Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hypertenion: Sensitivity of Patient Outcomes to Pharmacist Interventions. Part II: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in Hypertension Management

Background: Hypertension is a major health concern worldwide due to its deleterio us impact. Few studies have quantitatively assessed pharmacists’ interventions in hypertensive patients. Objectives: To identify and quantify outcomes sensitive to pharmacists’ interventions. Methods: International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, and EMBASE were searched from inception through December 2006. Two independent reviewers identified articles; results were compared and resolved through consensus. Data extracted included intervention type, patient numbers, demographics, study characteristics, instruments used, data compared, and outcomes reported. A random effects meta-analysis was used to combine data. Study quality was assessed using the Downs–Black scale. Results: Of 203 potential articles identified, 98 were selected and their abstracts were read. Nine of these were reviewed full-text and 19 more were identified from references, resulting in a total of 28 articles. Research designs included 18 randomized controlled trials, 6 single-arm clinical trials, 3 nonrandomized comparative trials, and 1 database study. Average quality score was 66% ± 12% (fair). Medication management (82%) and hypertension education (68%) were the interventions most used. Thirty-nine study results (57% of all outcomes evaluated) were sensitive to pharmacists’ interventions. Meta-analysis of 2246 patients in 13 studies found that pharmacists’ interventions significantly reduced systolic blood pressure (10.7 ± 11.6 mm Hg; p = 0.002), while controls remained unchanged (3.2 ± 12.1 mm Hg; p = 0.361). Pharmacists’ interventions further reduced systolic blood pressure (6.9 ± 12.1 mm Hg;p = 0.047) over controls. Nonsensitive results included further reduction in diastolic blood pressure (3.6 ± 3.7 mm Hg; p = 0.06), quality of life (1 of 8 significant), and adherence (5 of 13 significant). Conclusions: Systolic blood pressure is sensitive to pharmacists’ interventions. Other outcomes may also be sensitive; however, more high-quality studies are needed for a comprehensive quantitative assessment
Posttetanic potentiation critically depends on an enhanced Ca2+ sensitivity of vesicle fusion mediated by presynaptic PKC

Activity-dependent enhancement of transmitter release is a common form of presynaptic plasticity, but the underlying signaling mechanisms have remained largely unknown, perhaps because of the inaccessibility of most CNS nerve terminals. Here we investigated the signaling steps that underlie posttetanic potentiation (PTP), a form of presynaptic plasticity found at many CNS synapses. Direct whole-cell recordings from the large calyx of Held nerve terminals with the perforated patch-clamp technique showed that PTP was not mediated by changes in the presynaptic action potential waveform. Ca2+ imaging revealed a slight increase of the presynaptic Ca2+ transient during PTP (≈15%), which, however, was too small to explain a large part of PTP. The presynaptic PKC pathway was critically involved in PTP because (i) PTP was occluded by activation of PKC with phorbol esters, and (ii) PTP was largely (by approximately two-thirds) blocked by the PKC inhibitors, Ro31-8220 or bisindolylmaleimide. Activation of PKC during PTP most likely acts directly on the presynaptic release machinery, because in presynaptic Ca2+ uncaging experiments, activation of PKC by phorbol ester greatly increased the Ca2+ sensitivity of vesicle fusion in a Ro31-8220-sensitive manner (≈300% with small Ca2+ uncaging stimuli), but only slightly increased presynaptic voltage-gated Ca2+ currents (≈15%). We conclude that a PKC-dependent increase in the Ca2+ sensitivity of vesicle fusion is a key step in the enhancement of transmitter release during PTP.
Cooperative spectrum sensing with adaptive energy threshold control and efficient data fusion

