Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Utility of PCR for Common Viruses in Acute Respiratory Illness

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory illness (ARI) accounts for a large proportion of all visits to pediatric health facilities. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analyses allow sensitive detection of viral nucleic acids, but it is not clear to what extent specific viruses contribute to disease because many viruses have been detected in asymptomatic children. Better understanding of how to interpret viral findings is important to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics. OBJECTIVE: To compare viral qPCR findings from children with ARI versus asymptomatic control subjects. METHODS: Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from children aged ≤5 years with ARI and from individually matched, asymptomatic, population-based control subjects during a noninfluenza season. Samples were analyzed by using qPCR for 16 viruses. RESULTS: Respiratory viruses were detected in 72.3% of the case patients (n = 151) and 35.4% of the control subjects (n = 74) (P = .001). Rhinovirus was the most common finding in both case patients and control subjects (47.9% and 21.5%, respectively), with a population-attributable proportion of 0.39 (95% confidence interval: 0.01 to 0.62). Metapneumovirus, parainfluenza viruses, and respiratory syncytial virus were highly overrepresented in case patients. Bocavirus was associated with ARI even after adjustment for coinfections with other viruses and was associated with severe disease. Enterovirus and coronavirus were equally common in case patients and control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: qPCR detection of respiratory syncytial virus, metapneumovirus, or parainfluenza viruses in children with ARI is likely to be causative of disease; detection of several other respiratory viruses must be interpreted with caution due to high detection rates in asymptomatic children.
Optimum spatial-temporal receiver for wireless systems with ISI and CCI

Spatial-temporal processing is an effective technique for wireless systems with antenna arrays to suppress co-channel interference. In this paper, spatial-temporal receive filters for multiple receiver systems with intersymbol interference (ISI), co-channel interference (CCI), and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) are investigated. An analogical spatial-temporal matched filter that is optimum for any following T-spaced processor with any reasonable criterion of goodness is found. Therefore, it allows co-channel interference suppression and equalization to be treated separately.
Immunoglobulin E‐binding autoantigens: biochemical characterization and clinical relevance

Although immediate‐Type I skin reactions to human dander have been described six decades ago, only the recent application of molecular biology to allergology research allowed fast and detailed characterization of IgE‐binding autoantigens. These can be functionally subdivided into three classes: (1) self‐antigens with sequence homology to environmental allergens belonging to the class of phylogenetically conserved proteins, (2) self‐antigens without sequence homology to known environmental allergens, and (3) chemically modified self‐antigens deriving from workplace exposure. As environmental allergens, also IgE‐binding autoantigens belong to different protein families without common structural features that would explain their IgE‐binding capability. Many of the self‐antigens showing sequence homology to environmental allergens, are phylogenetically conserved proteins like manganese dependent superoxide dismutase, thioredoxin or cyclopilin. Their IgE‐binding capability can be explained by molecular mimicry resulting from shared B‐cell epitopes. A common factor of IgE‐binding self‐antigens without sequence homology to known environmental allergens is that they elicit IgE responses only in individuals suffering from long‐lasting atopic diseases. In contrast, IgE‐mediated reactions to modified self‐antigens might be explained with the generation of novel B‐cell epitopes. Chemically modified self‐antigens are likely to be recognized as non‐self by the immune system. The clinical relevance of IgE responses to self‐antigens remains largely unclear. Well documented is their ability to induce immediate Type I skin reactions in vivo, and to induce mediator release from effector cells of sensitized individuals in vitro. Based on these observations it is reasonable to assume that IgE‐mediated cross‐linking of FcRIε receptors on effector cells can elicit the same symptoms as those induced by environmental allergens, and this could explain exacerbations of chronic allergic diseases in the absence of external exposure. However, because most of the described IgE‐binding self‐antigens are intracellular proteins normally not accessible for antigen–antibody interactions, local release of the antigens is required to explain the induction of symptoms.
Analysis of the reliability and reproducibility of goniometry compared to hand photogrammetry

Objective: To evaluate the intra- and inter-examiner reliability and reproducibility of goniometry in relation to photogrammetry of hand, comparing the angles of thumb abduction, PIP joint flexion of the II finger and MCP joint flexion of the V finger. Methods: The study included 30 volunteers, who were divided into three groups: one group of 10 physiotherapy students, one group of 10 physiotherapists, and a third group of 10 therapists of the hand. Each examiner performed the measurements on the same hand mold, using the goniometer followed by two photogrammetry software programs; CorelDraw® and ALCimagem®. Results: The results revealed that the groups and the methods proposed presented inter-examiner reliability, generally rated as excellent (ICC 0.998 I.C. 95% 0.995 - 0.999). In the intra-examiner evaluation, an excellent level of reliability was found between the three groups. In the comparison between groups for each angle and each method, no significant differences were found between the groups for most of the measurements. Conclusion: Goniometry and photogrammetry are reliable and reproducible methods for evaluating measurements of the hand. However, due to the lack of similar references, detailed studies are needed to define the normal parameters between the methods in the joints of the hand. Level of Evidence II, Diagnostic Study.
On Deploying Repeaters in CDMA Systems for Traffic Hot-Spots: An Analytical Characterization

