Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Overcoming recruitment challenges in patients with multiple sclerosis: Results from an Italian survey

Background: Recruiting patients for randomized clinical trials is still extremely difficult. While there has been much research in oncology patients, no previous studies have consistently addressed specific factors affecting the willingness to enroll in multiple sclerosis trials from the patient’s perspective. To this end, we conducted an exploratory study to assess the related factors and to find ways to improve recruitment. Methods: This is a single-center, observational study involving 352 consecutive outpatients followed at one site in Italy. Patients completed the Enrollment Problems Questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory. Results: Over 50% of the patients would consider participating in a randomized trial. Willing patients are frequently older, with no children, have a diagnosis of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, and have already participated in clinical trials. Patients’ choices were positively influenced by expectations of having (a) a greater chance of cure, (b) an unavailable drug, (c) a specialist’s care, and (d) the chance to contribute to medical research. Willingness was significantly increased by the use of optimistic language and practical/psychological assistance during the decision-making process. Conclusion: Multiple sclerosis patients’ willingness to participate in a randomized trial is mainly related to both altruistic and individual considerations, as well as to a greater chance of specialist/improved care. More effective information flow and an effective, long-standing patient–physician relationship may improve recruitment overall.
Noten oder Verbalbeurteilungen

Zusammenfassung. In einer langsschnittlich angelegten Studie wurde die Hypothese gepruft, dass sich die verbale Beurteilung gegenuber der Notenbewertung forderlich auf die Schulleistungen und die leistungsbezogene Personlichkeitsentwicklung auswirkt und dies besonders bei Kindern mit niedrigen Schulleistungen sichtbar wird. Die Panelstichprobe umfasste 241 Grundschulkinder aus West- und Ostberlin, die von der 2. bis zur 4. Klasse in halbjahrlichem Abstand zur Lernfreude, zum Fahigkeitsselbstbild, zur Leistungsmotivation sowie Leistungsangst befragt wurden. Erfasst wurden auserdem die Intelligenz und jahrlich die Schulleistungen (Leistungstests) in Deutsch und Mathematik. Die Ergebnisse bestatigen die Hypothese der entwicklungsfordernden Wirkung der verbalen Beurteilung gegenuber der Notengebung nicht. Notenkinder und Kinder mit verbalen Beurteilungen unterscheiden sich nur wenig in den Personlichkeitsmerkmalen sowie den Schulleistungen. Die Entwicklung von Kindern mit niedrigen Schulleistungen wird durch .
LA ORGANIZACIÓN RETÓRICA DEL GÉNERO MANUAL DE ECONOMÍA: UN DISCURSO EN TRÁNSITO DISCIPLINAR

RESUMENEn este articulo se aborda el estudio del discurso academico de la Economia, basado en parte del Corpus PUCV-UCSC-2013, recolectado en dos carreras universitarias de dos universidades chilenas. Desde este marco, un primer objetivo de esta investigacion es des-cribir la organizacion retorica funcional de un conjunto de 38 textos, correspondientes al genero Manual. En segundo termino, se establece la frecuencia de ocurrencia de las movidas y los pasos retoricos identiﬁcados. Los resultados generales indican que existe una tendencia a la homogeneidad en la organizacion discursiva de los treinta y ocho manuales, es decir, todos ellos ejecutan la mayoria de los pasos y movidas prototipicas. La cuantiﬁca-cion de la ocurrencia de algunos pasos retoricos revelo la existencia de algunas funciones presentes en todos los manuales (Plantear Ejercicios o Ejemplos), pero de otras que se realizan escasamente (Resolver la Tarea). Estos rasgos hacen que los manuales analizados, por una parte, se asemejen a los de Ciencias Basicas, pero –por otra– los llevan a acercarse a los de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades. Esta tendencia dual o mixta en el discurso aca-demico de la Economia refuerza el caracter controversial de un discurso que se hibridiza en el proceso de buscar la objetividad y cientiﬁcidad. Otro hallazgo lo constituye la iden-tiﬁcacion en algunos manuales de una suborganizacion incrustada en la Macromovida 2, a
Analytical target cascading in aircraft design