We propose a framework for cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio (CR) networks with adaptive energy threshold control for local spectrum sensing and an efficient approach for data fusion. Each secondary user (SU) carries out energy detection based local spectrum sensing, where the energy threshold is adaptively adjusted in real time according to both the SINR (signal to interference plus noise ratio) observed at the SU receiver and the statistics of the PU transmissions. A distinct linear threshold control function is adopted at each SU, which formulates the dynamic energy threshold as a function of the realtime SINR. The threshold control function is determined by solving a MAR optimization problem, which maximizes the achievable average rate of the SU under a given missed detection probability constraint. We also propose an efficient data fusion mechanism to well balance the impacts of the local sensing beliefs and the number of SUs supporting each hypothesis. As far as we know, this is the first work that adopts adaptive energy threshold control for cooperative spectrum sensing, through which data fusion can directly interplay with not only the diversified time-varying channel states of individual SUs but also the statistics change of PU transmissions. Numerical results show that the proposed framework significantly reduces the false alarm probability while keeping a low missed detection probability as compared with other existing works.
Natural Ehrlichia phagocytophila transmission coefficients from sheep ‘carriers’ to Ixodes ricinus ticks vary with the numbers of feeding ticks

In a longitudinal study in a UK upland site, 38% of adult sheep were detected as infected with the tick-borne bacterium Ehrlichia phagocytophila by PCR of blood samples. Infection prevalence declined significantly with sheep age but varied significantly and non-linearly with the number of adult Ixodes ricinus ticks feeding per sheep. These findings suggested that under conditions of natural repeated tick-borne challenge sheep remain partially susceptible to re-infections, but the likelihood of re-infection depended on the numbers of feeding ticks. Transmission efficiency from sheep to immature ticks also varied significantly and non-linearly with the number of adult ticks feeding per sheep: transmission efficiency was almost zero in sheep with low adult tick infestations rising to 30% at certain levels of adult tick infestation. Infection intensity in infected engorged immature ticks also varied with the number of adult ticks feeding per sheep, but neither prevalence nor intensity of infection in engorged ticks were related to sheep blood PCR result. These findings suggest that variation in the numbers of ticks feeding per sheep may influence E. phagocytophila transmission by direct effects on transmission at the tick–host interface.
Development and characterization of niosomal gel for topical delivery of benzoyl peroxide

Abstract Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) is generally considered as first line treatment against acne. Low water solubility and formation of larger clusters and limited skin permeation upon topical application necessitates the application of high amount of drug for desired action which leads to induction of skin irritation. In the present study, we developed BPO-loaded niosomal formulation to improve its permeation through skin. The niosomes were further loaded in the carbopol gel to improve contact time. The results of the skin permeation study, skin retention study revealed that niosomes can effectively improve the drug permeation through skin. Application of niosomal gel significantly reduced the bacterial load after a treatment of four days. This reduction in bacterial load was further resulted in a significant reduction in the inflammation with minimal skin irritation compared with plain drug and the plain niosomal formulation.
Intervening in a “Sketchy Situation”: Exploring the Moral Motivations of College Bystanders of Sexual Assault

This mixed-methods research explored the moral motivations of undergraduates who identified as bystanders in a situation of potential sexual assault. In the quantitative analysis, we examined the difference between interveners and noninterveners with regard to their scores on the Moral Foundations Questionnaire–30 Item (MFQ-30), which considers five moral foundations from Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) of care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, and sanctity/degradation, as well as measures of bystander attitudes (BAS-R) and rape-myth acceptance (IRMA, modified). Participants who failed to intervene had significantly higher scores on the loyalty/betrayal subscale of the MFQ-30, and showed a trend toward “conservative” values comprising the latter three MFT foundations. Intervening bystanders were also more likely to endorse bystander attitudes, and less likely to endorse rape-myth supporting beliefs. The qualitative analysis examined brief narratives in which participants described their bystander experience and reasoning in the moment. Analysis found a remarkable flexibility with which each moral foundation could be used to support either intervention or abstention. We argue that emphasizing conservative values (based on loyalty, purity, and/or authority) in addition to the typical liberal (justice-based and anti-harm) reasoning may bolster bystander interventions meant to reach all students.
Difference in susceptibility to MxA protein between a coxsackievirus B1 isolate and prototype, impact of serial cell culture passage

