Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global and Regional Diagnostic Accuracy of Lung Ultrasound Compared to CT in Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

OBJECTIVES Lung CT is the reference imaging technique for acute respiratory distress syndrome, but requires transportation outside the intensive care and x-ray exposure. Lung ultrasound is a promising, inexpensive, radiation-free, tool for bedside imaging. Aim of the present study was to compare the global and regional diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound and CT scan. DESIGN A prospective, observational study. SETTING Intensive care and radiology departments of a University hospital. PATIENTS Thirty-two sedated, paralyzed acute respiratory distress syndrome patients (age 65 ± 14 yr, body mass index 25.9 ± 6.5 kg/m, and PaO2/FIO2 139 ± 47). INTERVENTIONS Lung CT scan and lung ultrasound were performed at positive end-expiratory pressure 5 cm H2O. A standardized assessment of six regions per hemithorax was used; each region was classified for the presence of normal aeration, alveolar-interstitial syndrome, consolidation, and pleural effusion. Agreement between the two techniques was calculated, and diagnostic variables were assessed for lung ultrasound using lung CT as a reference. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Global agreement between lung ultrasound and CT ranged from 0.640 (0.391-0.889) to 0.934 (0.605-1.000) and was on average 0.775 (0.577-0.973). The overall sensitivity and specificity of lung ultrasound ranged from 82.7% to 92.3% and from 90.2% to 98.6%, respectively. Similar results were found with regional analysis. The diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound was significantly higher when those patterns not reaching the pleural surface were excluded (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve: alveolar-interstitial syndrome 0.854 [0.821-0.887] vs 0.903 [0.852-0.954]; p = 0.049 and consolidation 0.851 [0.818-0.884] vs 0.896 [0.862-0.929]; p = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS Lung ultrasound is a reproducible, sensitive, and specific tool, which allows for bedside detections of the morphologic patterns in acute respiratory distress syndrome. The presence of deep lung alterations may impact the diagnostic performance of this technique.
Shadow Links

We propose a framework of network formation where players can form two types of links: public links are observed by everyone and shadow links are only observed by neighbors. We introduce a novel solution concept called rationalizable peer-confirming pairwise stability, which generalizes Jackson and Wolinsky (1996)’s pairwise stability notion to accommodate shadow links. We then study the case when public links and shadow links are perfect substitutes and relate our concept to pairwise stability. Finally, we consider two specific models and show how false beliefs about others’ behavior may lead to segregation in friendship networks with homophily, reducing social welfare.
Revista de Gestão The institutional role of business school accreditation agencies : a systematic literature review

Purpose – Accreditation is a growing phenomenon and has begun to permeate scientific studies, most of which are quantitative, since they focus on the process of accreditation and its positive or negative effects. Only a few studies have analyzed this phenomenon from the perspective of institutional theory. As there is no consensus regarding the performance of accreditation agencies, the purpose of this paper is to identify their institutional role in the global orientation of the organizational practices, values and decisions of business schools (BS). Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review enabled us to identify scientific publications since 2002 that have used institutional theory when discussing BS accreditation agencies. An in-depth reading of these articles led us to identify the most frequent, similar and contrasting perspectives. Seven aspects were analyzed in each article: theme, research assumption, theoretical basis, method, research context, result and suggestions for future studies. Findings – The findings suggest a certain duality in the role of these agencies. If, on the one hand, they are responsible for providing a quality seal, on the other hand, they promote legitimacy in the field by institutionalizing international rules. Originality/value – By investigating the performance of these agencies as global institutional bodies, the authors extrapolated the traditional discussion on the dynamic of interaction between local actors who both influence the field and are influenced by it, a recurring theme in institutional theory.
High levels of C-reactive protein are associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer: Results from the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium.

Growing epidemiologic evidence supports chronic inflammation as a mechanism of ovarian carcinogenesis. An association between a circulating marker of inflammation, C-reactive protein (CRP), and ovarian cancer risk has been consistently observed, yet, potential heterogeneity of this association by tumor and patient characteristics has not been adequately explored. In this study, we pooled data from case-control studies nested within six cohorts in the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium (OC3) to examine the association between CRP and epithelial ovarian cancer risk overall, by histologic subtype and by participant characteristics. CRP concentrations were measured from pre-diagnosis serum or plasma in 1,091 cases and 1,951 controls. Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). When CRP was evaluated using tertiles, no associations with ovarian cancer risk were observed. A 67% increased ovarian cancer risk was found for women with CRP concentrations >10mg/L compared to <1mg/L (OR=1.67, 95% CI=1.12, 2.48). A CRP concentration >10mg/L was positively associated with risk of mucinous (OR=9.67, 95% CI=1.10, 84.80) and endometrioid carcinoma (OR=3.41, 95% CI=1.07, 10.92), and suggestively positive, though not statistically significant, for serous (OR=1.43, 95% CI=0.82, 2.49) and clear cell carcinoma (OR=2.05, 95% CI=0.36, 11.57; p-heterogeneity=0.20). Heterogeneity was observed with oral contraceptive use (p-interaction=0.03), where the increased risk was present only among ever users (OR=3.24, 95% CI=1.62, 6.47). The present study adds to the existing evidence that CRP plays a role in ovarian carcinogenesis, and suggests that inflammation may be particularly implicated in the etiology of endometrioid and mucinous carcinoma.
Comparing methods for clinical investigator site inspection selection: a comparison of site selection methods of investigators in clinical trials

