Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors influencing paediatric nurses' responses to medication administration

Objective To evaluate the importance of contextual and policy factors on nurses' judgement about medication administration practice. Design A questionnaire survey of responses to a number of factorial vignettes in June 2004. These vignettes considered a combination of seven contextual and policy factors that were thought to influence nurses' judgements relating to medication administration. Participants 185 (67% of eligible) clinical paediatric nursing staff returned completed questionnaires. Setting A tertiary paediatric hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Results Double checking the patient, double checking the drug and checking the legality of the prescription were the three strongest predictors of nurses' actions regarding medication administration. Conclusions Policy factors, and not contextual factors, drive nurses' judgement in response to hypothetical scenarios.
Membrane Insertion Kinetics of a Protein Domain In Vivo

The pathway by which segments of a polytopic membrane protein are inserted into the membrane has not been resolvedin vivo. We have developed an in vivo kinetic assay to examine the insertion pathway of the polytopic protein bacterioopsin, the apoprotein of Halobacterium salinarumbacteriorhodopsin. Strains were constructed that express the bacteriorhodopsin mutants I4C:H6 and T5C:H6, which carry a unique Cys in the N-terminal extracellular domain and a polyhistidine tag at the C terminus. Translocation of the N-terminal domain was detected using a membrane-impermeant gel shift reagent to derivatize the Cys residue of nascent radiolabeled molecules. Derivatization was assessed by gel electrophoresis of the fully elongated radiolabeled population. The time required to translocate and fully derivatize the Cys residues of I4C:H6 and T5C:H6 is 46 ± 9 and 61 ± 6 s, respectively. This is significantly shorter than the elongation times of the proteins, which are 114 ± 26 and 169 ± 16 s, respectively. These results establish that translocation of the bacterioopsin N terminus and insertion of the first transmembrane segment occur co-translationally and confirm the use of the assay to monitor the kinetics of polytopic membrane protein insertion in vivo.
Exposure to heat-inactivated Trichophyton rubrum resulting in a limited immune response of human keratinocytes.

BACKGROUND Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum) represents the most important agent of dermatophytosis in humans. T. rubrum infection causes slight inflammation, and tends to be chronic and recurrent. It is suggested that it may result from the failure of epithelial cells to recognize T. rubrum effectively and initiate effective immune responses. The C-type lectin receptors (CLR) and toll-like receptors (TLR) are the two major pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that recognize fungal components. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to analyze the expression of those PRRs and the cytokines in HaCaT cells stimulated with heat-inactivated T. rubrum conidia and hyphae, respectively. METHODS HaCaT cells were unstimulated or stimulated with heat-inactivated T. rubrum conidia and hyphae (1×10(6) and 1.5×10(5) colony-forming unit (CFU) in 2 ml medium, respectively) for 6, 12 and 24 hours. The mRNA expression of PRRs involved in recognizing fungal pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and signaling molecules were measured by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Meanwhile, surface toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, TLR4 and Dectin-1 were analyzed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) 24 hours after treatment. The cytokines were detected in cell culture supernatants of HaCaT cells in 12 and 24 hours after treatment. RESULTS HaCaT cells constitutively expressed mRNA of membrane-bound TLR1, 2, 4 and 6, Dectin1 and DC-SIGN, but not Dectin-2 or Mincle. Heat-killed T. rubrum did not significantly upregulate gene transcriptions of the PRRs of HaCaT cells. Heat-inactivated T. rubrum conidia significantly reduced the surface expression of TLR2 and Dectin-1, and suppressed the secretions of interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) of HaCaT cells, while heat-killed T. rubrum hyphae significantly induced the secretions of IP-10 and MCP-1. CONCLUSION The cell-wall antigens of T. rubrum fail to activate transcriptional expression of PRRs and induce a lower immune response of HaCaT cells by limited cytokines secretion.
Comparison of Different Approaches for the Calculation of Energy Expenditure Using Doubly Labeled Water in a Small Mammal