Human enteroviruses (EVs) cause a broad spectrum of acute and chronic diseases including meningitis and myocarditis. The type I interferon‐induced MxA protein has been shown to inhibit the replication of an EV, coxsackievirus B4 (CVB4), but not cardioviruses such as encephalomyocarditis virus and mengo virus, members of the Picornaviridae family. EVs consist of more than 60 distinct serotypes against which the antiviral activity of MxA was not investigated yet. The main aim of this study was to explore the antiviral activity of MxA protein against a clinical CVB1 isolate and other EV prototypes. Vero cells expressing constituvely MxA protein were infected with EVs, and the percentage of inhibiton of expression of enteroviral RNA and capsid VP1 protein was determined. Following infection of MxA‐transfected Vero cells with EVs, the expression of enteroviral RNA was inhibited by up to 99%, and that of VP1 protein by up to 85%. However, there was a difference in the percentage of MxA inhibition of EV replication between the different EV prototypes. This difference in MxA sensitivity was not due to a difference in the viral replication rates. The MxA protein was inactive against the clinical CVB1 isolate, and the replication rate of CVB1 isolate in MxA‐transfected Vero cells was higher than that in mock‐transfected Vero cells. A serial passage of the clinical CVB1 isolate and other EV prototypes resulted in an increase in their susceptibility to MxA protein. These results suggest the presence of MxA‐resistant EV variants that may escape innate immunity and cause disease. J. Med. Virol. 82:424–432, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mycophenolate Mofetil May Allow Cyclosporine and Steroid Sparing in De Novo Heart Transplant Patients

Background. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) provides superior prophylaxis against acute rejection when compared with azathioprine (AZA) in heart and renal transplantation. However, it remains unclear whether this results in improved survival or reduced morbidity after heart transplantation. Method. In a sequential study, 240 cardiac transplant patients were treated with either MMF (n=119) or AZA (n=121) both in combination with cyclosporine and corticosteroids after rabbit antithymocyte globulin induction. Results. By protocol lower cyclosporine levels were targeted in the MMF group during the first year (e.g. 203±52 ng/mL MMF vs. 236±59 ng/mL AZA, P=0.0006 at 6 months). Patient survival at 1 year (82% MMF vs. 79% AZA, P=0.55) and at 3 years was similar in both groups. The cumulative probability of receiving antirejection treatment within 1 year was lower in the MMF group, as was biopsy-proven acute rejection with International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation grade ≥3A (24% vs. 35%, P=0.03). The MMF group also had fewer episodes requiring cytolytic therapy (6% vs. 13%, P=0.04) and more patients had steroids withdrawn by 1 year (66% vs. 32%, P<0.001). Renal function was better in the MMF group with lower creatinine levels at 1 year (133±45 vs. 155±46 &mgr;mol/L, P=0.0004). Calculated creatinine clearance (Cockcroft and Gault formula) at 1 year was also better (MMF 74±32 mL/min vs. AZA 62±24 mL/min, P=0.004). Conclusion. Our results suggest that immunosuppression with MMF rather than AZA may allow lower cyclosporine levels, better renal function, and increased steroid weaning at 1 year while also achieving better control of acute rejection.
Comparison of Logic Performance of CMOS Circuits Implemented With Junctionless and Inversion-Mode FinFETs

