Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hyperlipidaemia Management after Primary Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery: A Survey of Patients and General Practitioners

Background It is well established that, in patients with increased cholesterol concentrations and vascular disease, decreasing the cholesterol concentration significantly reduces the risk of coronary events. After coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), the risk of further coronary events is likely to be reduced if there is effective control of cholesterol concentrations. The aim of the survey was to review awareness among general practitioners and patients of the need for maintenance of serum cholesterol values, frequency of serum cholesterol checks, dietary advice and lipid-decreasing medication in patients after CABG. Methods Hospital notes of 200 patients who underwent primary, coronary artery bypass surgery from January 1994 to 1996 were examined and postal questionnaires sent to patients and their general practitioners inquiring whether they had had their serum cholesterol tested in the past 3 years; whether dietary advice had been given if cholesterol concentrations were increased to more than 5.2 mmol/l; whether a repeat serum cholesterol test was performed 3 months later if values were greater than 5.2 mmol/l; and (for those with serum cholesterol values greater than 5.2 mmol/l), whether they were on lipid-decreasing medication. Results We considered 146 (76%) replies to be complete. Hospital and general practitioner records of these patients showed, that in the previous 3 years, after CABG, only 63% (n = 92) had their serum lipid profile checked and, of these, 74% (n = 68) had increased serum cholesterol concentrations of more than 5.2 mmol/l. Only 46% (n = 31) received dietary advice alone. After dietary advice had been given, serum cholesterol was rechecked in 26% (n = 8) of patients and only 3% (n = 1) had a decrease in serum cholesterol to less than 5.2 mmol/l. Among the patients with increased serum cholesterol, 50% (n = 34) received lipid-decreasing medication, but serum cholesterol was rechecked in only 52% (n = 17) of patients. In 9% (n = 3) of these, serum cholesterol concentrations had decreased to less than 5.2 mmol/l. Among the 146 complete replies from patients, 95% (n = 139) indicated that control of serum cholesterol was important, 82% (n = 120) had received dietary advice and 39% (n = 57) were on lipid-decreasing medication. Conclusion General practitioners and patients were generally aware of cholesterol control after CABG. However, a relatively low proportion of patients underwent serum cholesterol checks and received documented dietary advice, lipid-decreasing medication, or both. Dietary advice alone may be inadequate in controlling lipid concentrations and, in many cases, needed to be supplemented with adequate lipid-decreasing therapy.
Ligand signature in the membrane dynamics of single TrkA receptor molecules

Summary The neurotrophin receptor TrkA (also known as NTRK1) is known to be crucially involved in several physio-pathological processes. However, a clear description of the early steps of ligand-induced TrkA responses at the cell plasma membrane is missing. We have exploited single particle tracking and TIRF microscopy to study TrkA membrane lateral mobility and changes of oligomerization state upon binding of diverse TrkA agonists (NGF, NGF R100E HSANV mutant, proNGF and NT-3). We show that, in the absence of ligands, most of the TrkA receptors are fast moving monomers characterized by an average diffusion coefficient of 0.47 µm2/second; about 20% of TrkA molecules move at least an order of magnitude slower and around 4% are almost immobile within regions of about 0.6 µm diameter. Ligand binding results in increased slow and/or immobile populations over the fast one, slowing down of non-immobile trajectories and reduction of confinement areas, observations that are consistent with the formation of receptor dimeric and oligomeric states. We demonstrate that the extent of TrkA lateral mobility modification is strictly ligand dependent and that each ligand promotes distinct trajectory patterns of TrkA receptors at the cell membrane (ligand ‘fingerprinting’ effect). This ligand signature of receptor dynamics results from a differential combination of receptor-binding affinity, intracellular effectors recruited in the signalling platforms and formation of signalling and/or recycling endosome precursors. Thus, our data uncover a close correlation between the initial receptor membrane dynamics triggered upon binding and the specific biological outcomes induced by different ligands for the same receptor.
Monitoring ion-channel function in real time through quantum decoherence

In drug discovery, there is a clear and urgent need for detection of cell-membrane ion-channel operation with wide-field capability. Existing techniques are generally invasive or require specialized nanostructures. We show that quantum nanotechnology could provide a solution. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in nanodiamond is of great interest as a single-atom quantum probe for nanoscale processes. However, until now nothing was known about the quantum behavior of a NV probe in a complex biological environment. We explore the quantum dynamics of a NV probe in proximity to the ion channel, lipid bilayer, and surrounding aqueous environment. Our theoretical results indicate that real-time detection of ion-channel operation at millisecond resolution is possible by directly monitoring the quantum decoherence of the NV probe. With the potential to scan and scale up to an array-based system, this conclusion may have wide-ranging implications for nanoscale biology and drug discovery.
Student satisfaction with interactive telecourses as a function of demographic variables and prior telecourse experience1

