Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health promotion counseling of chronic-disease patients during primary care visits.

OBJECTIVES This study was designed to provide an empirical description, based on a review of visit audiotapes, of primary care practice with chronic-disease patients. METHODS We analyzed 439 interactions between adult patients with chronic disease and 49 physicians. We explored the content, frequency, intensity, and dynamics of health promotion discussion during these routine visits. RESULTS There was evidence of health promotion discussion in more than half (53%) of the audiotapes reviewed. When life-style topics were discussed, the discussion lasted a mean of 4 1/2 minutes, or 20% of the length of the visit. Diet/weight control was the most frequently discussed topic, followed by exercise, stress, smoking, and alcohol. Stress was by far the most time-consuming topic; stress-related discussion took an average of 6 minutes. CONCLUSIONS Nearly 60% of the discussion that took place were not merely perfunctory but were attempts to counsel or encourage behavior change in the patient. Physicians used a wide range of behavioral counseling strategies, including providing a rationale for the recommended change and specific instructions to facilitate change. Other strategies noted as "effective" in the literature, however, were used infrequently and indicate obvious areas of weakness in physician performance.
A flexible method for segmentation in concept assignment

Software comprehension is one of the most expensive activities in software maintenance and many tools have been developed to help the maintainer reduce the time and cost of the task. Of the numerous tools and methods available, one group has received relatively little attention: those using plausible reasoning to address the concept assignment problem. This problem is defined as the process of assigning descriptive terms to their implementation in source code, the terms being nominated by a maintainer and usually relating to computational intent. We present a new concept assignment method for COBOL II: Hypothesis-Based Concept Assignment (HB-CA). It employs a simple knowledge base to model concepts, source code indicators, and inter-concept relationships. An implementation of a prototype tool is described, and the results from a comprehensive evaluation using COBOL II sources summarised.
Long-term agricultural fertilization alters arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community composition and barley (Hordeum vulgare) mycorrhizal carbon and phosphorus exchange.

Agricultural fertilization significantly affects arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) community composition. However, the functional implications of community shifts are unknown, limiting understanding of the role of AMF in agriculture. We assessed AMF community composition at four sites managed under the same nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer regimes for 55 yr. We also established a glasshouse experiment with the same soils to investigate AMF-barley (Hordeum vulgare) nutrient exchange, using carbon (13 C) and 33 P isotopic labelling. N fertilization affected AMF community composition, reducing diversity; P had no effect. In the glasshouse, AMF contribution to plant P declined with P fertilization, but was unaffected by N. Barley C allocation to AMF also declined with P fertilization. As N fertilization increased, C allocation to AMF per unit of P exchanged increased. This occurred with and without P fertilization, and was concomitant with reduced barley biomass. AMF community composition showed no relationship with glasshouse experiment results. The results indicate that plants can reduce C allocation to AMF in response to P fertilization. Under N fertilization, plants allocate an increasing amount of C to AMF and receive relatively less P. This suggests an alteration in the terms of P-C exchange under N fertilization regardless of soil P status.
Regulation of limb bud initiation and limb‐type morphology

While the paired forelimb and hindlimb buds of vertebrates are initially morphologically homogeneous, as the limb progenitors differentiate, each individual tissue element attains a characteristic limb‐type morphology that ultimately defines the constitution of the forelimb or hindlimb. This review focuses on contemporary understanding of the regulation of limb bud initiation and formation of limb‐type specific morphologies and how these regulatory mechanisms evolved in vertebrates. We also attempt to clarify the definition of the terms limb‐type identity and limb‐type morphology that have frequently been used interchangeably. Over the last decade, three genes, Tbx4, Tbx5, and Pitx1, have been extensively studied for their roles in limb initiation and determining limb‐type morphologies. The role of Tbx4 and Tbx5 in limb initiation is clearly established. However, their putative role in the generation of limb‐type morphologies remains controversial. In contrast, all evidence supports a function for Pitx1 in determination of hindlimb morphologies. Developmental Dynamics 240:1017–1027, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Essays on the forecasts of ending stocks

