Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pain assessment in the paediatric Emergency Department: whose view counts?

Objectives: To compare patient, guardian and professional assessment of acute pain in children presenting to an Emergency Department, and to examine whether there was a correlation between the scores obtained using the Faces and linear scales for each group. Methods: A prospective, observational cohort study of 73 children aged 4–14 years attending a paediatric hospital Emergency Department between March and April 2002 with pain caused by an acute injury. The child's pain on admission, as estimated by the child, their guardian and a healthcare professional (nurse/doctor/emergency nurse practitioner) was recorded using a Faces scale and a linear scale. Results: Professionals consistently score pain lower [median linear scale score 3.1; interquartile range (IQR) 1.6–5.3] than do patients (6.6; 4.9–7.4) or guardians (6.0; 3.9–7.1) using both linear and Faces scales. There is a significant correlation between pain scores obtained using the two scales for professionals [Spearman R value 0.88; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82–0.93], guardians (0.83; 0.74–0.89) and patients (0.42; 0.21–0.59). Conclusion: Professionals score pain lower than do children or guardians. Similar pain scores are obtained using both a Faces and a linear scale. This study offers no support for the introduction of a uniform pain assessment tool in a paediatric Emergency Department setting.
Weaving Technology and Policy Together to Maintain Confidentiality

Organizations often release and receive medical data with all explicit identifiers, such as name, address, telephone number, and Social Security number (SSN), removed on the assumption that patient confidentiality is maintained because the resulting data look anonymous. However, in most of these cases, the remaining data can be used to reidenafy individuals by linking or matching the data to other data bases or by looking at unique characteristics found in the fields and records of the data base itself. When these less apparent aspects are taken into account, each released record can map to many possible people, providing a level of anonymity that the recordholder determines. The greater the number of candidates per record, the more anonymous the data. I examine three general-purpose computer programs for maintaining patient confidentiality when disclosing electronic medical records: the Scrub System, which locates and suppresses or replaces personally identifying information in letters between doctors and in notes written by clinicians; the Datafly System, which generalizes values based on a profile of the data recipient at the time of disclosure; and the μ-Argus System, a somewhat similar system which is becoming a European standard for disclosing public use data.
QuantiScale: A Study in Redesigning Interactions for Multi-Touch

We investigate the performance of QuantiScale, a new multi-touch interaction technique for the quantification of distances in medical images and discuss the benefits and prospects of redesigning interactions with multi-touch devices. Taking advantage of the multi-touch capabilities, QuantiScale behaves like a tape measure, but automatically adjusts the view onto the measured object to improve precision and speed. The technique has been studied in a real-world scenario measuring the diameter of structures for the diagnostic reading of medical images and provides hints for the replacement of traditional mouse-based interaction with gestural interaction. Results of the quantitative evaluation indicate a high measurement precision particularly for small objects. Participants experienced QuantiScale as being more fun, natural, and intuitive in comparison to mouse-based interaction even though the subjective preference for speed and precision was still in favor of the mouse.
Contribution of the Attachment G Glycoprotein to Pathogenicity and Immunogenicity of Avian Metapneumovirus Subgroup C

Abstract Avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) causes an upper respiratory tract infection in turkeys leading to serious economic losses to the turkey industry. The G glycoprotein of AMPV is known to be associated with viral attachment and pathogenesis. In this study, we determined the role of the G glycoprotein in the pathogenicity and immunogenicity of AMPV strain Colorado (AMPV/CO). Recombinant AMPV/CO lacking the G protein (rAMPV/CO-ΔG) was generated using a reverse-genetics system. The recovered rAMPV/CO-ΔG replicated slightly better than did wild-type AMPV in Vero cells. However, deletion of the G gene in AMPV resulted in attenuation of the virus in turkeys. The mutant virus induced less-severe clinical signs and a weaker immune response in turkeys than did the wild-type AMPV. Our results suggest that the G glycoprotein is an important determinant for the pathogenicity and immunogenicity of AMPV.
Molecular characterization, genetic diversity and antibacterial susceptibility of Escherichia coli encoding Shiga toxin 2f in domestic pigeons

