Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical protection against airborne pathogens and pollutants by a novel animal isolator in a level 3 containment laboratory

SUMMARY A containment laboratory unit for research with aerosols of group 2 pathogenic microorganisms is described. The design criteria are based on current UK guidelines, which imply containment at group 3 level during aerosol production, storage, exposure of animals and sampling. Within the aerosol laboratory, primary containment is provided by a Henderson apparatus operating at a negative pressure to the external environment. Flexible film isolators under negative pressure are used for all hazardous microbiological work, e.g. tissue homogenization, and for housing infected laboratory rodents. A novel feature of the animal isolator is the separate ventilation of each cage, which minimizes the risk of cross-infection by aerosol transmission and ensures a similar environment within each cage. The results of an intentional release of a cloud of non-pathogenic microorganisms are presented to show the effectiveness of the containment barriers. Recommendations are given for the safe operation of a containment unit based upon practical experience.
MECHANISMS OF FATIGUE INDUCED BY ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONS IN EXERCISING HUMANS AND IN MOUSE ISOLATED SINGLE MUSCLE FIBRES

1 Muscle fatigue (i.e. the decrease in muscle performance during exercise) has been studied extensively using a variety of experimental paradigms, from mouse to human, from single cell to whole‐body exercise. Given the disparity of models used to characterize muscle fatigue, it can be difficult to establish whether the results of basic in vitro studies are applicable to exercise in humans. 2 In the present brief review, our attempt is to relate neuromuscular alterations caused by repeated or sustained isometric contraction in humans to changes in excitation–contraction (E‐C) coupling observed in intact single muscle fibres, where force and the free myoplasmic [Ca2+] can be measured. 3 Accumulated data indicate that impairment of E‐C coupling, most likely located within muscle fibres, accounts for the fatigue‐induced decrease in maximal force in humans, whereas central (neural) fatigue is of greater importance for the inability to continue a sustained low‐intensity contraction. Based on data from intact single muscle fibres, the fatigue‐induced impairment in E‐C coupling involves: (i) a reduced number of active cross‐bridges owing to a decreased release of Ca2+; (ii) a decreased sensitivity of the myofilaments to Ca2+; and/or (iii) a reduced force produced by each active cross‐bridge. 4 In conclusion, data from single muscle fibre studies can be used to increase our understanding of fatigue mechanisms in some, but not all, types of human exercise. To further increase the understanding of fatigue mechanisms in humans, we propose future studies using in vitro stimulation patterns that are closer to the in vivo situation.
Protective effect of alpha glucosyl hesperidin (G‐hesperidin) on chronic vanadium induced testicular toxicity and sperm nuclear DNA damage in male Sprague Dawley rats

The study was conducted to evaluate the vanadium‐induced testicular toxicity and its effect on sperm parameters, sperm nuclear DNA damage and histological alterations in Sprague Dawley rats and to assess the protective effect of G‐hesperidin against this damage. Treatment of rats with vanadium at a dose of 1 mg kg bw−1 for 90 days resulted in significant reduction in serum testosterone levels, sperm count and motility. Further, a parallel increase in abnormal sperm morphology and adverse histopathological changes in testis was also associated with vanadium administration when compared to normal control. Moreover, sperm chromatin dispersion assay revealed that vanadium induces sperm nuclear DNA fragmentation. A marked increase in testicular malondialdehyde levels and decreased activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase indicates vanadium‐induced oxidative stress. Co‐administration of G‐hesperidin at a dose of 25 and 50 mg kg bw−1 significantly attenuated the sperm parameters and histological changes by restoring the antioxidant levels in rat testis. These results suggested that vanadium exposure caused reduced bioavailability of androgens to the tissue and increased free radical formation, thereby causing structural and functional changes in spermatozoa. G‐hesperidin exhibited antioxidant effect by protecting the rat testis against vanadium‐induced oxidative damage, further ensures antioxidant potential of bioflavonoids.
Multiband circularly-polarized planar array based on the complementary strip-slot element

The concept of a circularly-polarized planar array based on the use of the complementary strip-slot element is explored. This element is a conventional microstrip-fed slot that overcomes its narrow bandwidth by using a strip superimposed onto it. The array is fed in a traveling-wave configuration and a ring shape is used to provide the required circular polarization with the sequential rotation technique. A design example is analysed by electromagnetic simulation. Thanks to the broadly-matched strip-slot element, multiband behaviour with axial ratio below 3 dB, good matching (better than 15 dB) and high radiation efficiency is obtained at 6.2, 8.9 and 12.3 GHz. This novel antenna offers design flexibility with a very simple structure.
Risk Factors for Surgical Site Infection in Children

