Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Staphylococcus aureus Colonization and Long-Term Risk for Death, United States

To examine the association of colonization by Staphylococcus aureus and general population mortality, we followed 10,598 adults for 8.5 years on average. Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus colonization was not associated with death. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus carriage predicted death in a crude analysis but not after adjustment for socioeconomic status and co-morbidities.
Rates of hospital‐acquired bloodstream infections in patients with specific malignancy

Prospective surveillance of hospitalized patients with leukemia or solid tumors was performed in order to define the rate of nosocomial bloodstream infection according to specific diagnosis. During the 38‐month study, there were 842 nosocomial bloodstream infections in 704 patients, 22% of whom had leukemia or solid tumors. In the patients with malignancy, the diagnoses associated with the highest rate of bloodstream infections were chronic myeloid leukemia (18.4/100 patients), acute lymphocyte leukemia (17.7/100), promyelocytic and undifferentiated leukemia (16.1/100) and acute monocytic/myelomonocyte (13.8/100). In 76% of patients with chronic lymphocytic, chronic myeloid, or undifferentiated leukemia, the peripheral blood polymorphonuclear leukocyte count at the time of bacteremia was ≤100 cells/mm−3. In contrast to patients with leukemia, those with solid tumors, as a group, were at no greater risk of bloodstream infection than those without malignancy. In preparation for prophylactic trials of antibiotics or immunotherapy this study has more clearly defined the risk of bloodstream infection in cancer patients. Cancer 50:187–190, 1982.
Prediction of Temperature Increase in Human Eyes Due to RF Sources

A numerical study is proposed to investigate the effects of different RF sources on the specific absorption rate (SAR) and maximum temperature increase in the human eye at different frequencies. In particular, a new model of the human head is presented and compared with an anatomical model of the visible human. The high resolution (0.5 mm) of the proposed model allows to consider more eye tissues than previous studies distinguishing the sclera from the retina and choroid. New values of blood perfusion and metabolic rate of these tissues are derived. A plane-wave field is considered as far-field exposure, while realistic models of mobile phone and dipole antennas are used as primary sources for near-field exposure. The obtained results show that the distributions of the SAR and temperature increase depend on the frequency, position, and kind of sources. Finally, attention is paid to the maximum temperature increase in the lens for the SAR values prescribed by the Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. To this aim, a scaling approach is proposed, and significant values of temperature increase are found (about C for general public exposure and about 1.5 degC for occupational exposure) for the most critical cases of near-field exposures.
The Empirical Study on Financial Development and Economic Growth

Since the 1990s,many scholars have empirically studied the relationship between financial development and economic growth.There are many drawbacks of the econometrical methods or indexes in the current studies.The new trend of the empirical study is to choose better econometric indexes and methods with industrial data to research into mechanism from financial development to economic growth.
LPA receptor signaling: pharmacology, physiology, and pathophysiology

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a small ubiquitous lipid found in vertebrate and nonvertebrate organisms that mediates diverse biological actions and demonstrates medicinal relevance. LPA’s functional roles are driven by extracellular signaling through at least six 7-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors. These receptors are named LPA1–6 and signal through numerous effector pathways activated by heterotrimeric G proteins, including Gi/o, G12/13, Gq, and Gs. LPA receptor-mediated effects have been described in numerous cell types and model systems, both in vitro and in vivo, through gain- and loss-of-function studies. These studies have revealed physiological and pathophysiological influences on virtually every organ system and developmental stage of an organism. These include the nervous, cardiovascular, reproductive, and pulmonary systems. Disturbances in normal LPA signaling may contribute to a range of diseases, including neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, pain, cardiovascular disease, bone disorders, fibrosis, cancer, infertility, and obesity. These studies underscore the potential of LPA receptor subtypes and related signaling mechanisms to provide novel therapeutic targets.
Research Brief No. 12 - The effect of work arrangements on perceived work-family balance

The combined demands of the modern work world and raising a healthy family have many Canadian struggling to find enough time. Canadians are working more and more hours while wages largely remain stagnant. In order to address this growing concern, alternate work arrangements have been increasingly used to help employees strike some degree of work-family balance and decrease related issues of absenteeism and turnover in the workplace. This research explores the effect of three unique work strategies — flexible schedules, shift work and self-employment — on men and women in dual-earner families. It examines each arrangement’s impact on reported satisfaction with balance between family and work lives. Results indicate that using flexible schedules and increasing employees’ enjoyment of their work can help promote workfamily balance.
Latent herpes simplex virus type 1 transcription in human trigeminal ganglia