An investigation was conducted in which 699 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in 33 live, interactive telecourses were asked to report their (1) telecourse facet satisfaction (satisfaction with the telecourse instruction/ instructor, technology, and logistic/management), (2) demographic characteristics (age, gender, personal income, and socioeconomic status), and (3) experience with televised courses (number of prior telecourses they had completed). Results showed that, among the demographic variables, gender reliably predicted student satisfaction with the logistic/management aspects of the telecourses. That is, male students reported being significantly more satisfied than female students with these aspects of the courses. Moreover, age, personal income, and socioeconomic status were unrelated to facet satisfaction. Finally, greater telecourse experience was significantly associated with lower degrees of instruction/instructor satisfaction. Practical and theoretical implications of these resu.
Fault tolerant control for omni-directional mobile platforms with 4 mecanum wheels

This paper addresses the fault tolerant control problem for an omni-directional mobile platform with four mecanum wheels moving on a well-known flat and constrained workspace with static obstacles. As a fault, we consider the case where a wheel cannot be actuated and hence it rotates freely around its drive shaft owing to the friction with the flat surface. Depending on the multitude of the faults, a robust motion control scheme is developed that achieves any desired configuration within the operational workspace, avoids collisions with the obstacles and does not violate the workspace boundaries despite the presence of dynamic model uncertainties. The challenge with respect to the current state of the art in fault tolerant control for such mobile platforms, where only one faulty wheel has been considered (i.e., the platform still retains its full actuation capabilities), lies in completely compensating up to two faulty wheels (i.e., the model becomes underactuated in this way) despite the dynamic model uncertainty and the presence of static obstacles in the workspace. Navigation Functions are innovatively incorporated with adaptive control techniques to deal with the parametric uncertainty in the robot dynamics, extending thus greatly the current state of the art in robust motion planning and collision avoidance by studying second order dynamics with parametric uncertainty. Finally, an extensive experimental study clarifies the proposed method and verifies its efficiency in various faults.
Reliability and Validity of the Chapin Social Insight Test: Some Cautionary Data

On the basis of Chapin Social Insight Test scores from two samples of male and female undergraduates representing a university population in consecutive years, estimates of split-half (ns = 66, 128), and test-retest (ns = 44, 99) reliability were obtained. In addition, for 63 students in the second sample, correlations between test scores and course grades were calculated. Test-retest reliabilities were . 69 and . 66, split-half reliabilities were even lower (.20 to .50), and validity coefficients between Chapin scores and grades in behavioral science (.09) and nonbehavioral science course (.06) were statistically nonsignificant. In addition, although they were not restricted in range, the mean scores for both sexes fell about one standard deviation below the relevant norms. These data provide further evidence for the separation of social and academic intelligence, but they also suggest that the Chapin test should be used with caution.
Virtual machine introspection based spurious process detection in virtualized cloud computing environment

Virtual Machines are prime target for adversary to take control by exploiting the identified vulnerability present in it. Due to increasing number of Advanced Persistent Attacks such as malware, rootkit, spyware etc., virtual machine protection is highly challenging task. The key element of Advanced Persistent Threat is rootkit that provides stealthy control of underlining Operating System (kernel). Protecting individual guest operating system by using antivirus and commercial security defense mechanism is cost effective and ineffective for virtualized environment. To solve this problem, Virtual Machine Introspection has emerged as one of the promising approaches to secure the state of the virtual machine. Virtual Machine Introspection inspects the state of multiple virtual machines by operating outside the virtual machine i.e. at hypervisor level. In this work, Virtual Machine Introspection based malicious process detection approach is proposed. It extracts the high level information such as system call details, opened known backdoor ports from introspected memory to identify the spurious process. It triggers an alert in response to detected intrusion.
Behavioral experiments on biased voting in networks

Many distributed collective decision-making processes must balance diverse individual preferences with a desire for collective unity. We report here on an extensive session of behavioral experiments on biased voting in networks of individuals. In each of 81 experiments, 36 human subjects arranged in a virtual network were financially motivated to reach global consensus to one of two opposing choices. No payments were made unless the entire population reached a unanimous decision within 1 min, but different subjects were paid more for consensus to one choice or the other, and subjects could view only the current choices of their network neighbors, thus creating tensions between private incentives and preferences, global unity, and network structure. Along with analyses of how collective and individual performance vary with network structure and incentives generally, we find that there are well-studied network topologies in which the minority preference consistently wins globally; that the presence of “extremist” individuals, or the awareness of opposing incentives, reliably improve collective performance; and that certain behavioral characteristics of individual subjects, such as “stubbornness,” are strongly correlated with earnings.
The Impact of Age and Task Domain on Cognitive Performance: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Glucose Facilitation Effect