Objectives. To assess the appropriateness of using the indices developed by the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) and the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) project to determine risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) in children and, if not appropriate, to explore the factors related to SSI in children so these factors could be used in a risk index for pediatric patients. Design. Cohort study during more than 4 years. Setting. La Paz University Hospital, a national reference center that serves Health Area 5 of Madrid, Spain, which has approximately 500,000 inhabitants. Patients. Convenience sample consisting of the 3,646 children admitted for surgery who had a postsurgical stay of more than 2 days. Results. A model with 8 predictive factors (degree of surgical contamination; duration of surgery; type of surgery; use of a peripheral venous catheter, central venous catheter, or urinary catheter; number of diagnoses; and SSI exposition time) was created. Its relation to the SSI rate was better than that of the SENIC or NNIS indices. Its sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver–operating characteristic curve were higher than that of the SENIC index. Conclusions. The model that we created seems to be more adequate for predicting SSI and evaluating pediatric patients' intrinsic risk than the SENIC and NNIS indices.
Oxygen-Sensing Paint-On Bandage: Calibration of a Novel Approach in Tissue Perfusion Assessment

Background: Knowledge of tissue oxygenation status is fundamental in the prevention of postoperative flap failure. Recently, the authors introduced a novel oxygen-sensing paint-on bandage that incorporated an oxygen-sensing porphyrin with a commercially available liquid bandage matrix. In this study, the authors extend validation of their oxygen-sensing bandage by comparing it to the use of near-infrared tissue oximetry in addition to Clark electrode measurements. Methods: The oxygen-sensing paint-on bandage was applied to the left hind limb in a rodent model. Simultaneously, a near-infrared imaging device and Clark electrode were attached to the right and left hind limbs, respectively. Tissue oxygenation was measured under normal, ischemic (aortic ligation), and reperfused conditions. Results: On average, the oxygen-sensing paint-on bandage measured a decrease in transdermal oxygenation from 85.2 mmHg to 64.1 mmHg upon aortic ligation. The oxygen-sensing dye restored at 81.2 mmHg after unclamping. Responses in both control groups demonstrated a similar trend. Physiologic changes from normal to ischemic and reperfused conditions were statistically significantly different in all three techniques (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The authors’ newly developed oxygen-sensing paint-on bandage exhibits a comparable trend in oxygenation recordings in a rat model similar to conventional oxygenation assessment techniques. This technique could potentially prove to be a valuable tool in the routine clinical management of flaps following free tissue transfer. Incorporating oxygen-sensing capabilities into a simple wound dressing material has the added benefit of providing both wound protection and constant wound oxygenation assessment.
Cio survival and the Composition of the Top Management Team

We explore empirical regularities of CIO survivability in public and private organizations using CIO job tenure durations spanning 1994 to 2009 for 1,594 executives. We employ the Kaplan-Meier estimator from event history analysis to compute survivor functions for CEOs, COOs, CFOs and CIOs. We make log rank comparisons of job tenure durations to make inferences within/across executive titles, and between public and private sector groups. The results suggest that: CIOs have shorter survival durations than CEOs and COOs, comparable to CFOs; private sector CIOs have longer durations than public sector CIOs; CIO membership in the top management team increases survivability; female CIOs stay a shorter time than males; and women on the top management team diminish CIO tenures overall. From an additional executive arrival and departure time proximity analysis, we find that only a quarter of CIOs are members of the top management team, but membership lengthens tenure.
Azlocillin pharmacokinetics in patients with cystic fibrosis

The pharmacokinetics of azlocillin were studied in 10 cystic fibrosis patients, ranging in age from 11 to 28 years. The patients received a 9- to 23-day course of 350 mg of azlocillin per kg in four or six divided daily doses in combination with am aminoglycoside. Blood and urine samples were collected at specified times after the last dose of the course of azlocillin therapy and then assayed for azlocillin content. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined by noncompartmental analysis. Mean values for serum half-life (1.74 h), disposition constant (0.41 h-1), total body clearance (123 ml/kg per h), and renal clearance (58 ml/kg per h) were determined. All patients exhibited improvement with respect to clinical and laboratory parameters and displayed no adverse reactions. The pharmacokinetic analysis offers further evidence of the dose-dependent nature of azlocillin elimination, but elimination did not appear to be altered in cystic fibrosis patients.
Staff regard towards working with substance users: a European multi-centre study.

