Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dimensions of Neutropenia in Adult Cancer Patients: Expanding Conceptualizations Beyond the Numerical Value of the Absolute Neutrophil Count

Neutropenia is a common and dangerous toxicity of cancer therapy that profoundly affects patients' lives. Neutropenia is typically defined by the numerical value of the absolute neutrophil count. However, considering neutropenia exclusively as the numerical value of the absolute neutrophil count limits its conceptualizations to physiologically related aspects, minimizes its complexities, and neglects dimensions of human response and the patient experience. This article offers a dimensional analysis of neutropenia derived from 42 research and clinical articles. Schatzman's dimensional analysis methods were applied to the literature to identify aspects of this phenomenon lying beyond its numerical boundaries. Dimensions of neutropenia that emerged were sorted into categories of perspective, context, conditions, processes, and consequences. The presence of the same dimension in more than 1 category and the circuitous relationships among categories begin to explicate the complexity and gravity of neutropenia. Articulation of these dimensions is necessary to assemble the beginnings of a theoretical understanding of neutropenia, which is crucial for the development and application of knowledge to research and practice. Limitations evident in the literature illuminate the urgent need for research into the psychosocial as well as physiologic dimensions of neutropenia.
The Role of the Male Partner in the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Cameroon

Background: Mother to child transmission of HIV remains a major public health problem. To solve this problem WHO developed the PMTCT program. Involving male partners in the program is associated with improved outcome. However, in Cameroon, only 1.6% of men participated in the program in 2010 and the program’s target of 80% was not reached. Hence, this study sought to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of men with regards to PMTCT in the Buea Health District of Cameroon. Methods: It was a cross sectional survey of 384 community men and 384 women attending ANC/PMTCT and IWF clinics in the Buea Health District using a structured questionnaire. Ethical clearance was obtained from the FHSIRB. Each health area in the district represented a stratum. In each stratum, there was sampling of women at the clinics and men in the community. Written consent was obtained from all participants. Data was analysed on EPI INFO version 3.5. 1. Results: More than 81% of respondents had heard of the PMTCT program (95%CI: 93.5-97.9%). However, the proportion of men and women with correct knowledge of PMTCT was less than the 80% target (95%CI: 72.5%-81.2% for men and 68.2-77.4% for women). The health services (p=0.0001), radio and television (p=0.0001) were the main sources of information on PMTCT. Attitudes towards PMTCT program activities and male involvement was largely positive. Male participation at ANC/PMTCT clinic was low (41.3%). Non-invitation to clinic and lack of time were the main reasons for low male participation. Use of condom during pregnancy and breastfeeding was low (74.5%) and practice of multiple sexual partners was common in the district. Community sensitisation, creation of clinic days for men and participation of couples at ANC clinics were proposed methods for improving male participation. Conclusion: Men have a role to play in PMTCT and should be given adequate knowledge of PMTCT for improved outcome.
p-n-p-Based RF Switches for the Mitigation of Single-Event Transients in a Complementary SiGe BiCMOS Platform

The benefits of using p-n-p silicon–germanium (SiGe) heterojuction bipolar transistors (HBTs) in radio frequency (RF) circuits for the mitigation of single-event transients (SETs) have been investigated. As a representative circuit example, p-n-p SiGe-HBT RF single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches have been designed in a complementary SiGe BiCMOS platform. The fabricated p-n-p-based RF switches provide comparable RF performance to n-p-n-based switches. In terms of SET transient peaks and duration, the p-n-p SiGe HBT RF switches exhibit a significant reduction in SET sensitivity compared with their n-p-n counterparts. In the frequency domain, the p-n-p switches show fewer low-frequency spurs than that of the n-p-n switches. In addition, inverse-mode p-n-p SiGe HBT switches provide the best overall SET response among all RF SPST switches investigated.
Crystal Glyph: Visualization of Directional Distributions Based on the Cube Map

