Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Incorporating Normative Data into a Criterion-Referenced Standard Setting in Medical Education

Purpose. Determining standards for assessing clinical performance is a controversial issue. Purely item-based methods such as the Angoff method often produce unrealistic judgments, even when used by experienced judges. The rather unstudied compromise methods combine absolute and relative judgments and thereby incorporate normative data into criterion-based standard-setting judgments. The purpose of this study was to compare the quality and implications of standards set by three methods used for the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Method. Ninety-six judges set standards for 36 surgical year-4 undergraduate OSCE stations. All judges had normative student performance data when judgments were made with the Angoff, Ebel, or Hofstee methods. Results. The Hofstee method gave more realistic cutoff scores and standard errors and better Meskauskas and Jaeger indices than the Angoff and Ebel methods. Conclusions. Medical educators setting standards for an OSCE should consider adopting the Hofstee method.
Volume Controllable SPH

We extend a Predictive Corrective Incompressible SPH (PCISPH) algorithm to a volume controllable SPH algo-rithm. In order to handle volume changes, we develop a method to control ﬂuid volume. Our method precomputes a pressure correction factor of PCISPH at various particle volume and interpolates these factors to get a factor for arbitrary particle volume. Thanks to a PCISPH’s high correctiveness, our method enables both stiff volume contraction and expansion. Additionally we derive computations for density and a force by pressure to prevent instabilities and unnatural ﬂocks near interfaces between two ﬂuids with different particle volume. Furthermore, granular simulators based on ﬂuid simulators are also extensible to simulate volume change of granular materials. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS) : I.3. 5 [Computer Graphics]: Computational Geometry and Object Modeling—Physically based modeling I.3. 7 [Computer Graphics]: Three Dimensional Graphics and Realism—Animation
Diminished Innate Antiviral Response to Adenovirus Vectors in cGAS/STING-Deficient Mice Minimally Impacts Adaptive Immunity

ABSTRACT Infection by adenovirus, a nonenveloped DNA virus, induces antiviral innate and adaptive immune responses. Studies of transformed human and murine cell lines using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) knockdown strategies identified cyclic guanine adenine synthase (cGAS) as a pattern recognition receptor (PRR) that contributes to the antiadenovirus response. Here we demonstrate how the cGAS/STING cascade influences the antiviral innate and adaptive immune responses in a murine knockout model. Using knockout bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) and bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMOs), we determined that cGAS and STING are essential to the induction of the antiadenovirus response in these antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in vitro. We next determined how the cGAS/STING cascade impacts the antiviral response following systemic administration of a recombinant adenovirus type 5 vector (rAd5V). Infection of cGAS−/− and STING−/− mice results in a compromised early antiviral innate response compared to that in wild-type (WT) controls: significantly lower levels of beta interferon (IFN-β) secretion, low levels of proinflammatory chemokine induction, and reduced levels of antiviral transcript induction in hepatic tissue. At 24 h postinfection, levels of viral DNA and reporter gene expression in the liver were similar in all strains. At 28 days postinfection, clearance of infected hepatocytes in cGAS or STING knockout mice was comparable to that in WT C57BL/6 mice. Levels of neutralizing anti-Ad5V antibody were modestly reduced in infected cGAS mice. These data support a dominant role for the cGAS/STING cascade in the early innate antiviral inflammatory response to adenovirus vectors. However, loss of the cGAS/STING pathway did not affect viral clearance, and cGAS deficiency had a modest influence on the magnitude of the antiviral humoral immune response to adenovirus infections. IMPORTANCE The detection of viral infection by host sentinel immune cells contributes to the activation of a complex and varied antiviral innate and adaptive immune response, which limits virus replication, spread, and susceptibility to infection. In this study, we have characterized how the cGAS/STING DNA-sensing cascade contributes to early detection of adenovirus infections. cGAS influences APC activation and early innate antiviral inflammatory immune responses, but adaptive immune pathways associated with virus clearance and anti-Ad antibody production were minimally influenced by the loss of the cGAS PRR signaling cascade.
Using a quasi‐experimental research design to assess knowledge in continuing medical education programs