The doubly labeled water (DLW) method is an isotope‐based technique for the estimation of the CO2 production, and hence energy expenditure, of free‐living animals and humans. Several methods are available for the calculation of CO2 production from the isotope fluxes, depending on different assumptions about the behavior of isotopes during the elimination process. We used the DLW method to estimate the daily energy expenditures (DEE) of 55 field voles (Microtus agrestis) held in a captive facility at 8°C. We calculated DEE using both plateau and intercept approaches for estimating the sizes of the isotope dilution spaces, three different assumptions about fractionation processes, and two ways of treating the different dilution spaces of the oxygen and hydrogen isotopes. We compared the resultant DEE estimates with metabolizable energy intake (MEI) measured during a 3‐d feeding trial immediately before the DLW measurements, during which the animals were in energy balance. By making different assumptions about the apparent energy absorption efficiency, we generated a range of direct estimates of MEI. When we compared DEE and MEI, we found that the two‐pool model formulations consistently underestimated energy demands by up to 29.8%, depending on the assumptions made in the reference calculation. However, while our data suggest that some correction for fractionation is necessary, with the present data we were unable to separate the two most common treatments of fractionation. These data strongly support the previous suggestion that for small mammals single‐pool models provide more accurate estimates of energy demands than two‐pool formulation of the DLW method.
Secular changes in psychophysically determined maximum acceptable weights and forces over 20 years for male industrial workers

The most frequent and expensive cause of compensable workplace injuries loss is manual material handling (MMH). In an attempt to minimise these losses, refinement of existing MMH guidelines is a component of redesigning high risk MMH jobs. In the development of the present MMH 1991 guidelines (Snook and Ciriello 1991), maximum acceptable weights (MAWs) and forces (MAFs) were derived from studies conducted in a 21 year time span before the above publication date. The question arises whether the present generation of workers have the same psychophysically determined weights and forces as those reflected in the guidelines. Therefore, the present study investigated whether secular changes had occurred in key MMH tasks in trials performed by present day local industrial workers. A total of 23 male industrial workers performed 20 variations of lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling and carrying tasks. A psychophysical methodology, identical to that of the authors' previous experiments, was used whereby the subjects were asked to select a workload they could sustain for 8 h ‘without straining themselves or without becoming unusually tired, weakened, overheated or out of breath’. The results revealed that MAWs of lifting, lowering and carrying averaged 69% of the guideline values. MAFs of pushing and pulling showed less of a drop, averaging 82% and 94% respectively for initial and sustained forces. The results also indicated that the effects of the variables frequency, height, lifting vs. lowering, pushing vs. pulling were similar to earlier reported results, even though the absolute weights or forces were lower. It was concluded that consideration to change existing guidelines, reflecting this new psychophysical set point, may be appropriate if these significant performance decreases are confirmed in other locations, with greater subject numbers, and by other investigators.
Storage lipids of yeasts: a survey of nonpolar lipid metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris, and Yarrowia lipolytica.

Biosynthesis and storage of nonpolar lipids, such as triacylglycerols (TG) and steryl esters (SE), have gained much interest during the last decades because defects in these processes are related to severe human diseases. The baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has become a valuable tool to study eukaryotic lipid metabolism because this single-cell microorganism harbors many enzymes and pathways with counterparts in mammalian cells. In this article, we will review aspects of TG and SE metabolism and turnover in the yeast that have been known for a long time and combine them with new perceptions of nonpolar lipid research. We will provide a detailed insight into the mechanisms of nonpolar lipid synthesis, storage, mobilization, and degradation in the yeast S. cerevisiae. The central role of lipid droplets (LD) in these processes will be addressed with emphasis on the prevailing view that this compartment is more than only a depot for TG and SE. Dynamic and interactive aspects of LD with other organelles will be discussed. Results obtained with S. cerevisiae will be complemented by recent investigations of nonpolar lipid research with Yarrowia lipolytica and Pichia pastoris. Altogether, this review article provides a comprehensive view of nonpolar lipid research in yeast.
A mixed method thematic review: the importance of hope to the dying patient.