This study aimed to evaluate prevalence, characteristics, genotypic diversity and antibacterial susceptibility of Escherichia coli encoding Shiga toxin 2f in domestic pigeons in different provinces of Iran. A total of 117 faecal samples were collected from pigeons and were subjected to molecular detection of stx2f. In total, 20, 25·8, 21·4 and 9% of pigeons from Tehran, Ferdows, Garmsar and Babol cities carried stx2f+ isolates, respectively. Of the 460 E. coli isolates examined, 43 were stx2f+ and most also carried eae (95·3%) and astA (97·7%) genes. Some of the stx2f+ isolates harboured cnf (9·3%), but all were negative for stx1, stx2 (other subtypes) and ehly. Most Strains (90%) were assigned to B1 phylogroup and possessed Intimin‐β. Fingerprinting of the stx2f+ isolates using either enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequences (ERIC) or random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) – polymerase chain reaction revealed seven distinct profiles by each method, with one prevailing (65·1 and 46·5%, respectively). By the combination of methods, 10 profiles were recognized. Ten isolates from different profiles were shown to belong to O20, O78 and O115 serogroups, and eight were 100% identical in the stx2f gene sequence. The strains were consistently resistant to amoxicillin and lincospectin and commonly resistant to tetracycline (88·4%) and doxycycline (74·4%). Overall, the results indicate a limited degree of genetic diversity in stx2f‐harbouring E. coli from pigeons.
Evaluation of the immunospecificity of the porin Om1 of Vibrio anguillarum serotype O1

Three methods of immunoanalysis (immunoblot, ELISA and dot‐blot) were used to evaluate the immunospecificity of the antiserum against the porin Om1 of Vibrio anguillarum serotype O1 with respect to all the serotypes of V. anguillarum, different Vibrio species and other Gram‐negative genera. In the immunoblot analysis of the outer membrane proteins, this antiserum cross‐reacted with the main outer membrane protein (MOMP) of all the Vibrio strains studied but not with other genera, except Plesiomonas shigelloides. However, when analyses were performed using whole cells as antigens (ELISA and dot‐blot), the antiserum was more specific for V. anguillarum.
Identification of TDRP1 gene and its association with pig reproduction traits.

This study was performed to identify and characterize the pig TDRP1 gene and to investigate its association with reproduction traits. The obtained pig TDRP1 cDNA (713 base pair [bp]) comprises a 561-bp open reading frame, which encodes a peptide of 187 amino acids. The identities of pig TDRP1 cDNA were 84.6%, 75.7%, and 77.4% with its counterparts in human, rat, and mice, respectively. Real-time polymerase chain reaction indicated that pig TDRP1 gene was highly expressed in pituitary of male and uterus of female animals. The pig TDRP1 gene contains three exons and two introns. A total of 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1 indel were identified in the screened partial genomic sequence, with most polymorphisms in introns. Allelic frequencies of five SNPs among eight pig breeds were further investigated, and it indicated that Landrace had the lowest genetic diversity. In Yorkshire, three SNPs (c.215+144T>C, c.215+249A>G, and c.215+672T>C) exhibited complete linkage disequilibrium in one haplotype block, and association analyses showed that all of them were significantly associated with number born alive of first parity (NBA1) (p<0.05). c.215+672T>C was also significantly associated with NBA6 (p<0.05). In addition, these three SNPs and two other ones (c.215+1001G>A and c.215+1026C>T) were associated with total born alive of second parity (TBA2) and TBA6 at the suggestive level (0.05
Phase error dynamics of a first-order phase locked loop in the presence of cochannel tone interference and additive noise

An alternative technique of evaluating the probability density function (PDF) of the loop-phase error of a first-order phase-locked loop in the face of a noisy signal accompanied by a cochannel tone interference, using the joint PDF of the resultant signal amplitude and phase, is presented. The numerical computations show that the results obtained are equivalent to those obtained elsewhere. >
Immunohistochemical detection of inhibitor of DNA binding 3 mutational variants in mature aggressive B-cell lymphoma