Ending stocks play an important role in decision making by market participants and policy makers. The provision of accurate forecasts of ending stocks is critical as it can timely reflect the market situation and reduce the uncertainty faced by decision makers. Over the years, the USDA and private analysts have been providing ending stocks forecasts. However, few studies have addressed USDA forecasts, and researchers have not investigated analystsâ€™ forecasts so far.This dissertation focuses on analyzing the ending stocks forecasts issued by these two sources. It contains three essays which gradually delve into the USDA and private analystsâ€™ forecasting behaviors. The first essay advances existing models and analyze USDA forecasts. The proposed model focuses on forecast revisions and retains the link between forecasts and the ending stocks. The essay also introduces an error covariance structure specifically for ending stocks forecasts. The model is estimated using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. Results show that USDA forecasts are inefficient.Given this finding, the model is applied to private analystsâ€™ forecasts to find whether analysts can provide â€œbetterâ€ forecasts. This part of analysis is performed in the second essay. Unlike USDA forecasts, analystsâ€™ forecasts are often incomplete. Thus, Essay Two first investigates analystsâ€™ forecasts as a group by combining them to create complete forecast data, and then proposes a method of integrating multiple imputation and MCMC estimations to analyze individual analystsâ€™ forecasts. Results show that analysts, as a group, are inefficient in making ending stocks forecasts. Besides, forecasting behavior vary across individual analysts.Essay Two also finds that analysts and the USDA have similar behavior in forecasting corn and soybeans ending stocks. Thus, it is possible that their forecasts affect each other. Hence, essay three proposes a method to analyze the forecasts from these two sources together, utilizing the overlooked the information in previous studies. Results show that analysts actually forecast the USDA forecasts instead of the ending stocks.The proposed models and methods are designed for general purposes. Thus, they can be easily extended by including additional features, as well as can be applied to other fixed-events.
Thrombotic Microangiopathy After Kidney Transplantation

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a severe complication of kidney transplantation that often causes graft failure. TMA may occur de novo, often triggered by immunosuppressive drugs and acute antibody‐mediated rejection, or recur in patients with previous history of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Recurrent TMA is very rare in patients who had developed end‐stage renal failure following HUS caused by Shiga‐toxin producing E. scherichia coli, whereas disease recurrence is common in patients with atypical HUS (aHUS). The underlying genetic defect greatly impacts the risk of posttransplant recurrence in aHUS. Indeed recurrence is almost the rule in patients with mutations in genes encoding factor H or factor I, whereas patients with a mutation in membrane‐cofactor‐protein gene have a good transplant outcome. Prophylactic and therapeutic options for posttransplant TMA, including plasma therapy, combined kidney and liver transplantation and targeted complement inhibitors are discussed in this review.
Highly parallel implementation of Sphinx-3 voice recognition algorithm

General-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) has been an active area of scientific research in recent years. Most of the research efforts are based upon the Compute Unified Device Architecture (i.e. CUDA), introduced by Nvidia and targeting its products. In this work, the features of the abovementioned technology are exploited to produce a highly parallel implementation of the Sphinx 3 voice recognition algorithm. Our goal was to improve the execution time of the decoder, in specific. Execution times achieved indicate that it is indeed possible to speed up the algorithm even if the vast majority of the code cannot be run in parallel.
An Exploration of Managerial Views on Positioning Services in Ghana

ABSTRACT The paper constitutes an analysis of the views of managers of service firms on positioning strategies in Ghana. The research employed a qualitative research method. Data were collected from 21 service managers and analyzed using content analysis procedures. The results indicate that for service managers, the perceived dominant positioning strategies of their organizations were: service quality, customer relationship, innovation, availability of service, community support, and leading organization, among others. The findings suggest that the dominant managerial views of Ghanaian service managers form a ‘hybrid’ of those of the Western manager. This research is important in clarifying this position. Additionally, as an exploratory piece, the study provides bases for further research on a topic in Ghana with a rather scant evidence of research.
Geographutoxin‐sensitive and insensitive sodium currents in mouse skeletal muscle developing in situ.