AIM To review the literature and investigate the meaning of hope to patients receiving palliative care and to examine the themes that foster hope in those patients. BACKGROUND Hope is often linked to the future and is a significant factor for patients dealing with adversity, such as a terminal illness. The concept of hope is underreported in the literature. DESIGN Mixed method thematic review. DATA SOURCES CINAHL, Scopus, PsychINFO, Informit, PubMed, Science Direct, ProQuest, Web of Science and Google Scholar online databases were searched using keywords and inclusion and exclusion criteria published between 2003-2013. REVIEW METHODS Twelve qualitative articles were thematically analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) steps to ascertain major themes and sub-themes. On analysis, the remaining three mixed method studies were found to reflect the themes generated by the qualitative studies. RESULTS Seven key themes that increased hope were found: disease status; positive personal relationships; positive character traits; quality of life; setting and achieving goals; spirituality/religion; and hope after death. CONCLUSION The importance of hope to dying patients was established. Hope is a very complex and personal phenomena requiring hope-enhancing strategies to be individualized. More research is needed with groups whose culture, youth or type of illness may affect their ability to foster and maintain hope.
Deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression.

Brian did reasonably well for about 3 years, with occasional worsening of depressive symptoms but generally with good functioning, when he developed his current major depressive episode. This was his most severe episode to date, with active suicidal ideation with a plan (but no immediate intent) to shoot himself. Over the next year, he had a number of treatments, among them multiple antidepressant medications, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, mirtazapine, tricyclic antidepressants, and tranylcypromine, as well as augmentation with lithium, thyroid hormone, buspirone, atypical antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, stimulants, light therapy, and ongoing psychotherapy. No treatment was able to achieve remission or a persistent clinically signifi cant reduction in symptoms. Given his degree of treatment resistance and continued overall deterioration, including increased suicidal ideation, he was referred for ECT. He achieved a good response (50%‐60% symptom reduction) with eight highdose right unilateral ECT treatments. ECT was delivered concurrently with ongoing medications, and attempts were made to optimize medications during and after ECT. However, Brian relapsed in about 6 weeks, and repeat ECT (including four right unilateral and eight bitemporal treatments delivered concurrently with ongoing medications) was unsuccessful in achieving signifi cant symptom reduction but was associated with notable cognitive impairment.
Database of mutations in the p53 and APC tumor suppressor genes designed to facilitate molecular epidemiological analyses

Germline and somatic mutations in the p53 and APC genes contribute to neoplasia. The patterns of these and other acquired mutations in cancers reflect environmental mutagens and endogenous factors that contribute to carcinogenesis. Herein, we describe a database of almost 2,300 mutations in the p53 and APC genes published until September 1, 1993. In addition to cataloging the mutations, multiple fields of information have been added to facilitate future molecular epidemiological analyses of human cancer. The accuracy of the database has been checked by the present authors and, by soliciting feedback from the original corresponding authors. The strengths and limitations of the primary literature are discussed. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Creative Economy

R E P O R T S U B M I T T E D T O I N D U S T R Y C A N A D A B Y T R A C Y Z H A N G , P H . D . ( S I M O N E D E B E A U V O I R I N S T I T U T E , C O N C O R D I A U N I V E R S I T Y ) , W I T H A N A N N O T A T E D B I B L I O G R A P H Y P R E P A R E D B Y A U R E L I A R O M A N , M . A . O N B E H A L F O F T H E Q U E B E C E N G L I S H S P E A K I N G C O M M U N I T I E S R E S E A R C H N E T W O R K ( Q U E S C R E N ) QUESCREN is a joint initiative of the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities and Concordia University's School of Extended Learning
The cell type‐specific octamer transcription factor OTF‐2 has two domains required for the activation of transcription.