This paper describes and models a multi-cellular multiservice CDMA system with repeaters in an environment with traffic and spatial non-uniformities. An analytical model is presented and expressions for the required transmitted power and outage probability are derived for the reverse link. Results are focused on determining the maximum load factor that could be acceptable in order to limit the outage probability
Are Norms Efficient? Pluralistic Ignorance, Heuristics and the Use of Norms as Private Regulation

In a recent article in the National Law Journal, Richard Epstein argued that fear of social ostracism would effectively constrain lawyers in small communities from behaving unethically toward clients in the majority of situations. Epstein's embrace of norms as a "private" constraint on socially destructive behavior reflects a growing reliance, in law and economics, on social norms as an alternative or supplement to law. The belief that norms effectively limit negative externalities is itself based on a model that conceives of norms as arising from the cooperation of rational, self-interested individuals. While the basic model of norms as facilitators of cooperation lends itself to the current optimism regarding norm efficiency within the law and economics community, the question of norm efficiency or, more specifically, when norms are preferable to law as a means of regulating behavior, remains an open one. One of the main reasons why the question of efficiency remains unanswered is the inability of models, such as the iterated prisoner's dilemma, to describe comprehensively how norms form and develop.Surprisingly, although norms by definition are social, there has been little effort by law and economics scholars to supplement the economics of norms with the sociology or social psychology of norms. This Article attempts to bridge this gap. It employs the need reinforcement model of norms developed by social psychologists and a number of other theories derived from cognitive and social psychology to provide a more complete understanding of the formation of efficient norms and to inform efforts to use norms in regulation. In particular, this Article builds on the efforts of Sanchirico and Mahoney, considering precisely how the desire for esteem that motivates us to follow norms affects the likelihood of efficient cooperation. It then builds on this understanding to provide guidelines regarding when community norms can and cannot be considered efficient. Along the way, this Article dispatches with one of the central tenets of social norm theory - the belief that norms formed in small, close-knit communities will be efficient.This Article first introduces, very briefly, the rational choice model of norm formation. It then provides a short description of the need reinforcement principle and considers ways in which the principle adds to the current rational choice model of norms. In particular, it provides a basis for the claim that norms reflect the aggregate preference of members of a particular group, as well as a description of the psychological factors that lead individuals to identify and comply with group norms. The next section introduces the model of norm mismatch developed by Sanchirico and Mahoney and applies the sociology of norms to it, while also considering other issues relating to norm efficiency. Finally, this Article develops a set of criteria that must be considered before a presumption of norm efficiency can be established and considers the implications of the sociology of norms for norm-based regulation.
Analyzing the Evolution and the Future of the Internet Topology Focusing on Flow Hierarchy

In the Internet, Autonomous Systems (ASes) exchange traffic through interconnected links. As traffic demand increases, more traffic becomes concentrated on such links. The traffic concentrations depend heavily on the global structure of the Internet topology. Therefore, a topological evolution considering the global structure is necessary to continually accommodate future traffic amount. In this paper, we first develop a method to identify the hierarchical nature of traffic aggregation on the Internet topology and use this method to discuss the long-term changes in traffic flow. Our basic approach is to extract the "flow hierarchy," which is a hierarchical structure associated with traffic aggregation. Our results show that the current connection policy will lead to a severe traffic concentration in the future. We then examine a new evolution process that attempts to reduce this traffic concentration. Our proposed evolution process increases the number of links in the deeper level in the hierarchy, thus relaxing the traffic concentration. We apply our evolution process to the Internet topology in 2000 and evolve this scenario over 13 years. The results show that our evolution process could reduce the traffic concentration by more than half compared with that without our evolution process.
Music, Emotions and the Influence of the Cognitive Sciences

This article reviews some of the ways in which philosophical problems concerning music can be informed by approaches from the cognitive sciences (principally psychology and neuroscience). Focusing on the issues of musical expressiveness and the arousal of emotions by music, the key philosophical problems and their alternative solutions are outlined. There is room for optimism that while current experimental data does not always unambiguously satisfy philosophical scrutiny, it can potentially support one theory over another, and in some cases allow us to synthesize or reject traditional philosophical differences.
The oscillatory entrainment of virtual pitch perception