Analytical Target Cascading (ATC) is a product development tool that computes component design specifications such that the final system design is consistent and meets design targets. ATC is useful for complex product design that must be approached by decomposition, and facilitates concurrent design activities. While ATC has been applied successfully to automotive design, this article introduces the application of ATC to aircraft design, and discusses how it can be congruent with current design practice. ATC is used to solve an aircraft design problem where several flight regimes are considered separately. ATC can be used to balance low-fidelity system analysis and component-level multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) activities. Finally, ATC may be used to coordinate overall aircraft design, with MDO employed to solve tightly coupled disciplinary problems that exist within ATC elements.
The regulation of folate and methionine metabolism.

1. The isolated perfused rat liver and suspensions of isolated rat hepatocytes fail to form glucose from histidine, in contrast with the liver in vivo. Both rat liver preparations readily metabolize histidine. The main end product is N-formiminoglutamate. In this respect the liver preparations behave like the liver of cobalamin- or folate-deficient mammals. 2. Additions of L-methionine in physiological concentrations (or of ethionine [2-amino-4-(ethylthio)butyric acid]) promotes the degradation of formiminoglutamate, as is already known to be the case in cobalamin of folate deficiency. Added methionine also promotes glucose formation from histidine. 3. Addition of methionine accelerates the oxidation of formate to bicarbonate by hepatocytes. 4. A feature common to cobalamin-deficient liver and the isolated liver preparations is taken to be a low tissue methionine concentration, to be expected in cobalamin deficiency through a decreased synthesis of methionine and caused in liver preparations by a washing out of amino acids during the handling of the tissue. 5. The available evidence is in accordance with the assumption that methionine does not directly increase the catalytic capacity of formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase; rather, that an increased methionine concentration raises the concentration of S-adenosylmethionine, thus leading to the inhibition of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase activity [Kutzbach & Stokstad (1967) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 139, 217-220; Kutzbach & Stokstad (1971) Methods Enzymol. 18B, 793-798], that this inhibition causes an increase in the concentration of methylenetetrahydrofolate and the C1 tetrahydrofolate derivatives in equilibrium with methylenetetrahydrofolate, including 10-formyltetrahydrofolate; that the increased concentration of the latter accelerates the formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase reaction, because the normal concentration of the substrate is far below the Km value of the enzyme for the substrate. 6. The findings are relevant to the understanding of the regulation of both folate and methionine metabolism. When the methionine concentration is low, C1 units are preserved by the decreased activity of formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase and are utilized for the synthesis of methionine, purines and pyrimidines. On the other hand when the concentration of methionine, and hence adenosylmethionine, is high and there is a surplus of C1 units as a result of excess of dietary supply, formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase disposes of the excess. When ample dietary supply causes an excess of methionine, which has to be disposed of by degradation, the increased activity of formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase decreases the supply of methyltetrahydrofolate. Thus homocysteine, instead of being remethylated, enters the pathway of degradation via cystathionine. 7. The findings throw light on the biochemical abnormalities associated with cobalamin deficiency (megaloblastic anaemia), especially on the 'methylfolate-trap hypothesis'. This is discussed. 8.
Asymptotic behavior for a viscous Hamilton-Jacobi equation with critical exponent

The large time behavior of non-negative solutions to the viscous Hamilton-Jacobi equation ∂ t u - Au + |∇u| q = 0 in (0, ∞) x E N is investigated for the critical exponent q = (N +2)/(N + 1). Convergence towards a rescaled self-similar solution to the linear heat equation is shown, the rescaling factor being (1nt) -(N+1) . The proof relies on the construction of a one-dimensional invariant manifold for a suitable truncation of the equation written in self-similar variables.
The defects in cell wall integrity and G2–M transition of the ∆htl1 mutant are interconnected