Many studies indicate that the cell type‐specific transcription factor OTF‐2 plays a central role in the lymphoid‐specific transcription of immunoglobulin genes. In order to better understand the mechanisms regulating transcriptional selectivity, we have initiated a functional dissection of OTF‐2. By mutagenesis of an OTF‐2 cDNA and by subsequent transfection into non‐lymphoid cells we have defined two domains that are required jointly for high levels of transcription from a lymphoid‐specific target promoter. One of these domains, located at the extreme carboxy‐terminus, is rich in proline. The other domain, which appears to represent a novel type, is located upstream of the POU‐specific box and contains clusters of intermingled proline, glutamine and leucine residues. Point mutations that change either groups of glutamine or groups of leucine show that both types of amino acids are required for function. Our data indicate that a high content in a particular amino acid does not necessarily suffice to generate a potent activation domain but that severe structural constraints may also play a major role.
SiGe HBTs with cut-off frequency of 350 GHz

This work reports on SiGe HBTs with f/sub T/ of 350 GHz. This is the highest reported f/sub T/ for any Si-based transistor as well as any bipolar transistor. Associated f/sub max/ is 170 GHz, and BV/sub CEO/ and BV/sub CBO/ are measured to be 1.4 V and 5.0 V, respectively. Also achieved was the simultaneous optimization of f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ resulting in 270 GHz and 260 GHz, with BV/sub CEO/ and BV/sub CBO/ of 1.6 V and 5.5 V, respectively. The dependence of device performance on bias condition and device dimension has been investigated. Considerations regarding the extraction of such high f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ values are also discussed.
Cre Recombinase Strains Used for the Study of Adipose Tissues and Adipocyte Progenitors

Adipose tissues play important roles in whole body energy homeostasis and lifer span. Understanding the mechanisms of controlling adipose tissues development is significant for providing useful information to treat the worldwide epidemic of obesity and its associated metabolic diseases. Several different Cre transgenes have been generated and used for determining the origin of adipose tissues and the function of individual gene in regulating adipose growth and development. Here, we mainly review and discuss the efficiency and specific of those Cre recombinase mouse strains used for the study of adipose tissues and adipocyte progenitors. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 2698–2703, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
First Case Report of Catheter-Related Bacteremia Due to “Mycobacterium lacticola”

ABSTRACT This is the first report of infection caused by “Mycobacterium lacticola,” a rapidly growing, scotochromogenic mycobacterium that was isolated from the blood of an immunosuppressed child. The organism was identified by sequence analysis of >1,400 bp of the 16S rRNA gene. The clinical relevance of this isolate, coupled with its unique 16S rRNA gene sequence, should prompt further investigation to establish this organism as a valid mycobacterial species.
Demonstration of a Plasmonic MMI Switch in 10-Gb/s True Data Traffic Conditions

We report the first experimental performance evaluation of a 75-μm-long plasmonic multimode interference switch that is hetero-integrated on a silicon-on-insulator platform, operating with 10-Gb/s data signals. The switch exhibits a 2.9-μs response time and 44.5% modulation depth, while the extinction ratio between the ports alters from 5.4 to -1.5 dB for 35-mW electrical (switching) power. Error-free performance was achieved.
Consensus analysis of double integrator agents with persistent interaction graphs

This article proposes a technique to compute convergence rate to consensus for multi-agent systems with double integrator agent dynamics interacting via time-varying, undirected and persistent communication graphs. Existing results provide control laws guaranteeing asymptotic convergence to consensus but no practically computable estimate of the convergence rate. We introduce a novel analysis technique relying on classical notions of persistent of excitation (PE) to establish the convergence rate of a mildly modified double integrator consensus law. Since the individual time-varying weights pass through singularities, the closed loop agent dynamics correspond to a time-varying linear system. A transformation is utilized to convert the consensus problem into a stabilization problem on which an amalgamation of the potential function approach and persistence of excitation (PE) results are applied. As in the single integrator case [1], a saturation in the convergence rate is observed.
Optimization of error probability of multi-antenna broadcast channel using convex optimization