Introduction: The objectives of continuing medical education (CME) programs include knowledge acquisition, skill development, clinical reasoning and decision making, and health care outcomes. We conducted a yearlong medical education research study in which knowledge acquisition in our CME programs was assessed. Method: A randomized separate‐sample pretest/post‐test design, a quasi‐experimental technique, was used. Nine CME programs with a sufficient number of participants were identified a priori. Knowledge acquisition was compared between the control group and the intervention group for the nine individual programs and for the combined programs. Results: A total of 667 physicians, nurses, and other health professionals participated. Significant gain in knowledge was found for six programs: Perinatology, Pain Management, Fertility Care 2, Pediatrics, Colorectal Diseases, and Alzheimer's Disease (each p <.001). Also, the intervention group differed from the control group when the nine programs were combined (p <.001), with an effect size of . 84. Discussion: The use of sound quasi‐experimental research methodology (separate‐sample pretest/post‐test design), the inclusion of a representative sample of CME programs, and the analysis of nearly 700 subjects led us to have confidence in concluding that our CME participants acquired a meaningful amount of new knowledge.
A2A antagonists as novel non-dopaminergic therapy for motor dysfunction in PD

The future management of Parkinson’s disease (PD) requires pharmacologic agents that do not lose efficacy with disease progression or induce dyskinesia and that are free of other dopaminergic side effects. A2A receptor antagonists may provide an opportunity to introduce nondopaminergic management of PD. A2A receptors are selectively localized in basal ganglia and to the indirect output pathway where they control GABA and acetylcholine release. The A2A antagonists are effective in rodent models of PD, reversing motor deficits in haloperidol-treated, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treated, or reserpinized mice, and potentiating l-dopa–induced rotation in 6-hydroxydopamine–lesioned rats without inducing dyskinesia. Importantly, the selective A2A antagonist KW6002 reverses motor disability and increases locomotor activity in MPTP-treated primates without provoking dyskinesia established by previous exposure to l-dopa. In addition, KW6002 shows additive antiparkinsonian activity with l-dopa and the D2 agonist quinpirole in MPTP-treated primates without enhancing the intensity of dyskinesia. The data available suggest that A2A antagonists, such as KW6002, may be effective as monotherapy for the management of PD and that they will also produce additional benefit when administered in combination with l-dopa or dopamine agonist therapy.
Assessing Attack Threat by the Probability of Following Attacks

In this paper a novel approach to assessing the threat of network intrusions is proposed. Unlike the present approaches which assess the attack threat either from a backward perspective (how probable a security state can be reached) or from the perspective of the attacks themselves (how much an attack would cause damage to the network), this approach assesses the attack threat from a forwarding perspective (how probable it would be the precursor of future attacks). First, to every attack type and some attack scenarios, their probabilities of having following attacks(PFAs) are calculated by a data mining algorithm. Then the threats of real time intrusions are assessed by these probabilities. The result of the threat assessment can help identify the intrusion alerts which would be the best evidence for the coming attacks from tremendous amount of intrusion alerts, thus this approach can be used for intrusion prediction. The approach is validated by DARPA 2000 and DARPA 1999 intrusion detection evaluation datasets.
A low power zero-overhead self-timed division and square root unit combining a single-rail static circuit with a dual-rail dynamic circuit

An asynchronous pipeline scheme that combines a low power static circuit with a high-speed dual-rail dynamic circuit is proposed. The scheme utilizes a dual-rail circuit only in the critical path of an SRT division and square root calculation unit. The proposed implementation of the calculation unit reduced power consumption by more than 1/2 of the full-dynamic implementation while maintaining the calculation speed. Because of the elimination of spurious transitions, the proposed implementation showed even less power consumption over synchronous static circuit implementations. By using 0.3 /spl mu/m triple metal CMOS technology, the calculation time of floating point 56-b full mantissa division and square root is expected to be 45 ns in the worst case.
Throughput Efficient Parallel Implementation of SPIHT Algorithm