1. The whole‐cell voltage‐clamp technique was used to examine developmental changes of Na+ current properties in single fibres of mouse flexor digitorum brevis muscles developing in situ from birth to 20 days post‐natal. 2. Geographutoxin II (GTX II), a novel polypeptide toxin from the marine snail Conus geographus, distinguished two different types of voltage‐sensitive Na+ currents: GTX II‐sensitive and GTX II‐insensitive currents, which corresponded respectively to currents with high or low TTX sensitivity. 3. Voltage‐dependent activation and inactivation of the GTX II‐insensitive currents occurred at membrane potentials 10‐20 mV more negative than those for the GTX II‐sensitive currents. 4. The GTX II‐insensitive current in fibres from mice older than 8 days inactivated more slowly than the GTX II‐sensitive current. However, in fibres from younger mice, the two currents decayed with similar speed. 5. The mean specific Na+ conductance (gNa) for the total (GTX II‐sensitive plus GTX II‐insensitive) Na+ channels was 0.22 mS/muF at a Na+ concentration of 5 mM at birth. The total gNa increased 6‐fold to 1.32 mS/muF during the first 20 days after birth. 6. The mean specific gNa for the GTX II‐insensitive channels was 0.15 mS/muF at birth, remained at approximately the same level for the first 8 days, and then decreased progressively to become undetectable by day 16. 7. In muscle fibres denervated 12 days after birth, the GTX II‐insensitive gNa increased over the next 8 days, whereas the total gNa increased less than normal. 8. By contrast, in fibres denervated on day 4, the total gNa increased more than normal in the following 8 days, and the GTX II‐insensitive specific gNa increased above the level seen at birth. 9. Half‐maximal activation and inactivation potentials of the total and the GTX II‐insensitive currents shifted in the negative direction by 9‐17 mV in the first 8 days after birth. 10. We conclude that the regulatory effects of innervation on the total gNa are either suppressive or enhancing depending on the stage of development. On the other hand, denervation elicits an increase in GTX II‐insensitive Na+ currents at all ages studied.
Stability of Subsidy Participation and Continuity of Care in the Child Care Assistance Program in Minnesota. Minnesota Child Care Choices Research Brief Series. Publication #2014-55.

The Minnesota Child Care Choices Research Briefs are designed to answer questions of interest to state child care administrators, county agency staff, and other early childhood stakeholders. The questions they have include: How do parents make decisions about child care arrangements? What factors affect whether a family uses child care subsidies? How will Minnesota’s QRIS affect families with low incomes, particularly those eligible to receive a child care subsidy? What family, community, and child care characteristics affect child care stability and reliability, and parents’ employment outcomes? Stability of Subsidy Participation and Continuity of Care in the Child Care Assistance Program in Minnesota
Coronary artery calcification and cardiovascular disease in children with chronic kidney disease

Purpose of review Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in children and young adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). As adults, children with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) have extremely high prevalence of traditional and uremia-related cardiovascular risk factors. Coronary artery calcification is one of the earliest cardiovascular markers detected in children with ESRD. The purpose of this review is to examine the new developments in pathogenesis of coronary artery calcification and to describe recently published studies on this topic in children with CKD. Recent findings There is growing evidence that fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) and Klotho factor play a key role in the development of coronary artery calcification in ESRD. Recent studies have shown that induction of vascular calcification begins in early normophosphatemic CKD by the reduction of vascular Klotho and increased FGF23 secretion. Pediatric studies confirmed the presence of abnormal FGF23 and Klotho metabolism and the association of increased circulating FGF23 with coronary artery calcification in children with CKD. Summary New developments in our understanding of the mechanisms of vascular calcification in patients with early CKD require further investigation of whether control of FGF23/Klotho metabolism will prevent or delay the development of coronary artery calcification and other cardiovascular outcomes.
Therapeutic strategies to prevent and manage dyskinesias in Parkinson’s disease