We studied latent herpes simplex virus type 1 gene expression in human trigeminal ganglia. Two transcripts were mapped to a 3.0-kilobase region within the long repeat region and appeared to be located in neuronal nuclei. These viral RNAs were not abundant during lytic replication and may represent an alternative pattern of herpes simplex virus type 1 gene expression involved in the pathogenesis of latent infection.
Signal-Integrity Optimization for Complicated Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Networks Based on Data Mining of S-Parameters

In this paper, an efficient signal-integrity analysis and optimization method for complicated multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) networks is proposed, in which data mining is applied to discover the concealed information in black-box S-parameter models. Instead of performing a number of circuit simulations, data mining employs mathematical search algorithm directly into the model, which can save significant analyzed time and improve the efficiency. An optimized mining flow is presented for large scale data set, where the data processing and data mining are performed simultaneously, and thus it is unnecessary to save large extracted data. The proposed data mining method consider both the interconnect structure and the stimulated pattern of a MIMO system, which can perform thoughtful analysis and optimization with high efficiency. Two examples, signal-integrity analysis of two coupled microstrip lines and noise coupling among multiple signal vias through a power-ground plane pair, are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed data mining method in signal-integrity optimization design.
Essays on text mining for improved decision making

We investigate the issue of predicting new customers as profitable based on information about existing customers in a business-to-business environment. In particular, we show how latent semantic concepts from textual information of existing customers’ websites can be used to uncover characteristics of websites of companies that will turn into profitable customers. Hence, the use of predictive analytics will help to identify new potential acquisition targets. Additionally, we show that a regression model based on these concepts is successful in the profitability prediction of new customers. In a case study, the acquisition process of a mail-order company is supported by creating a prioritized list of new customers generated by this approach. It is shown that the density of profitable customers in this list outperforms the density of profitable customers in traditional generated address lists (e. g. from list brokers). From a managerial point of view, this approach supports the identification of new business customers and helps to estimate the future profitability of these customers in a company. Consequently, the customer acquisition process can be targeted more effectively and efficiently. This leads to a competitive advantage for B2B companies and improves the acquisition process that is timeand cost-consuming with traditionally low conversion rates.
TURKISH DISCOUSE PARTICLES İŞTE AND FALAN AND THEIR ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS WELL AND LIKE: A CORPUS STUDY

Numerous studies have investigated the functions of discourse particles well and like in spoken discourse. Their Turkish equivalents, iste and falan are among the most commonly used discourse particles in Turkish. However, there are relatively few studies on iste, and no studies at all on the use of falan as discourse particles. The purpose of this study is to draw attention to the importance of these discourse particles by drawing attention to their various functions in informal discourse. To these ends, authentic data about Turkish discourse have been collected through forum and blog sites on Google; the data regarding the English discourse, on the other hand, were obtained both from Google and also the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). An analysis of the data revealed that iste has a variety of functions as a discourse particle in Turkish; and many of these functions show similarities to the functions of well in English. In a similar way, an analysis of the example sentences containing falan has revealed a strong resemblance between this Turkish discourse particle and the discourse particle like in English. On the other hand, further analysis of the aforementioned corresponding words revealed differences in terms of their usages and functions. Throughout this paper similarities and differences between Turkish discourse particles iste and falan and their English equivalents well and like are explained in a contrastive way with numerous examples from each of the languages under investigation.
Heparin coating of tantalum coronary stents reduces surface thrombin generation but not factor IXa generation

In the present study we used an in-vitro technique to examine initiation and propagation of blood coagulation at the surface of tantalum coronary stents exposed to flowing platelet-rich and platelet-free plasma. The time course of factor IXa production at the surface of the stent was not influenced by platelets. In spite of a significant factor IXa production, no thrombin activity was detected when the tantalum stent was exposed to platelet-free plasma; only when the stent was exposed to platelet-rich plasma was extensive thrombin production observed. These findings indicate that tantalum triggers blood coagulation, but that (adherent) platelets are essential for thrombin generation. Heparin-coated tantalum stents exposed to flowing platelet-rich plasma showed that factor IXa generation was slightly reduced compared with the bare stent. However, the heparin coating drastically delayed the onset of thrombin generation and largely reduced the steady-state production of thrombin. We found a clear relationship between the antithrombin binding capacity and the antithrombogenic potential of the heparin-coated stents. The mode of action of immobilized heparin is thought to abrogate thrombin generation by inhibiting thrombin-dependent positive feedback reactions at the surface of the coronary stent.
VAED: VMI‐assisted evasion detection approach for infrastructure as a service cloud