Evidence suggests that synchronized brain oscillations in the low gamma range (around 33 Hz) are involved in the perceptual integration of harmonic complex tones. This process involves the binding of harmonic components into “harmonic templates” – neural structures responsible for pitch coding in the brain. We investigated the hypothesis that oscillatory harmonic binding promotes a change in pitch perception style from spectral (frequency) to virtual (relational). Using oscillatory priming we asked 24 participants to judge as rapidly as possible, the direction of an ambiguous target with ascending spectral and descending virtual contour. They made significantly more virtual responses when primed at 29, 31, and 33 Hz and when the first target tone was harmonically related to the prime, suggesting that neural synchronization in the low gamma range could facilitate a shift toward virtual pitch processing.
Effects of glucose and PaO2 modulation on cortical intracellular acidosis, NADH redox state, and infarction in the ischemic penumbra.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE During focal cerebral ischemia, the ischemic penumbra or border-zone regions of moderate cortical blood flow reductions have a heterogeneous development of intracellular cortical acidosis. This experiment tested the hypotheses that (1) this acidosis is secondary to glucose utilization and (2) this intracellular acidosis leads to recruitment of potentially salvageable tissue into infarction. METHODS Brain pHi, regional cortical blood flow, and NADH redox state were measured by in vivo fluorescent imaging, and infarct volume was assessed by triphenyltetrazolium chloride histology. Thirty fasted rabbits divided into 6 groups of 5 each were subjected to 4 hours of permanent focal ischemia in the presence of hypoglycemia ( approximately 2.8 mmol/L), moderate hyperglycemia ( approximately 11 mmol/L), and severe hyperglycemia (>28 mmol/L) under either normoxia or moderate hypoxia (PaO2 approximately 50 mm Hg). RESULTS Preischemic hyperglycemia led to a more pronounced intracellular acidosis and retardation of NADH regeneration than in the hypoglycemia groups under both normoxia and moderate hypoxia in the ischemic penumbra. For example, 4 hours after ischemia, brain pHi in the severe hyperglycemia/normoxia group measured 6.46, compared with 6.84 in the hypoglycemia/normoxia group (P<0.01), and NADH fluorescence measured 173% compared with 114%. Infarct volume in the severe hyperglycemia/normoxia group measured 35.1+/-6.9% of total hemispheric volume, compared with 13.5+/-4.2% in the hypoglycemia/normoxia group (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Hyperglycemia significantly worsened both cortical intracellular brain acidosis and mitochondrial function in the ischemic penumbra. This supports the hypothesis that the evolution of acidosis in the ischemic penumbra is related to glucose utilization. Furthermore, the observation that hypoglycemia significantly decreased infarct size supports the postulate that cortical acidosis leads to recruitment of ischemic penumbra into infarction.
Kunja leadership: concept and nomological validity

Purpose – The objective of three combined empirical studies is to provide a leadership model that could be effective in Confucian culture and to suggest framework that effectively integrates the traits and behaviors employed by leaders in influencing others. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents results from three empirical studies. Study 1 explored the concept of kunja leadership (KL) and its theoretical structure and developed a scale to measure it. Study 2 examined the convergent and discriminant validity of KL compared with transformational leadership (TL) and authentic leadership (AL) at the team level. Study 3 tested the effectiveness of KL at the team level examining the effects of trust in the leader on perceived team performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Findings – The results of Study 1 supported the concept of KL consisting of humanity, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and trustworthiness. These five sub-concepts all have .
Audit in obstetrics

With the National Health Service in the throes of reorganization, ‘audit’ has become the current shibboleth. Yet there is much confusion about what it means. Audit is not the same thing as routine data collection, nor is it research. Research is conceidd with the determinants of disease and with methods of improving outcome, but the concept of audit is more mundane. Audit is concerned with the way that currently accepted methods of care or management are put into practice and asks three questions: What do we think we are doing? What are we really doing? How can we improve what we are doing? This is the first phase of the audit cycle. To be effective everyone concerned must accept the need for change; audit reports are not intended for filing. The first, and most difficult, step is to agree on what constitutes a standard of care or management. It might be possible for example, to get agreement on the indications for induction of labour after term, but agreeing the indications for forceps delivery will prove much more difficult. This exercise, alone, is worth doing if it highlights just how arbitrary and inconsistent are our criteria (Lilford 1990). Having achieved a consensus on what should be done, the current practice is then examined to see how far it differs from the agreed standards. The next step, the really important one, is to modify the standards in the light of the examination and then to repeat the audit at a later date. Medical audit is most easily understood at a unit level where it is possible to examine individual case records to assess the standard of recording or the accuracy of diagnostic coding. Records could also be examined against agreed protocols for, say, antenatal care, followed up by an appropriate initiative to improve the education of staff. A second review, after a decent interval, completes the audit cycle. Traditionally, obstetric audit has been concerned with fatal outcome such as maternal or perinatal death. Fortunately, such outcomes are becoming less common and other measurements of adverse outcomes are needed. Valuable lessons can also be learned from what is called the ‘near miss’, those cases where although the outcome was satisfactory, shortcomings of management provide lessons for the future. Since it would be impossible to identify such cases from a diagnostic index, someone must take the responsibility of identifying such cases at the time they happen, for audit later on. The possession of a computerized obstetric data base is not an automatic entry to effective audit. There are good reasons for this. Routine data collection is limited in scope and many items are unreliable because they have not been validated. Even more important, audit needs to ask the kind of detailed questions about how things were done that are not easily codified. A good data base does, however, make it possible to identify particular groups of cases for detailed study and, with a few additional items, can be used for genuine audit (Yudkin & Redman
Electrophysiologic Studies in Patients with Ventricular Inversion and "Corrected Transposition"