Introduction: Chronic treatment with levodopa is associated with the development of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias particularly in young Parkinson patients. In some cases, dyskinesias become so severe that they interfere with normal movement and negatively impact quality of life. Areas covered: In this review, we discuss benefits and limits of available therapeutic approaches aimed at delaying or managing dyskinesias as well as new strategies that are currently under investigation. Expert opinion: Among available treatments, monotherapy with dopamine agonists in the early phases of the disease reduces the risk for dyskinesias compared with levodopa. Nevertheless, dopamine agonists are unable to prevent dyskinesias once levodopa is added, which is always required once disease severity progresses. Convincing evidence of dyskinesia improvement has been shown only for deep brain stimulation and to some extent also for duodenal levodopa infusion and subcutaneous apomorphine. These approaches are expensive, have restrictive inclusion criteria and can cause potentially serious side effects. Alternative therapies include drugs targeting nondopaminergic neurotransmitter systems. Amantadine improves dyskinesias but its long-term effect is often unsatisfactory. Glutamatergic and gabaergic compounds have been tested in clinical trials, with promising results. By contrast, adrenergic drugs, fipamezole and idazoxan, did not show antidyskinetic effect.
Kernelizing Vector Quantization Algorithms

The kernel trick is a well known approach allowing to implicitly cast a linear method into a nonlinear one by replacing any dot product by a kernel function. However few vector quantization algorithms have been kernelized. Indeed, they usually imply to compute linear transformations (e.g. moving prototypes), what is not easily kernelizable. This paper intro- duces the Kernel-based Vector Quantization (KVQ) method which allows working in an approximation of the feature space, and thus kernelizing any Vector Quantization (VQ) algorithm.
Massilia varians Isolated from a Clinical Specimen

We report a case of Massilia varians isolated from a deep finger wound following orthopedic surgery on an immunocompetent patient. The bacterium was identified by 16S rDNA sequence analysis. This is the first case of M. varians isolated from a clinical specimen since the first report in 2008.
Self-confirming Inflation Persistence *

In this paper we simulate a central bank subject to the misperception that prices are indexed to past inflation in periods when firms are unable to re-optimise. It thinks, in other words, that inflation is intrinsically persistent. The central bank sets monetary policy optimally subject to this belief. The central bank updates its beliefs about in¬dexation using a constant gain learning scheme. The data generated by such policy lead to beliefs about inflation persistence being effectively self-confirming in a wide variety of setttings. These results offer a tentative answer to why it appears that inflation is persistent at some times and in some countries, and at others not. The answer is that policymakers sometimes believe inflation to be persistent, and sometimes do not.
A novel locus for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA4) with anterior keratoconus mapping to chromosome 17p13.

PURPOSE A two-generation consanguineous Pakistani family with autosomal recessive Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA, MIM 204,000) and keratoconus was identified. All affected individuals have bilateral keratoconus and congenital pigmentary retinopathy. The goal of this study was to link the disease phenotype in this family. METHODS Genomic DNA was amplified across the polymorphic microsatellite poly-CA regions identified by markers. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products were separated by nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Alleles were assigned to individuals, which allowed calculation of LOD scores using the Cyrillic and MLINK software program. The retinal guanylate cyclase (RETGC-1, GDB symbol GUC2D) and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) genes were analyzed by heteroduplex analysis and direct sequencing for mutations in diseased individuals. RESULTS Based on a whole genome linkage analysis the first locus for this combined phenotype has been mapped to chromosome 17p13. Linkage analysis gave a two point LOD score of 3.21 for marker D17S829. Surrounding this marker is a region of homozygosity of 15.77 cM, between the markers D17S1866 and D17S960; however, the crossover for the marker D17S1529 refines the region to 10.77 cM within which the disease gene is predicted to lie. Mutation screening of the nearby RETGC-1 gene, which has been shown to be associated with LCA1, revealed no mutations in the affected individuals of this family. Similarly, another prime candidate in the region PEDF was also screened for mutations. The factor has been shown to be involved in the photoreceptor differentiation and neuronal survival. No mutations were found in this gene either. Furthermore, RETGC-1 was physically excluded from the critical disease region based on the existing physical map. CONCLUSIONS It is therefore suggested that this combined phenotype maps to a new locus and is due to an as yet uncharacterized gene within the 17p13 chromosomal region.
Dopamine D2 receptors mapped in rat brain with [3H](+)PHNO

