Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beliefs about Medications in Asthmatic Children Presenting to Emergency Department and Their Parents

Objective. The aim of our study was to assess the relationship of beliefs about medications questionnaire (BMQ) scores of asthmatic children presenting to the emergency department and their parents with asthma severity parameters. Methods. Eighty children with asthma presenting to the emergency department with acute asthma findings and their mothers were enrolled in the study. BMQ was applied to all parents and children older than 7 years of age. Asthma severity clinical score was recorded. Results. The mean age of children (39 males, 41 females) was 49.1 ± 42.8 months. Parent necessity and concerns scores were significantly correlated with their counterparts in children (r = 0.74 and r = 0.60, respectively). Difference between necessity and concerns scores was correlated between parents and children (r = 0.60, p = .002). Child’s necessity score was significantly correlated with respiratory severity score (r = −0.43, p = .036). Conclusion. BMQ necessity and concerns scores of asthmatic children in the emergency department and their parents are correlated with asthma severity. Although not assessed in this study, this result may be attributed to the relationship of necessity and concerns with drug adherence. Therefore, increasing the knowledge about asthma medications in asthmatic children and their parents may contribute to asthma control and decrease their emergency visits with acute asthma findings.
Analysis of dihydroethidium fluorescence for the detection of intracellular and extracellular superoxide produced by NADPH oxidase

All methods used for quantitation of superoxide have limitations when it comes to differentiating between extracellular and intracellular sites of superoxide production. In the present study, we monitored dihydroethidium (DHE)-derived fluorescence at 570 nm, which indicates hydroxyethidium derived from reaction with superoxide produced by human leukemia cells (HL-60) and microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1). Phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA; 100 ng/ml) caused an increase in fluorescence and lucigenin chemiluminescence in HL-60, which was abolished by superoxide dismutase (SOD; 600 U/ml) indicating that DHE detects extracellular superoxide. Furthermore, both HL-60 cells and HMEC-1 generated a fluorescence signal in the presence of DHE under resting conditions, which was unaffected by SOD, but abolished by polyethylene glycosylated-SOD (PEG-SOD) (100 U/ml) and MnTmPyP (25 μM), indicating that DHE also detects superoxide produced intracellularly. In HMEC-1, silencing of either Nox2 or Nox4 components of NADPH oxidase with small interference RNA (siRNA) resulted in a significant reduction in superoxide detected by both DHE fluorescence (Nox2 siRNA; 71 ± 6% and Nox4 siRNA 83 ± 7% of control) and lucigenin chemiluminescence (Nox2; 54 ± 6% and Nox4 74 ± 4% of control). In conclusion, DHE-derived fluorescence at 570 nm is a convenient method for detection of intracellular and extracellular superoxide produced by phagocytic and vascular NADPH oxidase.
HYPERTONIC SALINE AND ITS EFFECT ON INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE, CEREBRAL PERFUSION PRESSURE, AND BRAIN TISSUE OXYGEN

OBJECTIVEHypertonic saline is emerging as a potentially effective single osmotic agent for control of acute elevations in intracranial pressure (ICP) caused by severe traumatic brain injury. This study examines its effect on ICP, cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO2). METHODSTwenty-five consecutive patients with severe traumatic brain injury who were treated with 23.4% NaCl for elevated ICP were evaluated. Bolt catheter probes were placed in the noninjured hemisphere, and hourly ICP, mean arterial pressure, CPP, and PbtO2 values were recorded. Thirty milliliters of 23.4% NaCl was infused over 15 minutes for intracranial hypertension, defined as ICP greater than 20 mm Hg. Twenty-one male patients and 4 female patients aged 16 to 64 years were included. The mean presenting Glasgow Coma Scale score was 5.7. RESULTSMean pretreatment values included an ICP level of 25.9 mm Hg and a PbtO2 value of 32 mm Hg. The posttreatment ICP level was decreased by a mean of 8.3 mm Hg (P < 0.0001), and there was an improvement in PbtO2 of 3.1 mm Hg (P < 0.01). ICP of more than 31 mm Hg decreased by 14.2 mm Hg. Pretreatment CPP values of less than 70 mm Hg increased by a mean of 6 mm Hg (P < 0.0001). No complications occurred from this treatment, with the exception of electrolyte and chemistry abnormalities. At 6 months postinjury, the mortality rate was 28%, with 48% of patients achieving a favorable outcome by the dichotomized Glasgow Outcome Scale. CONCLUSIONHypertonic saline as a single osmotic agent decreased ICP while improving CPP and PbtO2 in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Patients with higher baseline ICP and lower CPP levels responded to hypertonic saline more significantly.
Thymoglobulin‐Associated Cd4+ T‐Cell Depletion and Infection Risk in HIV‐Infected Renal Transplant Recipients