AIMS To compare regard for working with different patient groups (including substance users) among different professional groups in different health-care settings in eight European countries. DESIGN A multi-centre, cross-sectional comparative study. SETTING Primary care, general psychiatry and specialist addiction services in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. PARTICIPANTS A multi-disciplinary convenience sample of 866 professionals (physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and social workers) from 253 services. MEASUREMENTS The Medical Condition Regard Scale measured regard for working with different patient groups. Multi-factor between-subjects analysis of variance determined the factors associated with regard for each condition by country and all countries. FINDINGS Regard for working with alcohol (mean score alcohol: 45.35, 95% CI 44.76, 45.95) and drug users (mean score drugs: 43.67, 95% CI 42.98, 44.36) was consistently lower than for other patient groups (mean score diabetes: 50.19, 95% CI 49.71, 50.66; mean score depression: 51.34, 95% CI 50.89, 51.79) across all countries participating in the study, particularly among staff from primary care compared to general psychiatry or specialist addiction services (P<0.001). After controlling for sex of staff, profession and duration of time working in profession, treatment entry point and country remained the only statistically significant variables associated with regard for working with alcohol and drug users. CONCLUSIONS Health professionals appear to ascribe lower status to working with substance users than helping other patient groups, particularly in primary care; the effect is larger in some countries than others.
In Vitro Performance of Two Common Valved Holding Chambers with a Chlorofluorocarbon‐Free Beclomethasone Metered‐Dose Inhaler

Study Objective. To compare in vitro aerosol deposition from a beclomethasone dipropionate metered‐dose inhaler (MDI) containing hydrofluoroalkane propellant with that of the MDI in combination with two common valved holding chambers (VHCs) to evaluate how these VHCs affect the respirable dose of beclomethasone dipropionate.
Cytoarchitecture of Vocal Control Nuclei in Nestling Budgerigars: Relationships to Call Development

Changes in the cytoarchitecture of vocal control nuclei were investigated in nestling budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) from hatching to fledging (five to six weeks) in relation to changes in vocalizations produced by nestlings during this period. The nuclei investigated were the hypoglossal nucleus, dorsomedial nucleus of the intercollicular midbrain, central nucleus of the archistriatum, central nucleus of the lateral neostriatum, oval nucleus of the hyperstriatum ventrale, medial division of the oval nucleus of the anterior neostriatum, and magnocellular nucleus of the lobus parolfactorius. These nuclei have been shown to form functional circuits in adults related to vocal learning. Consistent with previously reported results, we found that call development could be described in terms of five different phases based on changes in the duration and segmentation of single and multiple segment foodbegging calls and the appearance of the first socially learned contact calls around the time of fledging. We also found that call segment duration exhibited an inverted U-shaped developmental function during the nestling period, as has been found for total call duration. Cytoarchitectonic studies revealed striking changes in the cellular architecture of vocal control nuclei during the first four weeks posthatching. At hatching the hypoglossal nucleus exhibits adult-like cytoarchitecture, and the central nucleus of the archistriatum and the central nucleus of the lateral neostriatum are distinguishable from surrounding fields. By one week posthatch, the central nucleus of the archistriatum exhibits an adult-like appearance, while other telencephalic vocal control nuclei do not exhibit adult-like cytoarchitecture until three to four weeks posthatching. By two weeks posthatching, the dorsomedial nucleus of the intercollicular midbrain also exhibits adult-like cytoarchitecture. We observed substantial decreases in the thickness of ventricular proliferation zones during this period, with decreases in ventricular zones occurring at about the same point that nuclei at corresponding levels come to exhibit adult-like cytoarchitectonic features. Of interest is the fact that cytoarchitectural development occurs asynchronously in different brain regions, with the appearance of adult-like characteristics in the hindbrain and midbrain occurring before the appearance of adult-like cytoarchitectonic characteristics in telencephalic nuclei. These results are consistent with recent lesion studies indicating that neither auditory feedback nor telencephalic vocal control nuclei are necessary for the production of foodbegging and other nestling calls until three to four weeks posthatching.
Quantitative detection of circulating endothelial cells in vasculitis: comparison of flow cytometry and immunomagnetic bead extraction

Summary. Background: Circulating endothelial cells (CECs) are biomarkers for endothelial cell (EC) injury and are quantified using immunomagnetic bead extraction (IBE), or flow cytometry (FC). Reports suggest that there is good agreement between these methods for CEC quantification. Objectives: We examined levels of agreement between these techniques in children with systemic vasculitis. Methods: We added HUVEC or human pulmonary artery EC to whole blood to optimize FC gating strategies for EC. EC‐optimized FC was then compared with IBE for CEC enumeration in 25 children with vasculitis and 20 healthy controls. Results: Using Bland–Altman analysis, agreement between IBE and EC‐optimized FC was poor in children with vasculitis (n = 25) and healthy controls (n = 20): IBE consistently detected higher values than the EC‐optimized FC method: the mean difference between the two techniques was 60 CECs mL−1, 95% CI ±374 CECs mL−1 (paired analyses of 45 individuals). Agreement was poorest for vasculitis patients: mean difference (IBE – EC‐optimized FC) 120 CECs mL−1, 95% CI ±460 CECs mL−1 (P = 0.018). We identified three reasons for this discrepancy: (i) sub‐optimal FC gating parameters previously used for detecting CECs; (ii) inherent lack of sensitivity of FC compared with IBE for CEC rare event detection; and (iii) use of lysis buffers required for FC causing CEC lysis. Conclusions: There was poor agreement between EC‐optimized FC and IBE for the quantification of CECs from children with active vasculitis and controls. We emphasize that in this clinical setting the two techniques are not directly comparable when comparing results obtained using these different methodologies.
Discrete Optimization for Interpretable Study Populations and Randomization Inference in an Observational Study of Severe Sepsis Mortality

