Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of an Algorithm for the Diagnosis of Serous Tubal Intraepithelial Carcinoma

It has been reported that the diagnosis of serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) is not optimally reproducible on the basis of only histologic assessment. Recently, we reported that the use of a diagnostic algorithm that combines histologic features and coordinate immunohistochemical expression of p53 and Ki-67 substantially improves reproducibility of the diagnosis. The goal of the current study was to validate this algorithm by testing a group of 6 gynecologic pathologists who had not participated in the development of the algorithm (3 faculty and 3 fellows) but who were trained in its use by referring to a website designed for the purpose. They then reviewed a set of microscopic slides, which contained 41 mucosal lesions of the fallopian tube. Overall consensus (≥4 of 6 pathologists) for the 4 categories of STIC, serous tubal intraepithelial lesion (our atypical intermediate category), p53 signature, and normal/reactive was achieved in 76% of the lesions, with no consensus in 24%. Combining diagnoses into 2 categories (STIC versus non-STIC) resulted in an overall consensus of 93% and no consensus in 7%. The &kgr; value for STIC versus non-STIC among all 6 observers was also high at 0.67 and did not significantly differ, whether for faculty (&kgr;=0.66) or fellows (&kgr;=0.60). These findings confirm the reproducibility of this algorithm by a group of gynecologic pathologists who were trained on a website for that purpose. Accordingly, we recommend its use in research studies. Before applying it to routine clinical practice, the algorithm should be evaluated by general surgical pathologists in a community setting.
Effect of alfentanil on the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in cats.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate effect of incremental doses of alfentanil on isoflurane minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) in cats to determine whether alfentanil reduces isoflurane MAC and, if so, maximal isoflurane MAC reduction. ANIMALS 6 healthy spayed female cats. PROCEDURE Cats were anesthetized with isoflurane and instrumented to allow collection of arterial blood for measurement of gas tensions, pH, and plasma alfentanil concentration and to measure arterial blood pressure. Isoflurane MAC was determined in triplicate, and alfentanil was administered i.v. , using a computer-driven syringe pump to achieve estimated plasma alfentanil concentrations of 50, 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1,000 ng/ml; isoflurane MAC was determined at each alfentanil concentration. Cats were allowed to recover, and the process was graded as poor, good, or excellent. RESULTS Alfentanil had a significant dose effect on isoflurane MAC reduction. Significant regression was found for normalized isoflurane MAC versus estimated plasma alfentanil concentration. A quadratic term was necessary to fit the model and, using this curve, MAC reduction (35.0 +/- 6.6%) was estimated to be maximal at a plasma alfentanil concentration of 500 ng/ml. Significant differences were evident in rectal temperature, bicarbonate concentration, base deficit, arterial carbon dioxide and oxygen tensions, and arterial pH between isoflurane alone and some plasma alfentanil concentration and the corresponding reduction in isoflurane concentration. CONCLUSIONS Infusion of alfentanil resulted in maximal MAC reduction midway between that reported for horses and dogs. At such plasma alfentanil concentration, adverse effects were minimal, but included increase in rectal temperature, metabolic acidosis, and decrease in PaO2. Provided cats were not handled during the recovery period, recovery was smooth and quiet. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Infusion of alfentanil decreases the need for potent inhalant anesthetics in cats and could potentially be a clinically useful anesthetic regimen in sick cats.
Growth hormone (GH) treatment may cooperate with locally-produced GH in increasing the proliferative response of hippocampal progenitors to kainate-induced injury