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RSC (remodel the structure of chromatin) complex is involved in functions associated with the transcriptional regulation, cell cycle progression, DNA damage repair and cell wall integrity. Here we investigate the cellular functioning of HTL1, which encodes a non‐essential subunit of the RSC complex. The results show that the ∆htl1 mutant displays a characteristic defect in cell wall integrity, and the phenotype of the ∆htl1 cells, which include the cell wall defect, temperature sensitivity and ploidy increase, are rescued by the osmotic stabilizer sorbitol but not by overexpression of PKC1, the signalling kinase important for the cell wall biogenesis and stress response. In addition, the expression level of Slt2p, the MAP kinase downstream of the cell wall integrity pathway, is upregulated in ∆htl1 cells. Furthermore, the mitotic arrest of the ∆htl1 mutant is moderated by 1 m sorbitol and deletion of SLT2. The present findings suggest that HTL1 may play a role that is different from other RSC components in terms of cell wall integrity and the G2–M transition. The results also suggest that the defects in cell wall integrity and the G2–M transition of the ∆htl1 mutant are interconnected. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On the origin and excitation of the extended nebula surrounding NGC 1275

We use line-of-sight velocity information on the filamentary emission-line nebula of NGC 1275 to infer a dynamical model of the nebula's flow through the surrounding intracluster gas. We detect outflowing gas and flow patterns that match simulations of buoyantly rising bubbles from which we deduce that some of the nebula filaments have been drawn out of NGC 1275. We find a radial gradient of the ratio [N II]λ6584/Hα which may be due to a variation in metallicity, interactions with the surrounding intracluster medium or a hardening of the excitation mechanism. We find no preferred spatial correlation of stellar clusters within the filaments and there is a notable lack of [O III]λ5007 emission, therefore it is unlikely that the filaments are ionized by stellar ultraviolet.
Is Online Buying Out of Control? Electronic Commerce and Consumer Self-Regulation

Preliminary evidence suggests that forms of unregulated consumer behavior, including impulsive, compulsive, and addictive buying, are present on the Internet. This study reconceptualized unregulated buying behaviors as the result of deficient self-regulation using mechanisms proposed in social cognitive theory. As a result, deficient self-regulation of online buying was positively related to online shopping activity. It was a more important predictor than the rational merits of e-commerce, such as convenience and low price, and than personal and economic consumer characteristics. Together with Internet self-efficacy and Internet use, these variables explained 43% of the variance in online shopping behavior.
Solution structure of the superactive monomeric des-[Phe(B25)] human insulin mutant: elucidation of the structural basis for the monomerization of des-[Phe(B25)] insulin and the dimerization of native insulin.

The three-dimensional solution structure of des-[Phe(B25)] human insulin has been determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and restrained molecular dynamics calculations. Thirty-five structures were calculated by distance geometry from 581 nuclear Overhauser enhancement-derived distance constraints, ten phi torsional angle restraints, the restraints from 16 helical hydrogen bonds, and three disulfide bridges. The distance geometry structures were optimized using simulated annealing and restrained energy minimization. The average root-mean-square (r.m.s.) deviation for the best 20 refined structures is 1.07 angstroms for the backbone and 1.92 angstroms for all atoms if the less well-defined N and C-terminal residues are excluded. The helical regions are more well defined, with r.m.s. deviations of 0.64 angstroms for the backbone and 1.51 angstroms for all atoms. It is found that the des-[Phe(B25)] insulin is a monomer under the applied conditions (4.6 to 4.7 mM, pH 3.0, 310 K), that the overall secondary and tertiary structures of the monomers in the 2Zn crystal hexamer of native insulin are preserved, and that the conformation-averaged NMR solution structure is close to the structure of molecule 1 in the hexamer. The structure reveals that the lost ability of des-[Phe(B25)] insulin to self-associate is caused by a conformational change of the C-terminal region of the B-chain, which results in an intra-molecular hydrophobic interaction between Pro(B28) and the hydrophobic region Leu(B11)-Leu(B15) of the B-chain alpha-helix. This interaction interferes with the inter-molecular hydrophobic interactions responsible for the dimerization of native insulin, depriving the mutant of the ability to dimerize. Further, the structure displays a series of features that may explain the high potency of the mutant on the basis of the current model for the insulin-receptor interaction. These features are: a change in conformation of the C-terminal region of the B-chain, the absence of strong hydrogen bonds between this region and the rest of the molecule, and a relatively easy accessibility to the Val(A3) residue.
Individual and Flexible: Working Conditions in the Practice of Swedish Distance-Based Teacher Education.

