentation and maintenance practices for Agile softw are development. Many organizations are attempting to use Agile but problems persist with documentations and maintenanc e. This is a critical research issue since organizations spend, on averag e, 70 80% of the money in the software developmen t life-cycle on maintenance (Jones, 2000; Jones and Bonsignour, 201 1). This research is multi-method using qualitativ e interviews combined with quantitative surveys (Lee, 1991) to t ry and determine the documentation and maintainabil ity of Agile projects. The theoretical basis of this research is tradition al software engineering, knowledge and expertise, a nd symbolism and semantics, and it is being performed by a consortiu m of universities in the United State, Germany, and Brazil.
Improved iterative joint detection and decoding of coded V-BLAST systems

Soft iterative detection and decoding techniques have been shown to achieve near-capacity performance in multiple antenna systems. In most cases, obtaining optimal soft information in a joint detection and decoding algorithm by marginalizing over the entire observation space is prohibitively complex. In this paper, an improved scheme adaptable to various list-type detectors providing superior performance is proposed.
Rac1 Deletion in Mouse Neutrophils Has Selective Effects on Neutrophil Functions1

Defects in myeloid cell function in Rac2 knockout mice underline the importance of this isoform in activation of NADPH oxidase and cell motility. However, the specific role of Rac1 in neutrophil function has been difficult to assess since deletion of Rac1 results in embryonic lethality in mice. To elucidate the specific role of Rac1 in neutrophils, we generated mice with a conditional Rac1 deficiency restricted to cells of the granulocyte/monocyte lineage. As observed in Rac2-deficient neutrophils, Rac1-deficient neutrophils demonstrated profound defects in inflammatory recruitment in vivo, migration to chemotactic stimuli, and chemoattractant-mediated actin assembly. In contrast, superoxide production is normal in Rac1-deficient neutrophils but markedly diminished in Rac2 null cells. These data demonstrate that although Rac1 and Rac2 are both required for actin-mediated functions, Rac2 is specifically required for activation of the neutrophil NADPH oxidase.
SUGGESTIONS FOR HER‐2/neu TESTING IN BREAST CARCINOMA, BASED ON A COMPARISON OF IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY AND FLUORESCENCE IN SITU HYBRIDISATION

Summary The arrival of Herceptin (Trastuzumab), an antibody against the HER‐2 oncogene found in a proportion of breast carcinomas and other carcinomas, has emphasised the need for a standardised technique for demonstrating overexpression of HER‐2. We compared the Dako A485 antibody and Dako HercepTest kit (HT) on a series of 122 breast carcinomas. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) (Vysis) was performed on all cases with positive or equivocal immunohistochemical results. The Dako A485 showed HER2 overexpression in 53% of carcinomas, while the HT showed 21% positive (HT 2 + 8%, HT 3 + 13%) and 79% negative (HT 0 67%, HT 1 + 12%). FISH for HER‐2 gene amplification on all the HT 1 + and HT 2 + cases was negative, whereas FISH analysis of all HT 3 + cases was positive, with the exception of one case which could not be analysed for technical reasons. When histological subtype was analysed, only grade 3 infiltrating duct carcinomas were FISH‐positive, suggesting that histological grading and subtyping may be able to triage carcinomas suitable for HER‐2 testing. We suggest that the HT or a similar standardised immunohistochemical study for HER‐2 can be used to screen breast carcinomas. We then recommend FISH where the carcinoma is HT 2 +. FISH may also be appropriate in high grade, HT 1 + carcinomas where there are doubts regarding optimal tissue fixation or block storage conditions.
MFCC-based Remote Pathology Detection on Speech Transmitted Through the Telephone Channel - Impact of Linear Distortions: Band Limitation, Frequency Response and Noise

Advances in speech signal analysis during the last decade have allowed the development of automatic algorithms for a non-invasive detection fo laryngeal pathologies. Performance assessment of such techniques reveals that classification success rates over 90% are achievable. Bearing in mind the extension of these automatic methods to remote diagnosis scenarios, this paper analyses the performance of a pathology detector based on Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients when the speech signal has undergone the distortion of an analogue communications channel, namely the phone channel. Such channel is modeled as a concatenation of linear effects. It is shown that while the overall performance of the system is degraded, success rates in the range of 80% can still be achieved. This study also shows that the performance degradation is mainly due to band limitation and noise addition.
Update on the safety and efficacy of retroviral gene therapy for immunodeficiency due to adenosine deaminase deficiency.

Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency is a rare, autosomal-recessive systemic metabolic disease characterized by severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). The treatment of choice for ADA-deficient SCID (ADA-SCID) is hematopoietic stem cell transplant from an HLA-matched sibling donor, although <25% of patients have such a donor available. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) partially and temporarily relieves immunodeficiency. We investigated the medium-term outcome of gene therapy (GT) in 18 patients with ADA-SCID for whom an HLA-identical family donor was not available; most were not responding well to ERT. Patients were treated with an autologous CD34(+)-enriched cell fraction that contained CD34(+) cells transduced with a retroviral vector encoding the human ADA complementary DNA sequence (GSK2696273) as part of single-arm, open-label studies or compassionate use programs. Overall survival was 100% over 2.3 to 13.4 years (median, 6.9 years). Gene-modified cells were stably present in multiple lineages throughout follow up. GT resulted in a sustained reduction in the severe infection rate from 1.17 events per person-year to 0.17 events per person-year (n = 17, patient 1 data not available). Immune reconstitution was demonstrated by normalization of T-cell subsets (CD3(+), CD4(+), and CD8(+)), evidence of thymopoiesis, and sustained T-cell proliferative capacity. B-cell function was evidenced by immunoglobulin production, decreased intravenous immunoglobulin use, and antibody response after vaccination. All 18 patients reported infections as adverse events; infections of respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts were reported most frequently. No events indicative of leukemic transformation were reported. Trial details were registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as #NCT00598481.
Understanding Students' Practical Epistemologies and Their Influence on Learning Through Inquiry

It has long been a goal of science education in the United States that students leave school with a robust understanding of the nature of science. Decades of research show that this does not happen. Inquiry-based instruction is advocated as a means for developing such understanding, although there is scant direct evidence that it does. There is a gap between what is known about students' inquiry practices and their epistemological beliefs about science. Studies of students' ideas about epistemological aspects of formal science are unlikely to shed any light on how they perceive their own inquiry efforts. Conversely, inquiry-based instruction that does not account for the epistemological beliefs that guide students' inquiry stands very little chance of helping students to understand professional science. This paper reviews largely independent lines of research into students' beliefs about the nature of science and their practices of inquiry to argue that students' inquiry is guided by practical epistemologies that are in need of study. An approach to studying practical epistemologies is proposed that has the potential to produce a better psychological theory of epistemological development, as well as to realize goals of a science education that develops scientifically informed citizens. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed, 89:634–656, 2005