We evaluated the intracardiac conduction intervals using His bundle recordings in 40 patients with ventricular inversion and I-transposition of the great arteries. Twenty-nine subjects had 1:1 atrioventricular (AV) conduction. In 15 of those with normal PR intervals and QRS durations, the conduction intervals were not different from those of subjects with normal hearts. In the 14 patients with first-degree AV block, the block was located between the sinus node and AV node in four, between the low right atrium and bundle of His in seven, and below the common bundle of His in four.In 11 subjects with complete AV block, the site of block was above the site of the His potential in four, below in two and within the His bundle in one. In four patients we could not record a His potential and thus could not localize the site of block. Complete block below the His recording site was associated with syncope in one patient and sudden death in another. His bundle recording is a safe technique for studying the conduction system in children with ventricular inversion and I-transposition of the great arterie.
社會學雜誌 = The journal of sociology

S ocial scientists have long been interested in how academic disciplines are organized ~Ben-important element of this organization is the network of Ph.D. placements among Ph.D.-granting institutions. Various authors have linked the structure of placements to prestige rankings of departments ~for sociology departments see e.g., Hanneman 2001; and Burris 2004; for political science departments see Ma-suoka, Grofman, and Feld 2007c! , or have used various features of the structure of academic exchange networks to examine the shaping of disciplinary careers and practices ~Feld, Bisciglia, and Ynalvez 2003; Masuoka, Grofman, and Feld 2007b! There is also a more general literature on status and market exchange ~see e.g., Podolny 2005! Using data on the structure of placements in Ph.D.-granting political science departments in the U.S. over the period 1960–2000 taken from Masuoka, Grof-man, and Feld ~2007a; 2007b; 2007c! , and recent statistical ~Kleinberg 1999! and graphical ~Kamada and Kawai 1989! innovations in the study of social networks , we show how social network analysis can be used to illuminate the structure of the political science academic network. Our graphical representations clearly show the structure of the discipline in terms of what might be conceived of as a core-periphery network 1 The structure of this research note is to first discuss the methodology we use to combine information about ~1! which departments are able to place their students in core departments and ~2! which departments successfully hire and retain Ph.D.s from core departments. Next, we show graphical representations of the Ph.D.-placement network in the discipline. Then we consider how well various social network measures conform to reputation rankings of departments provided by U.S. News and World Report. Finally, we explore additional complications, such as how the structure of the discipline has changed over time, and what happens to placement rankings when we utilize information about the proportion of a department's Ph.D.s that were not placed in a Ph.D.-granting institution.
Monsoon forcing, hydrodynamics of the Kuroshio Current, and tectonic effects on sedimentary carbon and sulfur cycling in the Okinawa Trough since 90 ka

Monsoon forcing and hydrodynamic effects controlled carbon and sulfur biogeochemistry over the last 90 ka in a 43‐m core from the Okinawa Trough (OT). Total organic carbon (TOC) contents co‐vary with summer insolation at 30°N suggesting monsoon forcing of primary productivity and organic carbon burial. Before the last glacial maximum (LGM), total sulfur (TS) contents varied concomitantly with TOC. However, sea level rise and intensified Kuroshio inflow during the Holocene enhanced deepwater ventilation, which resulted in TS‐depleted sediments with low degree of pyritization (DOP). By contrast, DOP values were high during the previous highstand (at ∼80 ka BP), when sea level was similar to that in the Holocene, as well as during the LGM when deepwater circulation was relatively weak. A topographic barrier is proposed to have sufficiently blocked the Kuroshio Current out of the OT during the previous sea level highstand, which weakened deepwater ventilation and led to reducing diagenetic conditions. Tectonic rifting in the southern OT at 60‐30 ka BP enabled the major change in hydrodynamics and sediment biogeochemistry.