Previous work with membrane preparations had demonstrated that the agonist (+)‐4‐propyl‐9‐hydroxynaphthoxazine (PHNO) labels the high‐affinity state of dopamine D2 receptors with 67‐fold selectivity over D1 sites. In this study, quantitative autoradiography was used to examine the binding of [3H](+)PHNO to rat brain sections. Highest binding densities were found in caudate‐putamen, accumbens, and olfactory tubercles, as expected, and also in specific layers of the olfactory bulb. In addition, a second group of brain regions, including lateral septum, entorhinal cortex, molecular layer of hippocampus, and several brainstem structures showed low but consistent levels of binding. In all brain regions [3H](+)PHNO binding (2 nM) was completely displaced by 10 μM sulpiride (>99%). Addition of 150 μM guanilylimidodiphosphate, which normally converts D2 receptors from high to low affinity states, abolished [3H](+)PHNO binding in all brain regions (>99%), except for the islands of Callejas. This is likely to reflect binding to D3 sites in this area. Omission of preincubation in binding assays decreased [3H](+)PHNO binding in a regionally dependent manner, with strongest effects (22%) seen in high‐density areas. These preincubation results confirm that (+)PHNO may have limitations for in vivo imaging studies. On the other hand, [3H](+)PHNOs negligible levels of non‐specific binding compared to other agonists and overall selectivity would make it an excellent tool for in vitro autoradiographic monitoring of the high affinity state of D2 receptors. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss. Inc.
A new triterpenoid and a new glycoside from Pilea cavaleriei

A new triterpenoid, 11α,12α-epoxy-3β-hydroxy-24-nor-olean-4(23)-en-28,13β-olide (1), and a new glycoside, benzyl 2-O-β-d-apiofuranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-d-glucopyranosyl benzoate (2), together with eight known triterpenoids (3–10), were isolated from Pilea cavaleriei subsp. cavaleriei. Their structures were established on the basis of spectroscopic analysis including HR-ESI-MS, 1D NMR, and 2D NMR techniques. All compounds showed no anti-hepatitis C virus activity.
[Role of the severity score and of the multiple organ dysfunctions in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis and its infective complications].

INTRODUCTION There is considerable controversy about timing of surgery in acute pancreatitis. Scoring system is widely used in Intensive Care Units (ICU) but above all in order to assess the severity of disease. AIM OF THE STUDY In this prospective clinical study, modification of clinical evolution and scores (APACHE II, SAPS II and SOFA) are analyzed. Scores were computed, daily or every other day. Two particular phases were observed: the day of ICU admission and the day of surgical treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twenty-one patients are studied; they were all surgically treated only after identification of positive pancreatic coltures. Open-packing was performed 2-6 weeks after the beginning of acute pancreatitis. In six patients who died, a progressive deterioration was noticed between admission and identification of infected necrosis. All scores were higher in patients who died, in particular a significant difference was found between SOFA score at admission and at treatment (mean +/- SD: 5.0 +/- 3.2 vs 8.5 +/- 3.0, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS In conclusion when clinical conditions are critical a high SOFA score could contribute to indicate surgical treatment even without identification of sepsis.