In addition to the hallmark translocations involving the MYC oncogene and immunoglobulin loci,[1][1] Burkitt lymphomas (BL) frequently carry mutations in the inhibitor of DNA binding 3 (ID3) gene. [2][2],[3][3] Genetic aberrations of ID3 in BL comprise a spectrum of mono- and bi-allelic structural
Small Interfering RNA Profiling Reveals Key Role of Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis and Early Endosome Formation for Infection by Respiratory Syncytial Virus

ABSTRACT Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of respiratory tract infections in infants and the elderly. Like many other pH-independent enveloped viruses, RSV is thought to enter at the cell surface, independently of common endocytic pathways. We have used a targeted small interfering RNA (siRNA) library to identify key cellular genes involved in cytoskeletal dynamics and endosome trafficking that are important for RSV infection. Surprisingly, RSV infection was potently inhibited by siRNAs targeting genes associated with clathrin-mediated endocytosis, including clathrin light chain. The important role of clathrin-mediated endocytosis was confirmed by the expression of well-characterized dominant-negative mutants of genes in this pathway and by using the clathrin endocytosis inhibitor chlorpromazine. We conclude that, while RSV may be competent to enter at the cell surface, clathrin function and endocytosis are a necessary and important part of a productive RSV infection, even though infection is strictly independent of pH. These findings raise the possibility that other pH-independent viruses may share a similar dependence on endocytosis for infection and provide a new potential avenue for treatment of infection.
Critical behavior of the six-state clock model in two dimensions.

We have examined the critical properties of the q=6 clock (vector Potts) model in two dimensions through Monte Carlo simulations. The model was investigated on L×L square lattices of size L=4 to L=72 with periodic boundary conditions. We found an intermediate XY-like phase between a low-temperature ordered phase and a high-temperature disordered phase. The phase transitions occur at kBT1/J=0.68±0.02 and kBT2/J=0.92±0.01 and are of the Kosterlitz-Thouless type. The susceptibility diverges in the intermediate phase and the exponent η varies between 0.100 at T1 and 0.275 at T2.
Influence of salicylic acid seed priming on growth and some biochemical attributes in wheat grown under saline conditions

A sand culture experiment was conducted to study the effect of salicylic acid seed priming on growth and some biochemical attributes in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown under saline conditions. Wheat seeds of cv. Inqlab and S-24 were soaked in water and 100 mg L -1 salicylic acid solution for 24 hours and sown in sand salinized with 0, 50 or 100 mM NaCl. Pots were irrigated with ¼ strength Hoagland’s nutrient solution. Fourteen days old seedlings were harvested and growth parameters (shoot and root length, and shoot and root dry weights) were recorded and chlorophyll a and b contents and soluble sugars (reducing and non-reducing) in the leaves were estimated. Salt stress significantly reduced all growth parameters. However, salicylic acid treatment alleviated the adverse effect of salinity on growth. Salinity decreased the chlorophyll a and b content and chlorophyll a/b ratio in both the lines, but reduction in chlorophyll a/b ratio was lower in salt tolerant wheat line S-24, which could be a useful marker for selection of salt tolerant wheat. Salinity (NaCl) stress considerably increased the accumulation of reducing, non-reducing and total soluble sugars in the leaves of 14 days old wheat seedlings of both cultivars. Salt tolerant line S-24 accumulated higher sugar content which could also be a useful marker for salt tolerance in wheat.
Bioactive Titanium Implant Surfaces with Bacterial Inhibition and Osteoblast Function Enhancement Properties

Infection in orthopedic implant surgery is a serious complication and a major cause of implant failure. Upon implant insertion, a contest between microbial colonization and tissue integration of the implant surface ensues. This race for the surface determines the probability of tissue integration or infection, and the surface properties of the substrate have an important role to play in determining the outcome. A number of strategies have been developed for the modification of implant surfaces to promote bone cell (osteoblast) functions and inhibit bacterial adhesion and growth. In this article, a review is given of these surface modification strategies, in particular those which can achieve the dual aim of bacterial inhibition and simultaneous enhancement of osteoblast functions. Surfaces of these types can be expected to have excellent potential for orthopedic applications. (Int J Artif Organs 2008; 31: 777–85)
The effects of sex and neonatal stress on pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating peptide expression