HIV‐infected patients are increasingly referred for kidney transplantation, and may be at an increased risk for rejection. Treatment for rejection frequently includes thymoglobulin. We studied thymoglobulin's effect on CD4+ T‐cell count, risk of infection and rejection reversal in 20 consecutive HIV‐infected kidney recipients. All patients used antiretroviral therapy and opportunistic infection prophylaxis. Maintenance immunosuppression consisted of prednisone, mycophenolate mofetil and cyclosporine. Eleven patients received thymoglobulin (7 for rejection and 4 for delayed/slow graft function) while 9 did not. These two groups were similar in age, gender, race, donor characteristics and immunosuppression. Mean CD4+ T‐cell counts remained stable in patients who did not receive thymoglobulin, but became profoundly suppressed in those who did, decreasing from 475 ± 192 to 9 ± 10 cells/μL (p < 0.001). Recovery time ranged from 3 weeks to 2 years despite effective HIV suppression. Although opportunistic infections were successfully suppressed, low CD4+ T‐cell count was associated with increased risk of serious infections requiring hospitalization. Rejection reversed in 6 of 7 patients receiving thymoglobulin. We conclude that thymoglobulin reverses acute rejection in HIV‐infected kidney recipients, but produces profound and long‐lasting suppression of the CD4+ T‐cell count associated with increased risk of infections requiring hospitalization.
Alterations in contractility and intracellular Ca2+ transients in isolated bundles of skeletal muscle fibers from rats with chronic heart failure.

To determine if chronic heart failure (CHF) leads to functional or structural alterations of skeletal muscle, we compared intracellular Ca2+ signaling, contractility, and the rate of fatigue development, together with electron microscopy (EM), in skeletal muscle preparations from rats with myocardial infarction-induced CHF versus sham-operated control rats. Bundles of 100 to 200 cells were dissected from the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle of control (n = 13) and CHF (n = 19) rats and were either loaded with aequorin or fixed for EM. Muscles from CHF rats exhibited depressed tension development compared with control muscles during twitches (1.4 +/- 0.2 versus 2.8 +/- 0.7 g/mm2, P < .05) and maximal tetani (5.3 +/- 1.4 versus 10.7 +/- 2.4 g/mm2, P < .05). Depressed tension in CHF was accompanied by reduced quantitative [Ca2+]i release during twitches (0.7 +/- 0.1 versus 0.4 +/- 0.1 microM, P < .05) and during maximal tetani (1.8 +/- 0.3 versus 0.9 +/- 0.2 microM, P < .05). Skeletal muscle from CHF rats also demonstrated prolonged intracellular Ca2+ transients during twitches and tetani and accelerated fatigue development. EM revealed a lack of cellular atrophy in the CHF rats. In conclusion, EDL skeletal muscle from rats with CHF had intrinsic abnormalities in excitation-contraction coupling unrelated to cellular atrophy. These findings indicate that CHF is a condition accompanied by EDL skeletal muscle dysfunction.
Hybridization, Youth Subculture, and the Self-making of Senior Muslim Students in a Philippine Public High School

Public schools are spaces for producing self-disciplined “pedagogized” bodies. But they are also a niche for students to create various subcultures that are different from the official school culture. When Muslim students enroll in public schools, they are positioned within these heterogenous spaces, yet as the present study shows, following the Foucauldian approach that ties culture to power and resistance, Muslim students are also able to create their own “techniques” of self-making that allow them to avoid the panoptic surveillance of the school while also blending, though not completely, with the mainstream culture of the students. This study, by focusing on senior Muslim students, maps out the various subcultural styles within the Makabayan school by relying exclusively on the emic categories of the students.
Upper-Respiratory Viral Infection, Biomarkers, and COPD Exacerbations