High resolution simulations are capable of generating very large vector fields that are expensive to store and analyze. In addition, the velocity fields generated from some particle simulations are not stored on spatial grids, which become difficult to visualize using some traditional vector field visualization methods such as streamlines. Furthermore, the noise and/or uncertainty contained in the data often affects the quality of visualization by producing visual clutter that interferes with both the interpretation and identification of important features. An alternative approach is to store the distribution of many vector orientations and visualize the distribution with 3D glyphs. This paper presents the cube map histogram, a new data structure for storing the distribution of three-dimensional vector directions. We also present a glyph called the crystal glyph that effectively visualizes the directional distribution using OpenGL cube map textures. By placing crystal glyphs in the 3D data space, users can identify the directional distribution of the regional vector field from the shape and color of the glyph without visual clutter.
A surface glycoprotein of Trypanosoma lewisi binds immunoglobulin G from the serum of uninfected rats

Detergent extracts of whole Trypanosoma lewisi were fractionated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose for immunoblotting analysis. Antibody probes to rat immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM detected intact gamma chains, mu chains, and light chains in extracts. The amount of immunoglobulin detected increased as the infection progressed. Transfers were also incubated in serum from conventionally reared (CRS), specific-pathogen-free (SPFS), or germ-free rats before being probed with anti-rat IgG or anti-rat IgM. Components of 200, 175, and 120 kilodaltons (kDa) bound IgM from all sera tested and were present in extracts of trypanosomes isolated from lethally irradiated or intact rats on different days during infection. No parasite components bound IgG from serum of germ-free rats. However, 145-, 175-, and 200-kDa components bound IgG from CRS and SPFS. A 74-kDa protein was the major IgG-binding component in extracts of reproducing parasites. This component bound much more IgG from CRS than it bound from SPFS. The 74-kDa protein was removed from parasites by mild trypsinization and corresponded to a major surface glycoprotein detected when intact cells were radioiodinated. These results indicate that natural antibodies to T. lewisi exist in rats or that these parasites have surface proteins that bind immunoglobulins without regard to antigenic specificity.
Continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitoring using photoplethysmography: A review

Blood pressure is an important vital sign of the human body. It is generally monitored using intravenous or cuff-based devices, both of which have their own drawbacks. Continuous and non-invasive blood pressure has significant clinical value however the measurement devices are generally costly and complicated to setup and operate especially in home-based environment. This paper investigates state of the art techniques that utilise one or more photoplethysmographs (PPG) to produce a device that continuously and non-invasively monitors a patient's blood pressure. Three different estimation methodologies are reviewed and compared in this paper.
Enhancement of the antibody response to type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide in mice treated with antilymphocyte serum.

Mice treated with antilymphocyte serum (ALS) and immunized with type III pneumococcal polysaccharide (SSS-III) showed a tenfold increase in the number of direct splenic plaque-forming cells (PFC); no indirect PFC were detected in such mice. These findings suggest that ALS may have selectively eliminated a population of cells which exerts a regulatory effect on the antibody response to SSS-III.
Eosinophilia in Preterm Born Infants Infected with Chlamydia trachomatis

ABSTRACT A higher than 350 eosinophils/mm3 is strongly associated with Chlamydia trachomatis in term born babies coursing with respiratory distress. However, in preterm newborns infected with this pathogen, the levels of eosinophils are unknown. Forty newborn infants with clinical data of respiratory problems and/or sepsis were analyzed. DNA of leukocytes from peripheral blood was used to identify C. trachomatis. Detection of chlamydial infection was performed by amplifying the ompA gene by an in-house PCR, and eosinophil levels were evaluated in an XT-2000-hematology analyzer. Eighteen infants showed chlamydial infection and 14 of them showed pneumonia (RR = 2.6; CI95% 1.03-6.5; p =.027). Their eosinophil levels were 719 ± 614 cells/mm3. A significant association between eosinophilia ≥1250 cells/mm3 and gestational age of less than 29 weeks (RR = 5.8; 1.35; CI95% [1.4-24.5], p <.008) was observed. The preterm infants with chlamydial infection did not show higher eosinophil levels than uninfected infants.
Cost-effectiveness of bisphosphonate therapies for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis: implications of improved persistence with less frequently administered oral bisphosphonates