Primary objective: This study was designed to investigate the effect of growth hormone treatment on the proliferation of endogenous neural progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the brain stimulated by kainic acid (KA)-induced neurotoxicity. Research design: Neurotoxicity was induced by intraperitoneal injection of KA. GH treatment lasted 4 days, starting either immediately or after 10 days of administration of the neurotoxic insult. Methods and procedure: Proliferating cells were immunodetected after labelling by in vivo administration of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). GH expression was detected by in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence. Main outcomes and results: KA administration stimulated the proliferation of hippocampal precursors and this effect was significantly enhanced by GH treatment. Hippocampal GH expression was also up-regulated in response to KA administration. Conclusions: The findings support the possibility that the proliferative response observed in the hippocampus of rats treated with KA and GH is a consequence of cooperation between the exogenous and the locally-produced hormone and their synergism with other mitogenic factors generated in response to the neurotoxic damage. Therefore, GH treatment could be used to cooperate with other physiological or pathological stimuli in order to promote cell proliferation.
Effects of smoking on the oxidant/antioxidant balance and the blood lipids in pesticide sprayers

The present study was conducted on 80 pesticide male sprayers (42 nonsmokers and 38 smokers). Our aim was to estimate the smoking effects on blood lipids and oxidant/antioxidant status in pesticide sprayers. Results revealed that cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and glutathion peroxidase (GPx) enzyme were significantly higher in the 38 smoker sprayers than in the 42 nonsmoker sprayers. Cholesterol and LDL were correlated with smoking index and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme and zinc (Zn) were inversely correlated with duration of pesticides' exposure. In nonsmokers, LDL and cholesterol were negatively correlated with SOD and correlated with malondialdehyde (MDA), and cholesterol was negatively correlated with Zn. HDL was negatively correlated with MDA in all the sprayers, but was correlated with GPx in smokers and with Zn in nonsmokers. In smokers, LDL was negatively correlated with GPx, HDL was negatively correlated with MDA and triglycerides and very-low-density lipoprotein were negatively correlated with Zn. MDA was negatively correlated with SOD, GPx and Zn. Smoking and pesticide exposure could be responsible for hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress. Therefore, improvement in the antioxidant status is mandatory for pesticide sprayers especially the ones who smoke.
eJournals Delivery Service: an email to Internet experiment

The eJournals Delivery Service (eJDS) allows scientists based in institutions in developing countries with slow access to the Internet due to very low bandwith or extreme economic problems, to retrieve online articles from well‐known journals, using offline browsing with email. This pioneering experiment, run by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in collaboration with Academic Press, American Physical Society, and World Scientific, started in Jan. 2002.
Adherence to Exercise Scale for Older Patients (AESOP): A Measure for Predicting Exercise Adherence in Older Adults after Discharge from Home Health Physical Therapy

Purpose: To develop a measure of 3 social cognitive theory constructs (self‐efficacy expectations, outcome expectations, and outcome expectancies) for predicting home exercise program (HEP) adherence in older adults after discharge from home health physical therapy. Methods: A questionnaire was developed, pilot‐tested, and administered to 50 participants (mean age 79.9 years, range 65–91 years) who were being discharged from home health physical therapy on a HEP. Participants also completed the 12‐item Short‐form Health Survey (SF‐12), Mini Mental State Examination, and short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Participants reported level of adherence to the HEP at 1 month. Results: There was a strong positive response bias for all 42 items comprising the questionnaire. Two constructs (self‐efficacy expectations and outcome expectations) demonstrated test‐retest reliability, while the third (outcome expectancies) did not. There was no association between any of the 3 constructs and the 2 scales of the SF‐12. Participants' scores on the questionnaire did not predict HEP adherence. Conclusion: While previous studies have shown that questionnaires based on social cognitive theory constructs predict exercise adherence in community‐dwelling older adults, the current study did not establish this relationship in older adults after discharge from home health physical therapy. Future research should address scaling issues.
A Study on How Projects Planning Leads to Projects Success