This article reports on the working conditions within Swedish ICT-supported distancebased teacher education. Data collected from teacher trainees are analysed and discussed in relation to Swedish governmental policies concerning teacher education and distance education and theories emphasising the importance of social aspects of education. The findings indicate working conditions that are mainly controlled by the teacher education program, and that teacher trainees to a high degree are fostered into individualism. Exceptions are in group work, which on the other hand seems to be given only minor attention in teacher education. This raises questions related to the intentions of teacher education. First, there are questions concerning issues of flexibility and choice, more precisely about what aspects are flexible or not. Second, there are questions concerning possibilities of teacher education providing an education that enables teacher trainees to develop the competencies needed to be able to teach.
Stretch injury of peripheral nerve. Acute effects of stretching on rabbit nerve.

1. Forty-seven tibial nerves of rabbits were stretched, twenty-four gradually by the Instron machine and twenty-three suddenly by dropping a load. The stretched nerves were examined histologically throughout their length. 2. Nerve trunks possess a high degree of elasticity, which is mainly a feature of the epineurium. 3. The initial elongation of the nerve is due to extension of the epineurium and straightening of the funiculi and of the nerve fibres. Such elongation is "physiological" in the sense that it does not affect the nerve fibres. 4. The first structure to be ruptured during stretching is the epineurium ; this occurs when the nerve trunk has reached its limit of elasticity. 5. Before rupture of the epineurium the damage to the nerve fibres is either neurapraxia or axonotmesis, because the endoneurial sheaths and Schwann tubes remain intact. 6. Beyond the limit of elasticity very severe damage of the nerve trunk occurs; all elements of the nerve may be ruptured. If less violent force is applied, some funiculi may survive. The longitudinal extent of the lesion is always great, reaching 2 to 5 centimetres in the rabbit.
Non-supersymmetric attractor flow in symmetric spaces

We derive extremal black hole solutions for a variety of four dimensional models which, after Kaluza-Klein reduction, admit a description in terms of 3D gravity coupled to a sigma model with symmetric target space. The solutions are in correspondence with certain nilpotent generators of the isometry group. In particular, we provide the exact solution for a non-BPS black hole with generic charges and asymptotic moduli in = 2 supergravity coupled to one vector multiplet. Multi-centered solutions can also be generated with this technique. It is shown that the non-supersymmetric solutions lack the intricate moduli space of bound configurations that are typical of the supersymmetric case.
Prognostic role of pretreatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in breast cancer patients

Background: Inflammation and cancer are closely related to each other. As a parameter that can reflect inflammation and host immune reaction, elevated blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been confirmed to be correlated with poor prognosis in a variety of cancers. However, this remains controversial in breast cancer. Thus, we performed this updated meta-analysis to further clarify whether high NLR could be a predictor of survival in breast cancer patients. Methods: We searched on PubMed Database and Cochrane Library. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and cancer-specific survival were used as outcome events, and hazard ratio (HR) was chosen as the parameter to evaluate the correlation. Result: Eighteen eligible studies were involved in this meta-analysis. The synthesized analysis demonstrated that elevated NLR was associated with poor DFS [HR = 1.72, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.30–2.27], OS (HR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.41–2.48), and cancer-specific survival (HR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.04–4.21). The correlation was stronger in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) (OS: HR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.63–4.06; DFS: HR = 3.51, 95% CI = 1.97–6.24). Conclusion: Higher NLR was correlated to poor prognosis of breast cancer patients. As a clinical parameter that we can easily obtain, NLR might be a potential predictor in patients’ survival to assist with physicians’ treatment decisions.
The Clinical Validity of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale in Staging Alzheimer's Dementia