ABSTRACT Objective: Studies have shown that weekly bisphosphonate dosing results in improved persistence compared to daily dosing among patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis, yet more than 50% of patients discontinue therapy within a year. An oral, less frequent administration bisphosphonate provides an opportunity to improve persistence, a parameter not well modeled in previous cost-effectiveness analyses of osteoporosis therapies. Research design and methods: We developed a Markov model to estimate the effect of improved persistence on the cost-effectiveness of bisphosphonates among postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis (vertebral fracture and bone mineral density T-score ≤ –2.5) and an average age of 78 years. Fracture risks, clinical efficacy, mortality, resource use, costs, and utilities were obtained from the published literature. Persistence rates were derived primarily from a published clinical trial. Approximately 50% greater persistence with a monthly versus a weekly therapy was assumed on the basis of the PERSIST study, a 6-month, randomized, head-to-head prospective study that investigated treatment persistence in postmenopausal osteoporotic women on monthly versus weekly bisphosphonate therapy. Persistence was extrapolated to a maximum of 5 years. Following discontinuation, treatment benefit declined linearly and proportionally to the duration of active treatment. Results: Based on model estimates, more fractures were avoided (versus no treatment) with monthly bisphosphonate (58.1 per 1000 treated women) than with weekly bisphosphonates (33.8 per 1000 treated women), resulting in lower fracture care costs per woman ($7317 and $7548, respectively). The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained was lower with a monthly bisphosphonate ($13 749) than with weekly bisphosphonates ($16 657) when compared to no treatment. The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year of a monthly bisphosphonate was $9476 when compared to a weekly bisphosphonate. Conclusions: In postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis, improvement in persistence with a less frequently administered oral bisphosphonate therapy could augment the fracture benefit and thereby improve cost-effectiveness. Further studies are required to refine the estimates of cost-effectiveness in order to address limited availability of adherence and fracture risk data.
trans-2-(2-Nitro-1-phenylethyl)cyclohexanone

In the title compound, C14H17NO3, the plane of the phenyl ring and the least-squares plane of the cyclohexyl moiety enclose an angle of 89.14 (6)°. The cyclohexyl ring adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, the molecules are linked by weak C—H⋯O bonds, with each of the nitro-O atoms accepting two such interactions.
Design and realization of 200KVA AC mine locomotive

For the special conditions such as underground, dusty, hard maintenance environment of mine area, ac motor, which overcomes some drawbacks of dc motor, is definitely the best choice for mine locomotive. This paper compares characteristics between dc drive and ac drive, and presents an ac drive system for mine locomotive. The full digital control, including slip frequency control in digital signal processor (DSP) and M/T speed testing method in complex programmable logic device (CPLD), was described. Hardware and software under space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) were designed for a 200 kilo voltage-ampere mine locomotive and some experiments were made, as well as waveforms. Now the mine locomotive is running in industry and performs well.
Isolation and Identification of Obligate Thermophilic Sporeforming Bacilli from Ocean Basin Cores

Bartholomew, J. W. (University of Southern California, Los Angeles), and George Paik. Isolation and identification of obligate thermophilic sporeforming bacilli from ocean basin cores. J. Bacteriol. 92:635–638. 1966. —Obligate thermophilic sporeforming aerobic bacilli were isolated from 11 ocean basin cores taken from locations in a 150 mile long area off of the coast from Ensenada, Mexico, to Santa Catalina Island, and ranging as far out from shore as 160 miles. Isolated strains of bacilli were all identified as being identical, or closely related, to Bacillus stearothermophilus.
Two Level Empirical Study of Logging Statements in Open Source Java Projects