A project manager’s responsibility by and large as a leader is to guide the entire project team, to work towards successful completion of a project according to the predetermined goals. This research study looks into the connection between project planning and project success taking the case of a construction project. This was done by examining to what extent project planning plays a significant role in ensuring a project attains success status. The major aspects of project planning were examined and they include; requirements definition along with development of project specifications as well as project management processes and benefits of project planning. These pivotal aspects of project planning were analysed with respect to project success as far as the end user, the stakeholders and the entire project team are concerned. A number of researchers indicated that at the project planning stage it is quite challenging for the project team, particularly to accurately determine actual project tasks needed to complete a project. However, in reality project planning ensures fundamental facts about a project such as scope, schedule, design and quality likewise budgets are projected for the entire project life, this in turn impacts the rest of the project phases. This is the case as the project plan documents and guides the execution of project activities while taking into account constraints such as time and quality among many others. In the end, this research has established that given the impact of project planning in every project stage and if done well, it can be a good platform to ensure the project team and project activities continually pull in the same direction to make a project successful. More importantly, project success implies a number of things to the project stakeholders, so a broad definition of project success has to be taken into account when embarking on a project.
CMOS integrated circuits for X-band phased array systems

A power amplifier, a phase shifter, a digital attenuator, and a transmit/receive (T/R) switch are fabricated for X-band phased array applications, which are implemented with CMOS 0.18 um technology. The power amplifier has 2-stage differential and cascode structures. It provides 1-dB gain-compressed output power (P1dB) of 20 dBm and power-added-efficiency (PAE) of 19 % at 8–11 GHz frequencies. The 6-bit phase shifter utilizes embedded switched filter structure which consists of n-MOS transistors as a switch. It has 360° phase-control range with 5.6° phase resolution. It shows RMS phase and amplitude errors are below 5° and 0.8 dB, and insertion loss of −15.7 ± 1.1 dB. The 6-bit digital attenuator is comprised of embedded switched Pi-and T-type attenuators resistive networks and nMOS switches and employs compensation circuits for low insertion phase variation. It has maximum attenuation of 31.5 dB and 0.5 dB amplitude resolution. Its RMS amplitude and phase errors are below 0.4 dB and 2° at 8–11 GHz frequencies, and insertion loss is −10.5 ± 0.8 dB. The SPDT T/R switch has series and shunt transistor pairs on transmit and receive path, and only one inductance to reduce chip area. It shows insertion loss of −1.5 dB, return loss below −15 dB, and isolation about −30 dB.
DEVELOPMENT OF WELL VULNERABILITY MAPS FOR MULTIPLE WELLS USING BACKWARD-INTIME TRANSPORT MODELLING

Well vulnerability maps can be used to quantify the potential impact of contaminant sources on a well or well field. Well vulnerability can be expressed in terms of the expected contaminant concentration in the extracted well water and the time history of these concentrations, thus accounting for dilution in the well by mixing with clean water. The information contained in the vulnerability maps provides a sound quantitative basis for the management of contamination risk. RÉSUMÉ Les cartes de vulnérabilité des puits peuvent être employées pour mesurer l'impact potentiel des sources de contaminants sur un puits ou un groupe de puits. La vulnérabilité peut être exprimée en fonction de la concentration prévue des contaminants extraits de l’eau du puits et de l’historique de ces concentrations, en tenant compte ainsi de la dilution dans le puits par le mélange avec l'eau propre pompée. L'information contenue dans les cartes de vulnérabilité fournit une base quantitative solide pour la gestion du risque de contamination.
Towards Guided Personal Learning Environments: Concept, Theory, and Practice

Guided Personal Learning Environment concept (gPLEc) is a novel PLE-building methodology which seeks to fulfill emergent learning needs of a learner through incorporating teachers' guidance element in learners' PLE-building activity. Using Social Semantic Web (SSW) and Recommender System (RS) technologies the gPLEc integrates teachers' PLE-based learning competencies and learners' social web and interaction history data to generate personalized recommendations for each learner. The results, achieved so far, confirm importance of teachers' guidance element for successful implementation of the PLE vision. The expected outcome of this exploratory research is to gain knowledge to construct personalized elearning systems.
The Information Quality Effect of Accruals-Based Benchmark Beating: Evidence from the CDS Market