Background Respiratory viruses frequently are recovered in the upper-respiratory tract during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), but their role as contributing pathogens remains unclear. The usefulness of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein as indicators of the presence or absence of viral infection in this setting also needs to be evaluated. Methods The study was of a prospective cohort of patients with COPD admitted to the ED for AECOPD. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for 14 respiratory viruses was performed on nasopharyngeal swabs collected at admission and after recovery in stable condition. Results Eighty-six patients (mean age, 72 years; male, 64%) were included. During AECOPD, upper-respiratory viral infections were detected in 44 (51%) patients: picornavirus in 22, metapneumovirus in seven, coronavirus in eight, influenza A/B in two, parainfluenza in two, and respiratory syncytial virus in three. A dual infection was present in three patients. After recovery, viruses were detected in only eight (11%) of 71 patients (P < .001 compared with AECOPD phase). In five of these patients, no virus had been identified during the initial exacerbation, thus suggesting a new viral infection acquired during follow-up. During AECOPD, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein levels did not differ significantly between patients with or without a proven viral infection. Conclusions Prevalence of upper-respiratory viral infection, as detected from nasopharyngeal swab by RT-PCR, is high in AECOPD and low after clinical recovery, suggesting that AECOPD frequently are triggered by viral infections initiated in the upper-respiratory tract. In our study, serum procalcitonin and C-reactive protein did not discriminate virus-associated exacerbations from others. Trial registration clinicaltrials.gov; Identifier: NCT00448604.
A contrastive study of E-book and paper-book reading behaviors: The case of the JinYong Reader

Contrasting with paper-book, E-book has the advantage of taking great amount of information and the accessibility of hyper link. According to the researches which compared the reading behaviors on paper-book to screen, reading on different media cause different reading behaviors (Dillon, 1992; Noyes & Garland, 2008) [1] [2]. E-book reader is going to integrate the advantages of paper-book and e-book to become a main vehicle of knowledge. Our study take JinYong reader for example, hypothesize that e-book reader would cause different behaviors from paper-book. And if e-book reader would become the main vehicle of knowledge in the future, then it must have equivalent legibility and usability to paper-book. Experiment 1 is a usability test. We recruited the users who take a lot of time on reading to test the function of JinYong Reader, for example, basic operation, highlighting, note taking, and dictionary. The users took mental workload and usability questionnaires after each task. The results show JinYong Reader's slow reaction time, unclear feedback, ease of crash, and ambiguous navigation. We make suggestion for lower crash rate, simplifying the corresponding of button and function, and reducing finger shelter in the discussion. Experiment 2 asked users to read novels separately on e-book reader and paper-book in natural condition, compared their reading behaviors on paper-book to JinYong Reader. The users accepted subjective visual fatigue scale, NASA-TLX mental workload scale, and reading comprehension tests after reading. The result shows the difference on reading speed and subjective visual fatigue between paper-book and JinYong Reader is significant. According to our results, the usability and legibility of paper-book is still better than e-book reader. However, e-book reader provide hyper link and is more convenient to carry information. Also, the disadvantage of JinYong reader does not always happen on the other e-book readers. With the high development of technology, the traditional Chinese e-book reader's evolution is still in prospect.
History of Allergy and Reduced Incidence of Colorectal Cancer, Iowa Women's Health Study

Previous epidemiologic studies have reported that a history of allergy is associated with reduced risk of colorectal cancer and other malignancies. We studied the association between allergy history and incident colorectal cancer (n = 410) prospectively in 21,292 Iowa women followed for 8 years. Allergy was defined from four self-reported questions about physician-diagnosed asthma (a), hay fever (b), eczema or allergy of the skin (c), and other allergic conditions (d). A history of any allergy was inversely associated with incident colorectal cancer: after multivariate adjustment, the hazard ratio (HR) was 0.74 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.59-0.94]. Compared with women with no allergy, women reporting only one of the four types of allergy and women reporting two or more types had HRs of 0.75 (95% CI, 0.56-1.01) and 0.58 (95% CI, 0.37-0.90), respectively (P trend = 0.02). The inverse association persisted in analyses restricted to any type of nonasthmatic allergy (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.56-0.95). HRs were similar for rectal and colon cancers as well as for colon subsites: proximal and distal (HRs for any allergy ranged from 0.63 to 0.78 across these end points). Allergy history, which may reflect enhanced immunosurveillance, is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(11):2357–62)
A new linguistic feature for Automated Essay Scoring