Log statements present in source code provide important information to the software developers because they are useful in various software development activities. Most of the previous studies on logging analysis and prediction provide insights and results after analyzing only a few code constructs. In this paper, the authors perform an in-depth and large-scale analysis of logging code constructs at two levels. They answer nine research questions related to statistical and content analysis. Statistical analysis at file level reveals that fewer files consist of log statements but logged files have a greater complexity than that of non-logged files. Results show that a positive correlation exists between size and logging count of the logged files. Statistical analysis on catch-blocks show that try-blocks associated with logged catch-blocks have greater complexity than non-logged catch-blocks and the logging ratio of an exception type is project specific. Content-based analysis of catch-blocks reveals the presence of different topics in try-blocks associated with logged and non-logged catch-blocks.
The Educational Attainment of Immigrants: Trends and Implications

"This paper uses the 1970, 1980, and 1990 U.S. Censuses to study trends in educational attainment of immigrants relative to natives. Immigrants have become relatively less highly educated, but have become more highly educated in an absolute sense. The effects of changes in relative educational attainment between immigrants and natives on earnings are studied. Educational differences are found to explain more than half the observed wage gap between the two groups. The paper also allows for non-linearities in returns to education. Sheepskin effects influence earnings in different ways for natives and immigrants. Differences in returns to pre- and post-migration education also appear. The paper also finds evidence that immigrants crowd natives out of education, although the effects are stronger in secondary than in postsecondary education. "
A security policy for an A1 DBMS (a trusted subject)

A security policy for a multilevel secure relational database management system (DBMS) is stated. The DBMS is implemented as a trusted subject that can be hosted on any of a variety of secure operating systems. Accordingly, the policy is stated in two parts: (1) a generic policy for the operating-system TCB (trusted computing base) layer that states requirements that any operating system must meet so that the DBMS can be hosted on it; and (2) the policy of the DBMS TCB layer. It is argued that the DBMS can be evaluated for each operating system on which it is hosted without reevaluating the underlying operating system. Rationale is given for implementing the DBMS as a trusted subject rather than using a Hinke-Schaefer architecture. The policy addresses secrecy and integrity. <<ETX>>
Ceramide Formation Leads to Caspase-3 Activation during Hypoxic PC12 Cell Death

PC12 cells undergo apoptosis as well as necrosis following exposure to hypoxia. Following a 6-h hypoxic treatment, a time-dependent increase in intracellular ceramide level was observed with a concurrent decrease in sphingomyelin. It was also shown that the hypoxia-induced ceramide accumulation resulted from activation of neutral magnesium-dependent sphingomyelinase. Comparative kinetic analyses of the neutral sphingomyelinase in the cells under normoxia and hypoxia showed that hypoxia increasedV max but did not affect K m of the enzyme. In PC12 cells overexpressing Bcl-2 which show strong resistance to hypoxia, sphingomyelin hydrolysis was decreased and activation of neutral sphingomyelinase was reduced. Addition of exogenous C2-ceramide induced cell death and activated caspase-3 as markedly as the hypoxia treatment. On the other hand, in PC12 cells overexpressing Bcl-2, significant decreases in cell death and inhibition of caspase-3 activation were observed after exogenous addition of C2-ceramide. The inhibitors of caspase-3 prevented cell death by either hypoxia or C2-ceramide. These results suggest that ceramide generated by activation of neutral magnesium-dependent sphingomyelinase mediates hypoxic cell death and that Bcl-2 has inhibitory effects on ceramide formation and caspase activation.
Association of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase VEB-5 and 16S rRNA Methyltransferase ArmA in Salmonella enterica from the United Kingdom

Aminoglycosides and beta-lactams are used for the treatment of a wide range of infections due to both Gram-negative and Gram-positive. An emerging aminoglycoside resistance mechanism, methylation of the aminoacyl site of the 16S rRNA, confers high-level resistance to clinically important aminoglycosides such as amikacin, tobramycin and gentamicin. Eight 16S rRNA methyltransferase genes, armA, rmtA, rmtB, rmtC, rmtD, rmtE, rmtF and npmA, have been identified in several species of enterobacteria worldwide (2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14). Resistance to extended spectrum β-lactams remains additionally an important clinical problem. Apart from the large TEM, SHV, and CTX-M families, several other extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) have been identified, including VEB enzymes, which confer high-level resistance to cephalosporins and monobactams. Although 16S rRNA methyltransferases have been frequently identified associated with different ESBLs, there has been no report of association of a 16S rRNA methyltransferase with a VEB enzyme, except for the identification of rmtC with blaVEB-6 (14)
Heat‐induced phosphorylation of NBS1 in human skin fibroblast cells