ABSTRACT Background During the past two decades, the number and complexity of clinical trials have risen dramatically increasing the difficulty of choosing sites for inspection. FDA’s resources are limited and so sites should be chosen with care. Purpose To determine if data mining techniques and/or unsupervised statistical monitoring can assist with the process of identifying potential clinical sites for inspection. Methods Five summary-level clinical site datasets from four new drug applications (NDA) and one biologics license application (BLA), where the FDA had performed or had planned site inspections, were used. The number of sites inspected and the results of the inspections were blinded to the researchers. Five supervised learning models from the previous two years (2016–2017) of an on-going research project were used to predict site inspections results, i.e., No Action Indicated (NAI), Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI), or Official Action Indicated (OAI). Statistical Monitoring Applied to Research Trials (SMARTTM) software for unsupervised statistical monitoring software developed by CluePoints (Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium) was utilized to identify atypical centers (via a p-value approach) within a study.Finally, Clinical Investigator Site Selection Tool (CISST), developed by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), was used to calculate the total risk of each site thereby providing a framework for site selection. The agreement between the predictions of these methods was compared. The overall accuracy and sensitivity of the methods were graphically compared. Results Spearman’s rank order correlation was used to examine the agreement between the SMARTTM analysis (CluePoints’ software) and the CISST analysis. The average aggregated correlation between the p-values (SMARTTM) and total risk scores (CISST) for all five studies was 0.21, and range from −0.41 to 0.50. The Random Forest models for 2016 and 2017 showed the highest aggregated mean agreement (65.1%) amongst outcomes (NAI, VAI, OAI) for the three available studies. While there does not appear to be a single most accurate approach, the performance of methods under certain circumstances is discussed later in this paper. Limitations Classifier models based on data mining techniques require historical data (i.e., training data) to develop the model. There is a possibility that sites in the five-summary level datasets were included in the training datasets for the models from the previous year’s research which could result in spurious confirmation of predictive ability. Additionally, the CISST was utilized in three of the five site selection processes, possibly biasing the data. Conclusion The agreement between methods was lower than expected and no single method emerged as the most accurate.
A parallel priority queue with fast updates for GPU architectures

The high computational throughput of modern graphics processing units (GPUs) make them the de-facto architecture for high-performance computing applications. However, to achieve peak performance, GPUs require highly parallel workloads, as well as memory access patterns that exhibit good locality of reference. As a result, many state-of-the-art algorithms and data structures designed for GPUs sacrifice work-optimality to achieve the necessary parallelism. Furthermore, some abstract data types are avoided completely due to there being no corresponding data structure that performs well on the GPU. One such abstract data type is the priority queue. Many well-known algorithms rely on priority queue operations as a building block. While various priority queue structures have been developed that are parallel, cache-aware, or cache-oblivious, none has been shown to be efficient on GPUs. In this paper, we present the parBucketHeap, a parallel, cache-efficient data structure designed for modern GPU architectures that supports standard priority queue operations, as well as bulk update. We analyze the structure in several well-known computational models and show that it provides both optimal parallelism and is cache-efficient. We implement the parBucketHeap and, using it, we solve the single-source shortest path (SSSP) problem. Experimental results indicate that, for sufficiently large, dense graphs with high diameter, we out-perform current state-of-the-art SSSP algorithms on the GPU by up to a factor of 5. Unlike existing GPU SSSP algorithms, our approach is work-optimal and places significantly less load on the GPU, reducing power consumption.
The Relationship Between the Dark Triad and Internet Adaptation Among Adolescents in China: Internet Use Preference as a Mediator