What is the central question of this study? Does sex or neonatal stress affect the expression of pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating peptide or its receptors? What is the main finding and its importance? Neonatal–maternal separation stress has little long‐lasting effect on the expression of pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating peptide or its receptors, but sex differences exist in these genes between males and females at baseline.
Handheld Computers in the Elementary Classroom: Students and Parents Share Their Thoughts

Handheld computers and other mobile devices are interesting and inspiring for students and may help to impact learning in significant ways. This study assessed student attitudes and perceptions toward the use of handheld technology before and after using the instruments for 9 weeks as part of a regular educational routine. Participants in this mixed-method study were 5th-grade students (n = 23). Parents were also surveyed regarding their perceptions of the impact that handheld devices had on student learning. This study has implications related to learning with handheld computers and offers recommendations for future research.
Xenopus ILK (integrin‐linked kinase) is required for morphogenetic movements during gastrulation

It has been suggested that ILK (integrin‐linked kinase) participates in integrin‐ and growth factor‐mediated signaling pathways and also functions as a scaffold protein at cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion sites. As the recently reported ILK knockout mice were found to die at the peri‐implantation stage, the stage specific to mammals, little is known about the function of ILK in early developmental processes common to every vertebrate. To address this, we isolated a Xenopus ortholog of ILK (XeILK) and characterized its role in early Xenopus embryogenesis. XeILK was expressed constitutively and ubiquitously throughout the early embryogenesis. Depletion of XeILK with morpholino oligonucleotides (XeILK MO) caused severe defects in blastopore closure and axis elongation without affecting the mesodermal specification. Furthermore, XeILK MO was found to interfere with cell–cell and cell–ECM adhesions in dorsal marginal zone explants and to result in a significant loss of cell–ECM adhesions in activin‐treated dissociated animal cap cells. These results thus indicate that XeILK plays an essential role in morphogenetic movements during gastrulation.
Humor and Trauma-Related Psychopathology Among Survivors of Terror Attacks and Their Spouses

The goal of this study was to examine the bidirectional relationships between humor and trauma-related psychopathology (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression, and anxiety symptoms) among 105 dyads consisting of Israelis who were injured during terror attacks and their spouses (N = 210). An actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) was applied as part of a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis aimed at examining the associations between the use of different styles of humor and trauma-related psychopathology. Consistent with our hypotheses, results suggested that benign styles of humor were associated with survivors’ lower levels of trauma-related symptoms (actor effects) and also had a buffering effect for the spouse (partner effects). More specifically, the use of self-enhancing humor by survivors was negatively associated with spousal symptoms and the use of affiliative humor by spouses was negatively associated with psychopathology symptoms reported by survivors. The results of this study shed light on the role that benign humor may play in coping with traumatic events while taking into account the dyadic relationships among survivors and their spouses. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.
Poster Abstract: High Speed Object Tracking Using Edge Computing

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones, has in recent years seen explosive growth due to lower costs and technology advances in mobile computing, batteries, sensors, and control systems. Drones are now used in a multitude of applications, from natural resource exploration, the film and entertainment industry, to urban surveillance, and defense. The image processing demands of these applications requires higher powered computing capabilities than those available locally to the drone, prompting the offloading of these tasks to the cloud. However, the latency requirements of the cloud are beyond those acceptable for many applications. This paper proposed the use of a server on the network edge to optimize both processing capability as well as latency for applications requiring real-time communication between a drone and a cloud server. We propose to test the limits of this model by implementing a system for real-time tracking of golf drives on a golf course.
Acrolein‐mediated mechanisms of neuronal death