The capital markets’ reward to meeting or beating earnings benchmarks through earnings management has been explained through signaling models: earnings management carries cash costs, which render it a credible signal. Using flatness, a theoretically-inspired measure of information quality based on the ratio of short-term to long-term credit default swap spreads, we provide evidence of another cost: deterioration of the quality of the accounting signal. First, we validate the measure by documenting that flatness predicts future information events. Then, consistent with the conjecture that accounting-based earnings management garbles the reporting signal, we find that flatness is statistically and economically larger when firms narrowly beat the analysts’ earnings consensus forecast via accruals. In a falsification test, we document that flatness is not sensitive to benchmark beating through cash-flow-based earnings management practices. Finally, we find that the documented signal-garbling effect is concentrated among highly-levered and small firms, and does not carry over to the level of credit default swap spreads or equity returns.
Carbocysteine: clinical experience and new perspectives in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.

BACKGROUND Carbocysteine is a muco-active drug with free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory properties. It is actually approved for clinical use as adjunctive therapy of respiratory tract disorders characterized by excessive, viscous mucus, including chronic obstructive airways disease (COPD). OBJECTIVE The intriguing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of carbocysteine, beyond its known mucolytic activity, are described to explain its therapeutic efficacy and suggest new clinical uses. METHODS After reviewing physiology and preclinical studies, human studies on the use of carbocysteine in chronic inflammatory diseases, i.e., COPD and cancer cachexia, are reviewed. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS Carbocysteine has been recently recognized as an effective and safe treatment for the long-term management of COPD, able to reduce the incidence of exacerbations and improve patient quality of life. Moreover, carbocysteine was effective in counteracting some symptoms associated with cancer cachexia. Preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of carbocysteine are more important than mucolysis itself for its therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, carbocysteine may be able to reverse the oxidative stress associated with several chronic inflammatory diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. Controlled, randomized studies in humans are warranted.
Hedge Accounting During Times of Crises: Evidence from the European Banking Industry

This paper provides an in-depth analysis on financi al information related to hedge accounting of European banks from 2005-2014. We inv stigate whether hedge accounting can be used to improve the information environment in t he form of decreased information asymmetry and additional explanatory power for mark et values. We find hedge accounting to have the intended effect of earnings smoothing, whi ch works as a mechanism for the improved information environment. The estimation results sho w that both hedge accounting quantity and quality are significantly associated with current m arket value of equity with the effects being even stronger during years of financial instability . The findings of this study on the relevance of hedge accounting are particularly important in v ew of the IASB’s envisaged increased application of hedge accounting under IFRS 9.
Some Noninterior Continuation Methods for Linear Complementarity Problems

We introduce some new path-following methods for the solution of the linear complementarity problem. We call these methods noninterior continuation methods since, in contrast to interior-point methods, not all iterates have to stay in the positive orthant. This is possible since we reformulate certain perturbed complementarity problems as a nonlinear system of equations. However, similar to interior-point methods, we also try to follow the central path. We present some conditions which guarantee the existence of this central path, prove a global convergence result for some implementable noninterior continuation methods, and report some numerical results obtained with these methods. We also prove global error bound results for the perturbed linear complementarity problems.
Self-Evaluation of a Statewide Conservation Planning Program: Perceptions of an Extension Partner

Statewide organizations should use expert information gathered from their personnel to evaluate methods for reaching goals and objectives. As Extension personnel continue to partner on natural resource programs with other state and federal entities, they can improve information dissemination by learning about the conservation planning process. The study reported here was a statewide program evaluation of Natural Resource Conservation Service personnel and their opinions regarding conservation planning, incentive programs, and farmers' reasons for not adopting conservation programs. We recommend that Extension agencies study the perceptions and activities of partner entities that rely on them for information, materials, and programs.
Signed Least Mean Kurtosis-Based Adaptive Line Enhancer