This study aims to examine the relationship among the Dark Triad personality traits, Internet use preferences and Internet adaptation. In all, 1927 middle school students (aged 11–18) from Beijing and Kunming in China completed a self-reported questionnaire that measured the Dark Triad, Internet use preferences (information communication, recreation, information acquisition and online transaction) and Internet adaptation (positive/negative Internet adaptation). Correlations revealed that there were significant correlations among the Dark Triad, Internet use preferences and Internet adaptation. Multiple regression analysis indicated that psychopathy predicted Internet adaptation more significantly than Machiavellianism or narcissism. Information acquisition positively predicted positive Internet adaptation and negatively predicted negative Internet adaptation, and recreation and online transaction were just the opposite. The SEM results suggested that Internet use preferences partially mediated the relationship between the Dark Triad and Internet adaptation. We discussed the importance of the combined effect of the Dark Triad and Internet use preferences on Internet adaptation.
ERIES Aggregate Productivity Growth in the Presence of ( Persistently ) Heterogeneous Firms Giovanni Dosi

In this article we propose a new methodology for computing the aggregate productivity of an industry, its variations and decompositions of the latter into changes of individual productivities (within effect) and changes in industry composition (between effect). Current aggregate measures rely on some weighted average of individual productivities, and decompositions distinguish between the effect of productivities and weights on variations of the average. However such aggregate measure is incoherent with the disaggregate one (the two are computed with different methodologies), is subject to aggregation biases, arbitrariness in the choice of weights, and information loss. Such problems are particularly serious when heterogeneity among firms is high. We propose instead a geometric approach where aggregate productivity can be measured directly on industry data, but nevertheless its variations can be decomposed into between and within effects plus an heterogeneity effect. We show that our measure does not incur in many of the problems of the weighted average and we also present an empirical application to European data. JEL codes: D24; C67; C81; O30
Exposure to Bile Leads to the Emergence of Adaptive Signaling Variants in the Opportunistic Pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The chronic colonization of the respiratory tract by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. P. aeruginosa has been shown to undergo extensive genomic adaptation facilitating its persistence within the CF lung allowing it to evade the host immune response and outcompete co-colonizing residents of the lung microbiota. However, whilst several studies have described the various mutations that frequently arise in clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa, the environmental factors governing the emergence of these genetic variants is less well characterized. Gastro-oesophageal reflux has recently emerged as a major co-morbidity in CF and is often associated with the presence of bile acids in the lungs most likely by (micro) aspiration. In order to investigate whether bile may select for genetic variants, P. aeruginosa was experimentally evolved in artificial sputum medium, a synthetic media resembling environmental conditions found within the CF lung. Pigmented derivatives of P. aeruginosa emerged exclusively in the presence of bile. Genome sequencing analysis identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in quorum sensing (lasR) and both the pyocyanin (phzS) and pyomelanin (hmgA) biosynthetic pathways. Phenotypic analysis revealed an altered bile response when compared to the ancestral P. aeruginosa progenitor strain. While the recovered pigmented derivatives retained the bile mediated suppression of swarming motility and enhanced antibiotic tolerance, the biofilm, and redox responses to bile were abolished in the adapted mutants. Though loss of pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS) production in the pigmented isolates was not linked to the altered biofilm response, the loss of redox repression could be explained by defective alkyl-quinolone (AQ) production in the presence of bile. Collectively, these findings suggest that the adaptive variants of P. aeruginosa that arise following long term bile exposure enables the emergence of ecologically competitive sub-populations. Altered pigmentation and AQ signaling may contribute to an enhancement in fitness facilitating population survival within a bile positive environment.
Informal Carers Training: In-group Social Learning as an Effective Method for Quality Care Empowerment

In this article, a method of in-group social learning used for informal carers training is presented. This method was developed by Jože Ramovš and his team at the Anton Trstenjak Institute of Gerontology and Intergenerational Relations primary for the fields of holistic health prevention and aging; later on, special attention has been given to its development for training of informal carers as the latter often carry the most significant part of the long-term care burden. In the first part of the article, the need for such a method is discussed through a review of current international demographic and long-term care situations. In the second part, a novel method for the training of informal carers is introduced. Finally, the results of the evaluation analysis of 453 persons who participated in the training are presented and compared with the results of the nationally-representative study. The results show that the method of in-group social learning has a great potential for quality care empowerment of informal carers as well as for holistic development of intergenerational solidarity in the modern age. Furthermore, they open new possibilities for research and present directions for further development and implementation of the described method within this important field.
Title Impaired expression of non-collagenous bone matrix protein mRNAs during fracture healing in ascorbic acid-deficient rats