Considerable research has been devoted to the issue of whether the ingestion of glucose enhances cognitive performance in both younger and older adults. However, it has proven difficult to draw firm conclusions from this literature due to the diversity of methodologies that have been used, and it is therefore still unclear what factors might moderate the facilitative effect. The present study investigates methodological variations and their impact on the magnitude of the glucose enhancement effect. In particular, age group (young vs. old) and task domain (memory vs. nonmemory tasks) were considered as moderator variables. In addition, differences in experimental design, glucose dose and fasting regime were examined. The effect size d was extracted from studies comparing cognitive performance after the ingestion of either a glucose or control solution. Subsequent meta-analyses were conducted (using the procedures outlined by Hedges & Olkin, 1985) to examine potential moderators. A moderate overall effect size was found ( d = 0.56), which clearly demonstrated the value of glucose ingestion as a cognitive enhancer. However, this effect size was not representative of the 104 individual effect sizes reported. Secondary analyses found larger effect sizes for memory compared to nonmemory tasks. Unexpectedly, no evidence was provided for greater beneficial effects of glucose on cognitive performance for older compared to younger adults. The impact of other methodological variables and the need for further exploration in an elderly population are discussed.
Combined modality therapy for adults with small noncleaved cell lymphoma (Burkitt's and non-Burkitt's types).

Between June 1979 and June 1984 18 adult patients with small noncleaved cell lymphoma (SNCL) (diffuse undifferentiated lymphoma, Burkitt's and non-Burkitt's types of the Rappaport classification) were treated with high-dose cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, midcycle high-dose methotrexate, and intrathecal methotrexate. Early in the course of treatment, hyperfractionated radiotherapy (125 cGy, every two days, for 1,500 to 2,250 centigray [cGy]) was administered to unresected masses greater than 10 cm in their greatest dimension. Chemotherapy was administered every 21 days for six to ten cycles. Treatment was generally well tolerated; however, one patient died of probable tumor lysis syndrome. With a median follow-up of 1.2 years, actuarial survival was 66.8% and relapse-free survival (RFS) was 71.3% for the entire group. All treatment failures and deaths occurred in patients with stage D disease. RFS projected at 2 years was 100% for stages A and AR and 60.6% for stage B, C, and D (P = .13 Gehan). Two-year RFS for patients with stage A, AR, B, or C disease was 100 v 41% for those with stage D disease. Patients with adverse prognostic features (n = 7)--unresected bulk measuring greater than 10 cm, pretreatment serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) 500 IU/L (normal, 200) or involvement of CNS or bone marrow--had a projected RFS of 28.6% compared with 100% for those patients without these features (P = .002 Gehan). Too few patients received induction radiotherapy to assert its role in therapy. By using aggressive multiagent therapy, cure can be expected in a high percentage of adults with SNCL. In the subset with adverse prognostic features, more effective therapy is necessary.
School Governance in the New South Africa

This article examines the early experience of the school governing bodies established in South Africa following the 1996 South African Schools Act. It relates the emergence of school governance to wider issues of democracy and participation and assesses the composition of governing bodies, notably the inclusion of learners. Governing bodies' powers include provision to set fees, subject to parental approval, and the paper examines how this requirement impacts on the resources available to different types of school, and the implications for equity and equality. Governing bodies also determine their own admissions policies, and the paper explores how this provision has led to school populations differentiated by class and race. The relationships between lay governors and school principals are examined to see if the Act's plan to separate governance and professional management has been achieved in practice. The paper concludes that, despite the significant difficulties facing the educational system in South Africa, governing bodies provide a good prospect of enhancing local democracy and improving the quality of education for all learners.
Developing the Concept of Money by Interactive Computer Games for Autistic Children

Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). It is a life-long disability that prevents people from understanding what they see, hear, and sense. This results in severe problems with social relationships, communications, and behavior. Autism is typically diagnosed between the ages of two and six, although variations of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) can sometimes be diagnosed earlier or later [1]. Children with learning disability such as autism who have serious impairments with social, emotional and communication skills require high degree of personalization in using the educational software developed for them. In this paper we present a personalized game based on digital story-telling concept that helps the children of age ranging from 9 to 14 years old with autism to understand the use of money. It also teaches the autistic children the social behavior appropriate while shopping. The game is developed on BYOB (Build Your Own Block, an advanced offshoot of the game engine Scratch).
Pyrrole and Fused Pyrrole Compounds with Bioactivity against Inflammatory Mediators