Based on the aim of the characteristic of error kurtosis and signed-error, a novel algorithm of sign least mean kurtosis based adaptive line enhancer (SLMKBALE) is proposed. Simulation results have shown that the computational load of the proposed SLMKBALE algorithm is much lower than that of the LMKBALE (least mean kurtosis based adaptive line enhancer) and as many as that of LMSBALE (least mean square based adaptive line enhancer), and the SLMKBALE algorithm has better ability to hand non-Gaussian and enhancing signal spectrum in comparison with the LMSBALE, SLMSBALE (signed LMSBALE), LMFBALE (least mean fourth based adaptive line enhancer) and LMKBALE algorithm and that the mean square error (MSE) of the proposed algorithm is the lowest in all algorithms when the MSE converges. Therefore, the SLMKBALE algorithm is useful and reliable
Dietary fat and breast cancer mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Background: The influence of dietary fat upon breast cancer mortality remains largely understudied despite extensive investigation into its influence upon breast cancer risk. Objective: To conduct meta-analyses of studies to clarify the association between dietary fat and breast cancer mortality. Design: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for relevant articles published up to March 2012. Risk of all-cause or breast-cancer-specific death was evaluated by combining multivariable adjusted estimates comparing highest versus lowest categories of intake; and per 20 g increase in intake of total and/or saturated fat (g/day) using random-effects meta-analyses. Results: Fifteen prospective cohort studies investigating total fat and/or saturated fat intake (g/day) and breast cancer mortality were included. There was no difference in risk of breast-cancer-specific death (n = 6; HR = 1.14; 95% CI: 0.86, 1.52; p = 0.34) or all-cause death (n = 4; HR = 1.73; 95% CI: 0.82, 3.66; p = 0.15) for women in the highest versus lowest category of total fat intake. Breast-cancer-specific death (n = 4; HR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.09; p < 0.01) was higher for women in the highest versus lowest category of saturated fat intake. Conclusions: These meta-analyses have shown that saturated fat intake negatively impacts upon breast cancer survival.
Fall 2006 SW 664 - The Management Of Human Resources

In this course, human resources is defined as planned processes that are designed to improve the ability of staff members to do their job so that the human service organization in which they work can achieve its goals, and the staff are satisfied with their work experience. Based on this broad definition, a number of activities are included, such as work organization and job analysis, recruitment, affirmative action and hiring processes, performance appraisal, and compensation and benefit arrangements. Basic principles and techniques for the management of these activities will be reviewed in lecture and/or readings.
Ultra-wideband linear polarization converters based on pixelated reflecting metasurfaces

An ultra-wideband linear polarization converting metasurface is presented. The polarizer is based on a periodic arrangement of metallic elements printed on a grounded dielectric substrate. The element geometry of the metasurface is optimized with a genetic algorithm by discretizing the unit cell in a 16×16 pixel matrix. This polarization converter is able to work from 7.03 GHz to 29.01 GHz (121% of bandwidth) with a cross polar reflection coefficient greater than −2 dB. A refinement algorithm is also applied to the optimized cell in order to further extend the operative bandwidth and at the same time remove unnecessary pixels. Finally, the bandwidth is extended up to 129%. The unit cell periodicity is 4.6mm and the thickness of the low loss substrate is 3mm.
Structure analysis of nano-scale dual-step fabricated by Focused Ion Beam

A nano-scale dual-step was made by Focused Ion Beam (FIB). The shape of the nano two-step was measured using Atom Force Microscope (AFM). The parameter values in different location of the nano dual-step are compared, including the height h, the base surface roughness R<sub>abase</sub>, the first-step surface roughness R<sub>astep1</sub>, the second-step surface roughness R<sub>astep2</sub> and the sidewall inclination θ1, θ2. It was shown that the control of z direction was difficulte when the size was ≤ 50 nm.