We present a throughput efficient FPGA implementation of the 'Set Partitioning in Hierarchical Trees' (SPIHT) algorithm for compression of images. The SPIHT uses inherent redundancy among wavelet coefficients and suited for both gray and color images. The SPIHT algorithm uses dynamic data structures which hinders hardware realization. In our FPGA implementation we have modified basic SPIHT in two ways, one by using static (fixed) mappings which represent significant information and the other by interchanging the sorting and refinement passes. A hardware realization is done in a Xilinx XC2S30 device. Significant compression ratio and throughput is obtained for a sample image of size 128 times 128 pixels.
The constant modulus array for cochannel signal copy and direction finding

The constant modulus (CM) array is a blind adaptive beamformer capable of recovering a narrowband signal among several cochannel sources without using a pilot or training signal. It is a conventional weight-and-sum adaptive beamformer whose weights are updated by the constant modulus algorithm. An adaptive signal canceller follows the beamformer to remove the captured signal from the array input and to provide an estimate of its direction vector. Based on a Wiener model, we investigate the steady-state properties of the CM array and the signal canceller. For mutually uncorrelated sources and noise, it is shown that the signal canceller exactly removes the source captured by the array. Thus, identical stages of the CM array and signal canceller may be used in a multistage system to recover several cochannel sources. Computer simulations are presented to verify the analytical results and to illustrate the transient behavior of the system.
Integrating Centralized and P 2 P architectures to Support Interest Management in Distributed Virtual Environments

A fundamental problem for the development of P2P Distributed Virtual Environments is the definition of an overlay supporting interest management, i.e. determining all the entities of the virtual world that are relevant for a given peer. To this end, we propose a gossip-based approach that considers the coverage of the Area Of Interest of a peer as the guiding principle for the definition of the overlay and its maintenance. The resulting overlay provides a support for a besteffort resolution of interest management, so that it can be mostly supported through communications on the P2P overlay, with minimal intervention of a centralized entity. The paper presents a set of extensive simulations based on realistic mobility traces. The experimental results show the effectiveness of gossip for the construction of a best-effort Interest Management overlay.
Melatonin stimulates calmodulin phosphorylation by protein kinase C

Abstract: Calmodulin (CaM)‐dependent processes can be modulated by the availability of Ca+2, the subcellular distribution of both CaM and its target proteins, CaM antagonism, and post‐translational modifications such as CaM phosphorylation. Melatonin, the pineal secretory product synthesized during the dark phase of the photoperiod is an endogenous CaM antagonist. This indolamine causes CaM subcellular redistribution in epithelial MDCK and MCF‐7 cells, and selectively activates protein kinase C alpha (PKC α) in neuronal N1E‐115 cells. In the present work we have characterized the phosphorylation of CaM mediated by PKC α and its stimulation by melatonin in an in vitro reconstituted enzyme system. Additionally, the participation of MAPK and ERKs, downstream kinases of the PKC signaling pathway, was explored utilizing MDCK cell extracts as source of these kinases. Phosphorylation of CaM was characterized in the whole cells by MDCK cell metabolic labeling with [32P]‐orthoposhospate, and CaM separation by sodium dodecyl sulphate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, as well as by immunocolocalization of phosphorylated threonine/serine residues and CaM in cultured cells incubated with melatonin. Our results show that melatonin increased CaM phosphorylation by PKC α with an EC50 of 10−8 m in the presence of the phorbol ester, phorbol‐12‐myristate‐13‐acetate (PMA) in the in vitro reconstituted enzyme system. An increase in phosphorylated CaM was also observed in cells cultured with melatonin, or PMA for 2 hr, while, PKC, MAPK, or ERK inhibitors abolished CaM phosphorylation elicited by melatonin in MDCK cell extracts. Our data show that melatonin can stimulate phosphorylation of CaM by PKC α in the in vitro reconstituted system and suggest that in MDCK cells this phosphorylation is accomplished by PKC. Modification of CaM by melatonin can be another route to inhibit CaM interaction with its target enzymes.
Statins for women with polycystic ovary syndrome not actively trying to conceive.