We consider the problem of multi-antenna broadcast transmitter design which minimizes the probability of bit error subject to, alternatively, peak or average power constraints. The proposed transmitter represents a nonlinear one-to-one mapping of the broadcast data and is obtained as a solution to a convex error probability optimization problem that can be obtained using computationally efficient interior point algorithms. It is proved that the proposed transmitter is always optimal unless the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is too low or the channel is nearly singular. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed transmission scheme significantly improves the probability of error as compared to several earlier approaches to multi-antenna broadcast transmitter design.
Improved Textural Built-Up Presence Index for Automatic Recognition of Human Settlements in Arid Regions With Scattered Vegetation

The so-called PANTEX methodology for the automatic recognition of built-up areas is based on analysis of image textural measures extracted using anisotropic rotation-invariant gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) statistics . These measures may overestimate the built-up areas in case of presence of scattered trees having the same spatial pattern of settlements. This overestimation is especially remarkable in case of bright soil background as in desert areas. In this paper we compare two options able to reduce this problem. One method is based on the subtraction of the vegetated areas from the built-up areas detected using the PANTEX index. The other method is based on the introduction of a morphological filtering step that pre-selects the image information to be ingested by the textural analysis phase. The test presented here uses multispectral Quick Bird satellite data input at the spatial resolution of 2.4 meters. In the selected test area, the application of the standard PANTEX procedure achieves the overall accuracy of 67.92%. The improvement of the procedure using the vegetation index achieves the accuracy of 70.37%, while the improvement based on morphological filtering achieves the accuracy of 88.69%, with an increase respect to the standard procedure of 2.44% and 20.76%, respectively.
Distribution of NADPH‐diaphorase and expression of nNOS, N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor (NMDAR1) and non‐NMDA glutamate receptor (GlutR2) genes in the neurons of the hippocampus after domoic acid‐induced lesions in adult rats

Neuronal degeneration followed by detection of nitric oxide (NO)‐producing neurons of the hippocampus was investigated at 4 h, 16 h, 24 h, 2 days, 5 days, and 14 days after administration of domoic acid (DA), in the present study. Histopathological analysis (Nissl staining) displayed dark‐stained degenerating neurons in the hippocampus at 24 h to 14 days after DA administration, with degeneration most severe at 5–14 days. NADPH‐d‐positive neurons were observed in different subfields of the hippocampus in control rats and DA treated rats at 4–24 h. Complete loss of NADPH‐d‐positive neurons in the CA1 and CA3 subfields and also in the hilus of dentate gyrus (DG) was observed at 5 days and 14 days after the administration of DA. In contrast, at 4–24 h, neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)‐immunoreactive cells were absent from the hippocampal subfields in control and DA‐treated animals but were observed at 5 days and 14 days after DA administration. N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor (NMDAR1) immunoreactivity was increased in the hippocampal neurons at 5 days after DA administration and double immunofluorescence demonstrated its coexpression with induced nNOS expression. No significant change could be observed in the immunoreactivity of non‐NMDA receptor (GlutR2) as compared with the controls, while occasional immunoreactive neurons were colocalized with induced nNOS expression. Reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction analysis showed the upregulated expression of nNOS and downregulated expression of NMDAR1 at 5 days after the administration of DA. Although nNOS mRNA expression was rapidly induced at 5 days after DA administration, in situ hybridization analysis revealed complete loss of nNOS mRNA expression in the region of neuronal degeneration in the hippocampus at 24 h and 5 days after DA administration. The present study has shown that NADPH‐d and nNOS express differentially in the neurons of the hippocampus in DA‐induced neurotoxicity. It is speculated that induction of nNOS and glutamate receptor genes in the neurons of the hippocampus in response to DA‐induced neurotoxicity could have contributed to the neuronal degeneration. Hippocampus 2003;13:260–272. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.