In this paper, we report the logic performance of CMOS circuits implemented with n- and p-channel junctionless (JL) FinFETs. A one-to-one comparison of the performance is made between such circuits and those implemented with n- and p-channel conventional inversion-mode (IM) FinFETs. The logic performance of a CMOS inverter is evaluated in terms of rise time and fall time for three different future technology nodes with the help of extensive 3-D device and mixed-mode circuit simulators. Frequency of oscillation of a three-stage ring oscillator (RO) is also obtained for such nodes. In spite of reduced ON-state current arising out of the higher channel doping and, hence, reduced carrier mobility in the JL devices, somewhat improved performance of the JL CMOS circuits over their IM counterparts are observed. For example, improvement of ~28% and ~10% in the rise time and fall time, respectively, for the inverter and ~12% in the frequency of oscillation of RO are observed for 10-nm technology node. Our investigations reveal reduced gate capacitance of the JL devices that in turn result in such improved performance of the JL CMOS circuits. Reduced gate capacitance also results in reduced dynamic power dissipation of JL CMOS circuits.
Enabling persistent service links

When using services on the Internet, users can easily become fraud victims. To guard against users being tricked into using fraudulent services, we propose a technical improvement of today's Internet services which makes it impossible for service-offering systems to secretly insert malicious services. Our solution, persistent service links, is based on the trusted platform module (TPM) which was developed by the trusted computing group (TCG) and helps to prevent, for example, fraudulent use of personal user and/or bank account data in e-commerce. By linking the TCG's attestation process to the actual communication, fraudulent services can be expelled while still allowing the user to choose between different services.
FDG PET detection of unknown primary tumors.

UNLABELLED The management of patients presenting with metastases of unknown primary origin remains a clinical challenge despite a large variety of imaging modalities. The aim of this study was to evaluate FDG PET in detecting the sites of primary cancer in these patients. METHODS Fifty-three patients with metastatic cervical adenopathy (n = 44) or extracervical metastases (n = 9) of unknown primary origin were included after extensive but inconclusive conventional diagnostic work-up. Patients received 370 MBq FDG (10 mCi) intravenously, and whole-body images were acquired at 60 min after injection. Clinical, surgical, and histopathologic findings and complete correlative imaging were used to assess the results. RESULTS In 27 of 53 patients FDG PET showed focal tracer accumulations corresponding to potential primary tumor sites located in the lungs (n = 12), the palatine tonsil (n = 5), the salivary glands (n = 2), the nasopharynx (n = 1), the oropharynx (n = 3), the maxillary sinus (n = 1), and the larynx (n = 1). Moreover, in 2 patients FDG PET revealed lesions suspected to be tumors in the breast and the ileocolonic area. In 20 (37.8%) of these 53 patients FDG PET was true-positive, identifying the primary tumor in the lungs (n = 10), the head and neck region (n = 8), the breast (n = 1), and the ileocolonic area (n = 1). In 6 of 27 patients FDG PET was false-positive, predominantly identifying suspicious areas in the palatine tonsil (n = 3). One patient denied further diagnostic work-up after PET; thus, positive PET could not be evaluated. In 26 of 53 patients PET did not reveal lesions suspected to be the primary. However, primary tumors were not found in these patients at clinical follow-up. CONCLUSION FDG PET is a valuable diagnostic tool in patients with cancer of unknown primary because it imaged unknown primary tumors in about one third of all patients investigated. In addition, FDG PET assists in both guiding biopsies for histologic evaluation and selecting the appropriate treatment protocols for these patients.
A Quaternion Weighted Fourier Linear Combiner for Modeling Physiological Tremor

Goal: This paper offers a new approach to model physiological tremor aiming at attenuating undesired vibrations of the tip of microsurgical instruments. Method: Several tremor modeling algorithms, such as the weighted Fourier linear combiner (wFLC), have proved effective. They, however, treat the three-dimensional (3-D) tremor signal as three independent 1-D signals in the x-, y-, and z-axes. In addition, the force f by which a surgeon holds the instrument has never been taken into account in modeling. Hence, conventional algorithms are inherently blind to any potential multidimensional couplings. Results: We first show that there exists statistically significant subject-and task-dependent coherence between data in the x-, y-, z-, and f-axes. We hypothesize that a filter that models the tremor in 4-D (x, y, z, and f) yields a more accurate model of tremor. We, therefore, developed a quaternion version of the wFLC algorithm and termed it QwFLC. We tested the proposed QwFLC algorithm with real physiological tremor data that were recorded from five novice subjects and four experienced microsurgeons. Although compared to wFLC, QwFLC requires six times larger computational resources, we showed that QwFLC can improve the modeling by up to 67% and that the improvement is proportional to the total coherence between the tremor in xyz and the force signal. Conclusion: By taking into account interactions of the 3-D tremor and the force data, the tremor modeling performance enhances significantly.
Effects of handle orientation, gloves, handle friction and elbow posture on maximum horizontal pull and push forces