It is well known that traumatic injury in the central nervous system can be viewed as a primary injury and a secondary injury. Increases in oxidative stress lead to breakdown of membrane lipids (lipid peroxidation) during secondary injury. Acrolein, an alpha,beta‐unsaturated aldehyde, together with other aldehydes, increases as a result of self‐propagating lipid peroxidation. Historically, most research on the pathology of secondary injury has focused on reactive oxygen species (ROS) rather than lipid peroxidation products. Little is known about the toxicology and cell death mediated by these aldehydes. In this study, we investigated and characterized certain features of cell death induced by acrolein on PC12 cells as well as cells from dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and sympathetic ganglion in vitro. In the companion paper, we evaluated a possible means to interfere with this toxicity by application of a compound that can bind to and inactivate acrolein. Here we use both light and atomic force microscopy to study cell morphology after exposure to acrolein. Administration of 100 μM acrolein caused a dramatic change in cell morphology as early as 4 hr. Cytoskeletal structures significantly deteriorated after exposure to 100 μM acrolein as demonstrated by fluorescence microscopy, whereas calpain activity increased significantly at this concentration. Cell viability assays indicated significant cell death with 100 μM acrolein by 4 hr. Caspase 3 activity and DNA fragmentation assays were performed and supported the notion that 100 μM acrolein induced PC12 cell death by the mechanism of necrosis, not apoptosis. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
EFEITOS DO ESTRESSE OSMÓTICO NO CRESCIMENTO E NA ATIVIDADE RIBONUCLEÁSICA DE PLÂNTULAS DE Vigna unguiculata ( L . ) Walp . COM DIFERENTES GRAUS DE TOLERÂNCIA AO ESTRESSE

Seeds of Vita 5 and Vita 3 cultivars of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. ) were allowed to germinate in paper towels wetted with distilled water, mannitol or NaCl solutions of different osmotic potentials. The seedlings were harvested during the process of seedling establishment, separated into cotyledons, roots, stems (hypocotyl + epicotyl), and leaves for extracting and determining ribonuclease activity. After 7 days from sowing they were harvested for growth measurements. Growth inhibition due to water and salt stresses were more conspicuous in Vita 5 than in Vita 3 cultivar, and root/shoot ratios for the latter were higher than for the former at all stress levels shudied. These results suggest that Vita 3 is more tolerant to stress than Vita 5. The effect of salt stress on RNase activity varied within seedling parts and stages of development. It also depended upon the way the enzyme activity was expressed, that is as total or specific activity. The development of both total and specific ribonuclease activity as a function of salt stress in different seedling parts of the two cultivars differing in salt tolerance did not support the hypothesis that there is a correlation between salt tolerance and changes in ribonuclease activity, and that this enzyme could be used as a biochemical marker for salt stress. Additional index terms : cowpea, mannitol, NaCl, RNase activity and salt tolerance. EFEITOS DO ESTRESSE OSMÓTICO NO CRESCIMENTO E NA ATIVIDADE RIBONUCLEÁSICA DE PLÂNTULAS DE Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. COM DIFERENTES GRAUS DE TOLERÂNCIA
Astrocytic expression of the Alzheimer's disease β‐secretase (BACE1) is stimulus‐dependent

The beta‐site APP‐cleaving enzyme (BACE1) is a prerequisite for the generation of β‐amyloid peptides, which give rise to cerebrovascular and parenchymal β‐amyloid deposits in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients. BACE1 is neuronally expressed in the brains of humans and experimental animals such as mice and rats. In addition, we have recently shown that BACE1 protein is expressed by reactive astrocytes in close proximity to β‐amyloid plaques in the brains of aged transgenic Tg2576 mice that overexpress human amyloid precursor protein carrying the double mutation K670N‐M671L. To address the question whether astrocytic BACE1 expression is an event specifically triggered by β‐amyloid plaques or whether glial cell activation by other mechanisms also induces BACE1 expression, we used six different experimental strategies to activate brain glial cells acutely or chronically. Brain sections were processed for the expression of BACE1 and glial markers by double immunofluorescence labeling and evaluated by confocal laser scanning microscopy. There was no detectable expression of BACE1 protein by activated microglial cells of the ameboid or ramified phenotype in any of the lesion paradigms studied. In contrast, BACE1 expression by reactive astrocytes was evident in chronic but not in acute models of gliosis. Additionally, we observed BACE1‐immunoreactive astrocytes in proximity to β‐amyloid plaques in the brains of aged Tg2576 mice and Alzheimer's disease patients. GLIA 41:169–179, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.