This study reviews the features used in the previous Automated Essay Scoring (AES) system, and attempts to develop a new linguistic feature-thematic feature for AES systems. According to Functional Grammar, theme is the point of departure for message, the element with which the clause is concerned. The thematic structure is an important method to promote essay coherence, and to present the message structure of essays. In order to find out whether the thematic feature distinguish the differences between those essays that were rated as high and those rated as low, or the feature is a valid predictor for AES system, we conduct a correlation analysis on the AES corpus, which consists of 2,000 expert-graded College English Test essays. Based on the statistical analysis, we extract the RB-PRP ratio as the formalized form of the thematic feature. Findings of the study indicate that the thematic feature has a significant positive correlation with the human-assigned essay scores. And the performance results indicate that the thematic feature promotes the performance of the AES baseline system. The findings of the study also indicate that linguistic research in traditional linguistic area is valuable for constructing a statistical model in the area of natural language processing (NLP), especially in the process of selecting intelligent linguistic features which are predictable for NLP systems.
Does Economic Insecurity Cause Weight Gain Among Canadian Labor Force Participants?

The National Population Health Survey (NPHS) suggests that for labor force participants age 25 to 64, the prevalence of selfâ€ reported obesity in Canada has increased from 16 percent in 1998 to 23 percent in 2008. Using six cycles of NPHS data (1998â€“2009), I explore Canada's obesity dilemma by considering the effect of economic insecurityâ€”measured as the probability of an individual experiencing a severe negative economic shock. As an identification strategy, a fixed effects model is employed to control for unobserved timeâ€ invariant heterogeneity and a set of instruments based on an individual's economic environment are specified in order to isolate causality. Results suggest that for males age 25 to 64, a 1 percent increase in economic insecurity is predicted to increase their body mass index (BMI) by 0.10 points. For females age 25 to 64, the association between economic insecurity and BMI is statistically insignificant at conventional confidence levels.
Nesfatin-1 in the Lateral Parabrachial Nucleus Inhibits Food Intake, Modulates Excitability of Glucosensing Neurons, and Enhances UCP1 Expression in Brown Adipose Tissue

Nesfatin-1, an 82-amino acid neuropeptide, has been shown to induce anorexia and energy expenditure. Food intake is decreased in ad libitum-fed rats following injections of nesfatin-1 into the lateral, third, or fourth ventricles of the brain. Although the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN) is a key regulator of feeding behavior and thermogenesis, the role of nesfatin-1 in this structure has not yet been delineated. We found that intra-LPBN microinjections of nesfatin-1 significantly reduced nocturnal cumulative food intake and average meal sizes without affecting meal numbers in rats. Because glucose sensitive neurons are involved in glucoprivic feeding and glucose homeostasis, we examined the effect of nesfatin-1 on the excitability of LPBN glucosensing neurons. In vivo electrophysiological recordings from LPBN glucose sensitive neurons showed that nesfatin-1 (1.5 × 10−8 M) excited most of the glucose-inhibited neurons. Chronic administration of nesfatin-1 into the LPBN of rats reduced body weight gain and enhanced the expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in brown adipose tissue (BAT) over a 10-day period. Furthermore, the effects of nesfatin-1 on food intake, body weight, and BAT were attenuated by treatment with the melanocortin antagonist SHU9119. These results demonstrate that nesfatin-1 in LPBN inhibited food intake, modulated excitability of glucosensing neurons and enhanced UCP1 expression in BAT via the melanocortin system.
Structure of aspartate β-semialdehyde dehydrogenase from Francisella tularensis.