ABSTRACT Motivated by an observational study of the effect of hospital ward versus intensive care unit admission on severe sepsis mortality, we develop methods to address two common problems in observational studies: (1) when there is a lack of covariate overlap between the treated and control groups, how to define an interpretable study population wherein inference can be conducted without extrapolating with respect to important variables; and (2) how to use randomization inference to form confidence intervals for the average treatment effect with binary outcomes. Our solution to problem (1) incorporates existing suggestions in the literature while yielding a study population that is easily understood in terms of the covariates themselves, and can be solved using an efficient branch-and-bound algorithm. We address problem (2) by solving a linear integer program to use the worst-case variance of the average treatment effect among values for unobserved potential outcomes that are compatible with the null hypothesis. Our analysis finds no evidence for a difference between the 60-day mortality rates if all individuals were admitted to the ICU and if all patients were admitted to the hospital ward among less severely ill patients and among patients with cryptic septic shock. We implement our methodology in R, providing scripts in the supplementary material.
Comparison of the efficacy of conventional slow freezing and rapid cryopreservation methods for bovine embryos.

Day 7 bovine morulae and early blastocysts were randomly assigned to one of four cryopreservation methods: (i) a modified conventional controlled slow freezing and stepwise dilution after thawing; and three methods which enable direct transfer of the embryo into the recipient upon thawing: (ii) conventional controlled slow freezing and a modification of a one-step procedure, (iii) vitrification with 6.5 M glycerol plus 6% BSA (w/v), and (iv) vitrification with 25% glycerol (v/v) and 25% propanediol (v/v). In a comparative in vitro study, the percentage of grade 1 and 2 embryos developing into expanded blastocysts in culture for cryopreservation methods 1-4 were, respectively, 53% (29/55), 33% (20/61), 44% (26/59), and 51% (17/33). Method 2 yielded a significantly lower survival rate than methods 1 (P < 0.1) and 4 (P < 0.05) and was excluded from a subsequent test of in vivo development. Pregnancy rates (Day 60) after transfer of embryos cryopreserved by methods 1, 3, and 4 were, respectively, 59% (20/34), 43% (17/40), and 24% (5/21). Method 4 yielded a significantly lower pregnancy rate than method 1 (P < 0.05). Method 3, however, did not yield a statistically different pregnancy rate (P > 0.1) when compared to method 1. Method 3 has considerable promise in providing a successful method for the cryopreservation of bovine embryos that (i) reduces the time required for equilibration and cooling, (ii) provides for simple and rapid one-step dilution of cryoprotectant after thawing, and (iii) enables more embryos to be thawed and transferred per unit time.
Validation of GATE Monte Carlo simulations of the Philips GEMINI TF and TruFlight Select PET/CT scanners based on NEMA NU2 standards

The objective of this study is to validate the in-house GATE simulations of the Philips GEMINI TF and TruFlight Select PET scanners and evaluate their accuracy for further research and optimization of current and future PET products. GATE results are compared to experimental data obtained according to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU2-2007 standards. A detailed implementation of the geometrical and functional models of the scanners and the NEMA phantoms was conducted, allowing the evaluation of the simulated absolute sensitivity, spatial resolution, count rates and the image quality of both systems. All Monte Carlo data production was performed according to the NEMA protocols. Simulated data were converted into the Philips list-mode format and analyzed using the same software tools as in the quality control step of the production line. Good agreement was found between the simulated results and the measured data from both scanners. This validation study represents an important step towards the use of these tools as an aid for the optimization of the current acquisition protocols and the validation of reconstruction and data correction techniques.
The Relationship between Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language.

Research on second and foreign language learning suggests that the expectations that teachers form for their students can often have an impact on students’ behavior and achievement. Some teachers tend to convey differential expectations to students, which appear to have self-fulfilling prophecy effects on them. The self-fulfilling prophecy effects of teacher expectations are an important, yet not adequately appreciated affective variable in second and foreign language learning. In this article we present the theoretical background on teacher’s expectations for their students. We also describe the sources of teachers’ expectations and the ways through which teachers communicate expectations to students. We finally deal with the pedagogical implications, offering suggestions about how teachers might become more successful in communicating high expectations. Keywords: self-fulfilling prophecy, teacher expectations