Biomechanical models were evaluated for effects of handle orientation, handle material, gloves and arm posture on maximal pull/push force. Eight healthy subjects performed maximum pull/push exertions on handles with two different orientations and two different surface materials, using bare hand and two types of glove as well as two arm postures. The empirical data supported the proposed biomechanical models: Pull/push forces for the bare hand on a rubber handle decreased 10% when the handle was parallel to the pull/push direction, compared with when perpendicular to it. For parallel handles, pull/push forces further decreased with decreasing hand–handle friction coefficient (simulated by different handle materials and gloves). Pull force exerted by the bare hand was 29% greater when the elbow was extended than when flexed. Pull force was greater than push force (with bare hand and flexed elbow). The biomechanical models suggest that friction between the hand and handle limits pull/push forces for parallel handles. Elbow strength may be responsible for decreased pull force for the flexed elbow posture and decreased force for pull compared with push in the postures examined. Statement of Relevance: Biomechanical models presented in this paper provide insights for causes of upper extremity strength limitations during pull/push tasks. Findings in this paper can be used directly in the design of workstation and objects to reduce fatigue and risk of musculoskeletal disorders.
Utility of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery in detecting cognitive impairment after unilateral stroke

Abstract This study evaluated the clinical utility of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) in a stroke sample by examining the NAB’s ability to differentiate a chronic stroke group with radiologically confirmed unilateral damage (n = 42) and a demographically matched healthy control (HC) group (n = 36). The stroke group performed more poorly than the control group across NAB Total score and all five Domain scores. Receiver operator curves (ROC) were derived and area under the curve (AUC) showed moderate diagnostic effectiveness (AUC .70 to .90) for NAB Total score, all five Domain scores, a motor composite, and a Global Deficit Score (GDS) that has been shown to closely approximate clinical ratings of neuropsychological impairment. The NAB Total, GDS, and motor composite had comparable clinical utility, whereas the Attention and Executive domain scores demonstrated better classification utility compared with the Memory domain. Because 90.5% of our stroke sample had middle cerebral artery territory strokes, the comparison of motor and cognitive classification utility may be biased. However, follow-up analyses showed that the NAB accounted for additional variance even when motor composite was included in the model. Sensitivity, specificity, and odds ratios at various clinical cutoffs are provided. These results suggest that the NAB is a useful clinical tool for detection of cognitive deficits in individuals with chronic unilateral stroke, although lenient clinical cutoffs appear warranted to maximize sensitivity. (JINS, 2010, 16, 813–821.)
A prospective cohort study on dietary acrylamide intake and the risk for cutaneous malignant melanoma

Epidemiological studies have shown inconsistent associations between dietary acrylamide exposure and the risk for various malignancies. This is the first epidemiological study on the association between acrylamide intake and the risk for cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). A case–cohort analysis was carried out within the prospective Netherlands Cohort Study on diet and cancer. Acrylamide intake was estimated from a food frequency questionnaire combined with acrylamide data for Dutch foods. After 17.3 years of follow-up, 501 microscopically confirmed cases of CMM were identified. There was an increased risk for CMM when dietary acrylamide was modeled as a continuous variable [hazard ratio: 1.13 (95% confidence interval: 1.01–1.26)] per 10 &mgr;g increment among men but there was no clear linear trend over the quintiles (Ptrend=0.12). No associations were observed for women. Our study provides some indications that dietary acrylamide may increase the risk for CMM in men.