Aspartate β-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (ASADH) is an enzyme involved in the diaminopimelate pathway of lysine biosynthesis. It is essential for the viability of many pathogenic bacteria and therefore has been the subject of considerable research for the generation of novel antibiotic compounds. This manuscript describes the first structure of ASADH from Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia and a potential bioterrorism agent. The structure was determined at 2.45 Å resolution and has a similar biological assembly to other bacterial homologs. ASADH is known to be dimeric in bacteria and have extensive interchain contacts, which are thought to create a half-sites reactivity enzyme. ASADH from higher organisms shows a tetrameric oligomerization, which also has implications for both reactivity and regulation. This work analyzes the apo form of F. tularensis ASADH, as well as the binding of the enzyme to its cofactor NADP+.
Functional morphology of the mantle of Nautilus pompilius (Mollusca, Cephalopoda)

This study presents histological and cytological findings on the structural differentiation of the mantle of Nautilus pompilius in order to characterize the cells that are responsible for shell formation. The lateral and front mantle edges split distally into three folds: an outer, middle, and inner fold. Within the upper part of the mantle the mantle edge is divided into two folds only; the inner fold disappears where the hood is attached to the mantle. At the base of the outer fold of the lateral and front mantle edge an endo‐epithelial gland, the mantle edge gland, is localized. The gland cells are distinguished by a distinct rough endoplasmic reticulum and by numerous secretory vesicles. Furthermore, they show a strong accumulation of calcium compounds, indicating that the formation of the shell takes place in this region of the mantle. Numerous synaptic contacts between the gland cells and the axons of the nerve fibers reveal that the secretion in the area of the mantle edge gland is under nervous control. The whole mantle tissue is covered with a columnar epithelium having a microvillar border. The analyses of the outer epithelium show ultrastructural characteristics of a transport active epithelium, indicating that this region of the mantle is involved in the sclerotization of the shell. Ultrastructural findings concerning the epithelium between the outer and middle fold suggest that the periostracum is formed in this area of the mantle, as it is in other conchiferan molluscs. J. Morphol. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An Eye Movement Analysis Algorithm for a Multielement Target Tracking Task: Maximum Transition-Based Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering

An algorithm was developed to characterize, compare, and analyze eye movement sequences that occur during visual tracking of multiple moving targets. When individuals perform a task requiring interrogating multiple moving targets, complex and long eye movement sequences occur, making sequence comparisons difficult in whole and in part. The developed algorithm characterizes a sequence by hierarchically clustering the targets that an individual interrogated through an unordered transition matrix created from the frequencies of eye fixation transitions among the targets. Then, the resulting sets of clustered targets, which we define as multilevel visual groupings (VGs), can be compared with analyze performance. The algorithm was applied to an aircraft conflict detection task. Eye movement data were collected from 25 expert air traffic controllers and 40 novices. The task was to detect air traffic conflicts for easy, moderate, and hard difficulty scenarios on simulated radar display. Experts' and novices' multilevel (level one composed of pairs, and level two composed of three or four targets) VGs were aggregated and visualized. Chisquare tests confirmed that there were significant differences for easy (level one: p <; 0.001, level two: p = 0.004), moderate (level two: p = 0.047), and hard (level two: p <; 0.001) difficulty scenarios. The algorithm supported identifying different eye movement characteristics between experts and novices. Scans of the experts had multilevel VGs around the conflict pairs, whereas those of the novices included different aircraft. The results show promise for using the compact representation of eye movements for performance analysis.
Normally-OFF STT-MRAM Cache with Zero-Byte Compression for Energy Efficient Last-Level Caches

Spin Transfer Torque Magnetic Random Access Memory (STT-MRAM) is a promising alternative to SRAM due to its low leakage and scalability advantages. In fact, although being more energy-efficient than SRAM, STT-MRAM caches at higher levels (e.g. L3) still incur a high energy consumption due to 1) high leakage in their read and write circuits and 2) high dynamic write energy in their bit-cells. To address this problem, we propose a novel normally-off STT-MRAM cache that exploits the fact that most applications access zero-byte patterns very frequently. In this architecture, writing of zero-bytes is avoided to reduce write energy. In addition, all read and write circuits are by default power gated (i.e. normally-off) to reduce leakage power. Then, dynamically at runtime, only those circuits required for the ongoing operation are activated. Our evaluations for an L3-cache of a multi-core microprocessor show that this approach reduces the energy consumption by 60% compared to state-of-the-art, while its impact on performance is negligible.