BACKGROUND Statins, as lipid-lowering agents with pleiotropic actions, are likely not only to improve the dyslipidaemia associated with polycystic ovary syndrome but may also exert other beneficial metabolic and endocrine effects. OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and safety of statin therapy for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who are not actively trying to conceive. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the following databases (from inception to week 1, July 2011): the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library), MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL. We handsearched relevant conference proceedings and references of the identified articles for additional studies. We also contacted experts for further studies in progress. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing a statin versus placebo or statin in combination with another drug versus another drug alone in women with PCOS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two review authors performed data collection and analysis independently. MAIN RESULTS Four trials fulfilled the criteria for inclusion. They comprised a total of 244 women with PCOS receiving 12 weeks or 6 weeks of treatment. Two trials (184 women randomised) studied the effects of simvastatin and two trials (60 women randomised) studied the effects of atorvastatin. There was no good evidence that statins improved menstrual regularity, spontaneous ovulation rate, hirsutism or acne, either alone or in combination with the combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP). Nor were there any significant effects on body mass index (BMI). Statins were effective in lowering testosterone levels (nmol/L) (mean difference (MD) -0.90, 95% CI -1.18 to -0.62, P < 0.00001, 3 RCTs, 105 women) when used alone or with the OCP. Statins also improved total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglycerides but had no significant effect on high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, high sensitivity (HS) C-reactive protein (HS-CRP), fasting insulin or homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) insulin resistance. No serious adverse events were reported in any of the included studies. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Although statins improve lipid profiles and reduce testosterone levels in women with PCOS, there is no evidence that statins improve resumption of menstrual regularity or spontaneous ovulation, nor is there any improvement of hirsutism or acne. There is a need for further research to be performed with large sample sizes and well-designed RCTs to assess clinical outcomes.
Regulation of Expression of Deoxyhypusine Hydroxylase (DOHH), the Enzyme That Catalyzes the Activation of eIF5A, by miR-331-3p and miR-642-5p in Prostate Cancer Cells*

Background: Mechanisms underlying the regulation of DOHH expression are unclear. Results: DOHH expression is inversely associated with miR-331-3p and miR-642-5p expression in PCa cells. Transfection with miR-331-3p and miR-642-5p inhibited DOHH expression, cell proliferation and enhanced the cytotoxic effect of mimosine. Conclusion: miR-331-3p and miR-642-5p regulate DOHH expression in prostate. Significance: Restoring miR-331-3p and/or miR-642-5p to PCa may be beneficial. The enzyme deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH) catalyzes the activation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF5A), a protein essential for cell growth. Using bioinformatic predictions and reporter gene assays, we have identified a 182-nt element within the DOHH 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) that contains a number of target sites for miR-331-3p and miR-642-5p. Quantitative RT-PCR studies demonstrated overexpression of DOHH mRNA and underexpression of miR-331-3p and miR-642-5p in several prostate cancer cell lines compared with normal prostate epithelial cells. Transient overexpression of miR-331-3p and/or miR-642-5p in DU145 prostate cancer cells reduced DOHH mRNA and protein expression and inhibited cell proliferation. We observed synergistic growth inhibition with the combination of miR-331-3p and miR-642-5p and mimosine, a pharmacological DOHH inhibitor. Finally, we identified a significant inverse relationship between the expression of miR-331-3p or miR-642-5p and DOHH in a cohort of human prostate cancer tissues. Our results suggest a novel role for miR-331-3p and miR-642-5p in the control of prostate cancer cell growth via the regulation of DOHH expression and eIF5A activity.
Host and Microbiological Factors Related to Dental Caries Development