In scorbutic patients, fractures are slow to heal because of impaired collagen synthesis. To investigate the influence of impaired collagen synthesis on the differentiation and proliferation of osteogenic and chondrogenic cHIIs, we examined the expression of genes encoding bone matrix proteins, including osteonectin (ON), osteopontin (OPN), osteocalcin (OC), and matrix Gla protein (MGP), as differentiation markers for osteogenic and chondrogenic cells during fracture healing in Osteogenic Disorder Shionogi (ODS) rats, which have a hereditary defect in the ability to synthesize ascorbic acid (Asc). In ODS rats without Asc supplementation, intramennbranous ossification was completely inhibited. Although a few fibroblast-like cells expressing ON mRNA were observed, no OPN mANA-expressing cells were detected. During endochondral ossification, a small amount of metachromaic staining cartilage appeared at the fracture site, but there was no provisional calcification zone in the cartilage. Chondrocytes expressed ON and MGP mRNAs, but not OPN mANA. When Asc was given to these rats, callus formation was soon detected around the fracture site, while OPN mANA was expressed by differentiated osteoblasts and hypertrophic chondrocytes. Our data indicate that impaired collagen synthesis due to Asc deficiency inhibited the increase of ON and MGP mANA-expressing cells as well as the appearance of OPN mANA-expressing cells. Since OPN is considered to play an important role in normal and pathological mineralization, lack of OPN mRNA expression accompanying impaired collagen synthesis may have a role in defective mineralization and delayed fracture healing in scurvy.
Constrained Nanoparticles Deliver siRNA and sgRNA to T Cells In Vivo without Targeting Ligands

T cells help regulate immunity, which makes them an important target for RNA therapies. While nanoparticles carrying RNA have been directed to T cells in vivo using protein‐ and aptamer‐based targeting ligands, systemic delivery to T cells without targeting ligands remains challenging. Given that T cells endocytose lipoprotein particles and enveloped viruses, two natural systems with structures that can be similar to lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), it is hypothesized that LNPs devoid of targeting ligands can deliver RNA to T cells in vivo. To test this hypothesis, the delivery of siRNA to 9 cell types in vivo by 168 nanoparticles using a novel siGFP‐based barcoding system and bioinformatics is quantified. It is found that nanomaterials containing conformationally constrained lipids form stable LNPs, herein named constrained lipid nanoparticles (cLNPs). cLNPs deliver siRNA and sgRNA to T cells at doses as low as 0.5 mg kg−1 and, unlike previously reported LNPs, do not preferentially target hepatocytes. Delivery occurs via a chemical composition‐dependent, size‐independent mechanism. These data suggest that the degree to which lipids are constrained alters nanoparticle targeting, and also suggest that natural lipid trafficking pathways can promote T cell delivery, offering an alternative to active targeting approaches.
MANAGEMENT ORIENTATIONS TO SAFEGUARD THE BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS IN THE CURRENT INTERNATIONAL CRISIS

The present work starts with the observation of the current international crisis that has not spared the business world, affecting mainly the industrial sector. Thus, companies are now more than ever called upon to ensure their competitiveness by meeting some critical success factors that are not only related to quality and product innovation, but also to the production efficiency which can be achieved through minimizing both production and delivery costs. The difficulty of combining the fulfilment of these objectives which seem to be in contrast with each other, has led companies to experiment different management philosophies to find the most suitable to be adopted in the competitive scene in which they operate, and aimed at ensuring the best business performance in the mediumlong term. As a result, the research aims, first, at investigating whether there are management philosophies that are able to meet these objectives, supported by operational approaches that are compatible with their basic criteria; secondly, it is meant to assess whether these models may cover the whole industrial sector rather than a single sector alone, as well as whether they can be used in both large companies and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and, finally, whether they can be extended to service companies as well.
The Emotional Intelligence of Japanese Mental Health Nurses

The aim of this study was to measure emotional intelligence in nurses in Japan, and to elucidate the characteristics of mental health nurses. Anonymous, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 206 nurses working in three psychiatric hospitals and two internal medicine hospitals in Japan. The number of participants included in the analysis was 159 (valid response rate, 77.2%), of which 87 were mental health nurses. Emotional intelligence was measured using the Japanese version of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. In the analysis, the emotional intelligence of mental health nurses and internal medicine nurses was compared using a t-test. The results of a t-test comparing emotional intelligence scale scores between the mental health nurses and internal medicine nurses showed that the total mean score and Self-Emotions Appraisal score were significantly lower in mental health nurses than in internal medicine nurses. The self-awareness of mental health nurses was significantly lower than that of nurses in other fields (P < 0.001, Cohen’s d: 0.65). The results of this study provide a basis for future research on the emotional intelligence of nurses in Japan. Development of an emotional intelligence scale based on the characteristics of Japanese nurses will be important regarding nurses’ assessment of their own emotions and the emotions of others. The kinds of people nurses are involved with and the content of their support for others also need to be clarified.