A new series of pyrrolopyridines and pyrrolopyridopyrimidines have been synthesized from aminocyanopyrroles. The synthesized compounds have been characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR and mass spectroscopy. The final compounds have been screened for in vitro pro-inflammatory cytokine inhibitory and in vivo anti-inflammatory activity. The biological results revealed that among all tested compounds some fused pyrroles, namely the pyrrolopyridines 3i and 3l, show promising activity. A docking study of the active synthesized molecules confirmed the biological results and revealed a new binding pose in the COX-2 binding site.
Robust variance estimation in meta‐regression with binary dependent effects

Dependent effect size estimates are a common problem in meta‐analysis. Recently, a robust variance estimation method was introduced that can be used whenever effect sizes in a meta‐analysis are not independent. This problem arises, for example, when effect sizes are nested or when multiple measures are collected on the same individuals. In this paper, we investigate the robustness of this method in small samples when the effect size of interest is the risk difference, log risk ratio, or log odds ratio. This simulation study examines the accuracy of 95% confidence intervals constructed using the robust variance estimator across a large variety of parameter values. We report results for both estimations of the mean effect (intercept) and of a slope. The results indicate that the robust variance estimator performs well even when the number of studies is as small as 10, although coverage is generally less than nominal in the slope estimation case. Throughout, an example based on a meta‐analysis of cognitive behavior therapy is used for motivation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Can sequential parallel comparison design and two-way enriched design be useful in medical device clinical trials?

ABSTRACT Sequential parallel comparison design (SPCD) was proposed for trials with high placebo response. In the first stage of SPCD subjects are randomized between placebo and active treatment. In the second stage placebo nonresponders are re-randomized between placebo and active treatment. Data from the population of “all comers” and the subpopulations of placebo nonresponders then combined to yield a single p-value for treatment comparison. Two-way enriched design (TED) is an extension of SPCD where active treatment responders are also re-randomized between placebo and active treatment in Stage 2. This article investigates the potential uses of SPCD and TED in medical device trials.
Attitudes about Group Work among Criminal Justice Students: The Influence of Participation in Group Projects

Past research has considered factors that contribute to students’ attitudes about group projects. Much of this research has focused on the influence of demographic characteristics such as gender, race, and age. This study extends that past research and considers whether participating in group projects potentially changes students’ attitudes about group projects. Surveys were conducted with 85 students, 48 of whom had just completed a group project. Results showed that students who just completed a group project had slightly different attitudes about group projects than those who did not. Attention was also given to the total number of group projects to which students were exposed. Analyses showed that those who were exposed to more group projects held different attitudes about group projects than those who had fewer group projects. Implications are provided.
Interactive tools for virtual x-ray vision in mobile augmented reality

This paper presents a set of interactive tools designed to give users virtual x-ray vision. These tools address a common problem in depicting occluded infrastructure: either too much information is displayed, confusing users, or too little information is displayed, depriving users of important depth cues. Four tools are presented: the tunnel tool and room selector tool directly augment the user's view of the environment, allowing them to explore the scene in direct, first person view. The room in miniature tool allows the user to select and interact with a room from a third person perspective, allowing users to view the contents of the room from points of view that would normally be difficult or impossible to achieve. The room slicer tool aids users in exploring volumetric data displayed within the room in miniature tool. Used together, the tools presented in this paper can be used to achieve the virtual x-ray vision effect. We test our prototype system in a far-field mobile augmented reality setup, visualizing the interiors of a small set of buildings on the UCSB campus.
Effect of musical training on static and dynamic measures of spectral-pattern discrimination.

Both behavioral and physiological studies have demonstrated enhanced processing of speech in challenging listening environments attributable to musical training. The relationship, however, of this benefit to auditory abilities as assessed by psychoacoustic measures remains unclear. Using tasks previously shown to relate to speech-in-noise perception, the present study evaluated discrimination ability for static and dynamic spectral patterns by 49 listeners grouped as either musicians or nonmusicians. The two static conditions measured the ability to detect a change in the phase of a logarithmic sinusoidal spectral ripple of wideband noise with ripple densities of 1.5 and 3.0 cycles per octave chosen to emphasize either timbre or pitch distinctions, respectively. The dynamic conditions assessed temporal-pattern discrimination of 1-kHz pure tones frequency modulated by different lowpass noise samples with thresholds estimated in terms of either stimulus duration or signal-to-noise ratio. Musicians performed significantly better than nonmusicians on all four tasks. Discriminant analysis showed that group membership was correctly predicted for 88% of the listeners with the structure coefficient of each measure greater than 0.51. Results suggest that enhanced processing of static and dynamic spectral patterns defined by low-rate modulation may contribute to the relationship between musical training and speech-in-noise perception. [Supported by NIH. ].