Studies on dental caries suggest that in severe cases it may induce a systemic immune response. This occurs particularly when caries progresses into pulpal inflammation and results in abscess or fistula formation (AFF). We hypothesized that severe dental caries will affect the general health of children. The acute phase proteins alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), C-reactive protein (CRP) and the cytokine neopterin were chosen as parameters to monitor general health. Also, a polymorphism in the bacterial ligand CD14 (-260) was studied to investigate the relationship between genotype sensitivity for bacterial infections and AFF. In Suriname, children aged 6 years were recruited and enrolled into a dental care scheme, randomly assigned to 4 groups with different treatment strategies and monitored longitudinally. 348 children were included in the present study. Blood and saliva samples were taken at baseline and 1 year, and concentrations of serum AGP, CRP, neopterin, salivary Streptococcus mutans and CD14-260 C>T polymorphism were determined. There was no significant association between different treatment strategies and the serum parameters. Binary logistic regression analyses revealed a significant association between AFF as the outcome variable and the CD14 genotype and the concentrations of CRP and of neopterin as factors (p < 0.05). A significant negative association was found between the CD14-260 TT and AFF (p = 0.035, OR = 3.3) for the whole population. For children who had 4 or more carious lesions at baseline, the significance increased (p = 0.005, OR = 4.8), suggesting that the CD14-260 TT genotype was protective for AFF as a consequence of dental caries.
Contextual course design with Omnispective Analysis and Reasoning

In this paper, we present a novel approach to contextualize course design by the application of the Omnispective Analysis and Reasoning (OAR) framework to map the goals and intent of a course to its design and delivery. Effective design and delivery of courses requires alignment between planned learning activities and learning outcomes. However, it is generally not trivial to translate learning outcomes into course design, particularly so when using a Learning Management System (LMS). This is further compounded by the differences between the language of teaching theory and that used by the LMS. Thus, there is a need to effectively capture the rationale for design decisions in a course and map them to desired outcomes. We illustrate the application of the OAR framework with a process for translating a learning objective into course design using the Moodle LMS.
Introducing a Swedish Translation of the Workplace Incivility Scale

This article reports the reliability and validity of the Swedish version of the Workplace Incivility Scale (WIS), a 7-item self-report measure assessing subjectively appraised workplace incivility. The scale was offered to all 490 white-collar employees in a medium size Swedish company resulting in a response frequency of 54 % consisting of 266 participants. The results indicate a good internal consistency with an alpha value of . 88 comparable to the original results reported by Cortina, Magley, Williams, and Langhout (2001). The construct validity of the translated scale was demonstrated by a one- factor solution and correlations with theoretically relevant concepts support the convergent validity. The results support the use of the Swedish translation of WIS as a reliable and valid instrument to measure workplace incivility. (Less)
International Conference in Knowledge Based and Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems-KES 2013 Image Reproduction Based on Texture Image Extension with Traced Drawing for Heavy Damaged Mural Painting

Not only geometric information but also optical information is needed to reproduce ruins using three-dimensional realistic computer graphics as they were when those were founded. In order to give a model a sense of reality, it is common to carry out the texture mapping of the photographed image. However such information can not be acquired from either weathered or partially destroyed ruins. While there are various conventional techniques for image restoration, which can overcome in the case of small missing and cracks, it is difficult to restore such a heavy damaged mural painting well when there is no information from the periphery. In this paper, we propose an image reproduction of a heavy damaged mural painting using a texture information extracted from another mural painting which has actually been restored by conservators and a traced drawing which the specialist guessed and drew. The restored image was used same pigment inks. Based on texture information from the restored image and a segmented traced drawing, we produce a restored image by applying the texture extension to each segment. c © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of KES International.