Considerable heterogeneity exists in the criteria used for the establishment of stages of impairment for patients with dementia. The valid distinction of stages is important both for clinical interpretation and the study of dementia. This study reports on the use of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) in staging dementia. Using a sample of 42 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer-type dementia, DRS performance and a rating of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) were compared with clinical ratings of dementia severity. Total DRS score provides a clinically valid measure of stage of impairment and appeared to provide a better distinction among stages than IADL score. However, use of the IADL score in conjunction with total DRS may improve correspondence with clinical staging over use of the total DRS score alone. Normative data for the DRS are also provided. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1991; 4:18-25).
Measuring Spatiotemporal Dependencies in Bivariate Temporal Random Sets with Applications to Cell Biology

Analyzing spatiotemporal dependencies between different types of events is highly relevant to many biological phenomena (e.g., signaling and trafficking), especially as advances in probes and microscopy have facilitated the imaging of dynamic processes in living cells. For many types of events, the segmented areas can overlap spatially and temporally, forming random clumps. In this paper, we model the binary image sequences of two different event types as a realization of a bivariate temporal random set and propose a nonparametric approach to quantify spatial and spatiotemporal interrelations using the pair correlation, cross-covariance, and the Ripley K functions. Based on these summary statistics, we propose a randomization procedure to test independence between event types by applying random toroidal shifts and Monte Carlo tests. A simulation study assessed the performance of the proposed estimators and showed that these statistics capture the spatiotemporal dependencies accurately. The estimation of the spatiotemporal interval of interactions was also obtained. The method was successfully applied to analyze the interdependencies of several endocytic proteins using image sequences of living cells and validated the procedure as a new way to automatically quantify dependencies between proteins in a formal and robust manner.
Balancing control of a robot bicycle with uncertain center of gravity

In this research, a small humanoid robot and a bicycle of comparable size are constructed. Like the human rider, the robot is designed to pedal, balance and steer the bicycle. We particularly focus on the design of control system for the robot to balance and steer the bicycle using the handlebar. The control system is novel that it is capable of estimating the uncertain center of gravity of the robot-bicycle system and then incorporating such an estimation to enhance control performance. The control system design is based on a general control framework which can establish asymptotic stability under unknown measurement biases. The stability of the control system is theoretically proved and a systematic procedure to compute the control parameters is given. Both simulations and experiments verify that the proposed controller can automatically counteract the mass imbalance in the system and allow the robot to perform straight-line steering.
Information Technology Payoff in the Health-Care Industry: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract: With the enormous investments in Information Technology (IT), the question of payoffs from IT has become increasingly important. Organizations continue to question the benefits from IT investments especially in conjunction with corporate initiatives such as business process reengineering (BPR). Furthermore, the impact of technology on nonfinancial outcomes such as customer satisfaction and quality is gaining interest. However, studies examining the IT—performance relationship have been far from conclusive. The difficulty in identifying impacts from technology has been the isolation of benefits of IT from other factors that may also contribute to organizational performance. Furthermore, benefits from technology investments may be realized over an extended period of time. Finally, IT benefits may accrue when they are done in concert with other organizational initiatives such as business process reengineering. This calls for studies that take into account control variables as well as data that span time periods. In this study, we examine monthly data collected from eight hospitals over a recent three-year time period. We specify propositions that relate investments in IT to performance, and the combined effect of technology and BPR on performance. We draw upon the literature in health-care management to incorporate appropriate control variables in the analyses. Our results provide support for the IT—performance relationship that is observed after certain time lags. Such a relationship may not be evident in cross-sectional or snapshot data analyses. Also, results indicate support for the impact of technology contingent on BPR practiced by hospitals.