NBS1 is known to be involved in DNA damage‐induced cellular responses after exposure to ionizing radiation (IR). Phosphorylation of NBS1 contributes to cell‐cycle checkpoints. The aim of this study was to determine whether heat exposure induces or stimulates cellular responses mediated by the phosphorylation of NBS1 in human skin fibroblast cell lines. The results of immunofluorescent staining and Western blot analysis showed that NBS1 proteins are phosphorylated after exposure to heat in the nucleus of a normal skin fibroblast cell line (82‐6 cells). This suggests that the NBS1‐mediated signal transduction could be induced by heat. We further examined whether a deficiency in the NBS1 protein modifies heat sensitivity in human skin fibroblast cell lines. A skin fibroblast cell line (Gmtert), derived from a Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) patient containing mutant NBS1, showed higher sensitivity to heat than the same cell line transfected with the wild‐type copy of the NBS1 gene. We also showed that transfection of a DNA cassette expressing small interference RNA (siRNA) targeted to NBS1 into 82‐6 cells enhanced cell sensitivity to heat. These results suggest that NBS1 is involved in cellular responses to DNA damage which is induced by heat exposure as well as by radiation exposure in human skin fibroblast cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 99: 1642–1650, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Equivalent Forms of Multistep Formulas

For uniform meshes it is shown that any linear fc-step formula can be formulated so that only k values need to be saved between steps. By saving additional m values it is possible to construct local polynomial approximations of degree k + m — 1, which can be used as predictor formulas. Different polynomi- al bases lead to different equivalent forms of multistep formulas. In particular, local monomial bases yield Nordsieck formulas. An explicit one-to-one correspondence is established between Nordsieck formulas and fc-step formulas of order at least k, and a strong equivalence result is proved for all but certain pathological cases. Equivalence is also shown for P(EC)* formulas but not for P(EC)*E formulas. 1. Introduction. Multistep methods are the oldest and the most important class of numerical methods for solving systems of ordinary differential equations. Imple- mentations of these methods have become increasingly sophisticated in the last two decades. One paper having a considerable impact on the development of these algorithms is that of Nordsieck (1962), which introduces a class of formulas closely related to multistep formulas. It is the purpose of the present paper to explore thoroughly the relationship between multistep and Nordsieck formulas on a uniform mesh. The results apply to a limited extent to variable-order variable-stepsize algorithms which discourage order and stepsize changes, because such algorithms often produce sequences of values computed with the same formula and stepsize.
A Combined Approach on RBC Image Segmentation through Shape Feature Extraction

The classification of erythrocyte plays an important role in clinic diagnosis. In terms of the fact that the shape deformability of red blood cell brings more difficulty in detecting and recognize for operating automatically, we believed that the recovered 3D shape surface feature would give more information than traditional 2D intensity image processing methods. This paper proposed a combined approach for complex surface segmentation of red blood cell based on shape-from-shading technique and multiscale surface fitting. By means of the image irradiance equation under SEM imaging condition, the 3D height field could be recovered from the varied shading. Afterwards the depth maps of each point on the surfaces were applied to calculate Gaussian curvature and mean curvature, which were used to produce surface-type label image. Accordingly the surface was segmented into different parts through multiscale bivariate polynomials function fitting. The experimental results showed that this approach was easily implemented and promising.
Retiform uterine tumours resembling ovarian sex cord tumours. A comparative immunohistochemical study with retiform structures of the female genital tract

Aims: To analyse both the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical findings in six cases of uterine tumours resembling ovarian sex cord tumours with a predominant epithelial retiform component resembling the rete ovarii (RUTROSCT) and to compare their immunophenotype with tissues containing retiform structures such as the normal rete ovarii, retiform Wolffian adnexal tumour (RWAT) and ovarian retiform areas of Sertoli‐Leydig cell tumours (ORSLCT).