Cloud computing provides on demand provisioning of resources mostly offered as Infrastructure as a Service. The flexibility in services has opened doors for attackers. Research has been performed to detect various malware in the last few years. However, modern malware are advanced enough to detect the presence of virtualization environment, security analyzer, or even the hypervisor by observing the virtualization‐specific information such as virtual processor features, timing features, etc. The malware exhibit evasive nature and can fool existing security solutions by performing modern antidetection tactics. In this paper, we propose an approach named as VMI‐assisted evasion detection (VAED), deployed at virtual machine monitor, to detect the evasion‐based malware attacks. The VAED is based on learning the program semantic of evasive malware. It uses system call dependency graph approach generated using Markov Chain principle and keeps track of system call ordering with transition probability distribution between each pair system calls. It uses software break point injection technique to extract the system call traces of evasive malware samples, which is free from any modification in hardware‐specific values. Hence, it is secure from evasion attempts. The VAED is validated over evasive samples collected from the University of California on request, and results seem to be promising.
Myosin light‐chain kinase regulates endothelial calcium entry and endothelium‐dependent vasodilation

Activation of smooth muscle myosin light‐chain kinase (MLCK) causes contraction. Here we have proven that MLCK controls Ca2+ entry (CE) in endothelial cells (ECs): MLCK antisense oligonucleotides strongly prevented bradykinin (BK)‐ and thapsigargin (TG)‐induced endothelial Ca2+ response, while MLCK sense did not. We also show that the relevant mechanism is not phosphorylation of myosin light‐chain (MLC): MLC phosphorylation by BK required CE, but MLC phosphorylation caused by the phosphatase inhibitor calyculin A did not trigger Ca2+ response. Most important, we provide for the first time strong evidence that, in contrast to its role in smooth muscle cells, activation of MLCK in ECs stimulates the production of important endothelium‐derived vascular relaxing factors: MLCK antisense and MLCK inhibitors abolished BK‐ and TG‐induced nitric oxide production, and MLCK inhibitors substantially inhibited acetylcholine‐stimulated hyperpolarization of smooth muscle cell membrane in rat mesenteric artery. These results indicate that MLCK controls endothelial CE, but not through MLC phosphorylation, and unveils a hitherto unknown physiological function of the enzyme: vasodilation through its action in endothelial cells. The study discovers a counter‐balancing role of MLCK in the regulation of vascular tone.
Cohort and life-course patterns in the relationship between education and health: A hierarchical approach

Recent medical sociological research has examined whether the relationship between education and health is dynamic across age, whereas recent demographic research has examined whether the relationship varies across cohorts. In this study, I examine how cohort structures the influence of education on life-course health trajectories. At the cohort level, changes in education and in the distribution of health and mortality make cohort differences in education’s effect probable. At the life-course level, the effect of education may vary across age because the mediators of the education-health relationship may vary in their relevance to health across the life course. Using basic regression analyses and random-effects models of two national data sets, I find that the effect of education strengthens across age, that this pattern is becoming stronger across cohorts, and that these patterns are suppressed when either effect is ignored.
Frequency diversity for spatial characterization of wideband channel with multiple antennas

New communications systems demand a better understanding of the spatial behaviour of propagation channels. For that purpose, we have designed a new OFDM-MIMO testbed with an antenna positioning system for carrying out measurements campaigns in several environments in order to properly characterize the directional properties of wideband channel. Some combined diversity schemes can be used for better understanding of the spatial behaviour of propagation channel. For that purpose, we have designed a new OFDM-MIMO testbed with an antenna positioning system for carrying out measurements campaigns in several environments in order to properly characterize the directional properties of the propagation channel.
House dust mite control measures for asthma.

BACKGROUND The major allergen in house dust comes from mites. Chemical, physical and combined methods of reducing mite allergen levels are intended to reduce asthma symptoms in people who are sensitive to house dust mites. OBJECTIVES The objective of this review was to assess the effects of reducing exposure to house dust mite antigens in the homes of mite-sensitive asthmatics. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Airways Group trials register, checked reference lists of articles and hand-searched Respiration (1980 to 1996) and Clinical and Experimental Allergy (1980 to 1996). SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised trials of mite control measures in asthmatic people known to be sensitive to house dust mites. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers applied the trial inclusion criteria and extracted the data independently. One reviewer applied the trial quality assessment criteria. Study authors were contacted to clarify information. MAIN RESULTS Twenty-three trials were included, with four trials awaiting assessment. There was little difference in improvement of asthma between people in experimental groups compared to control groups (odds ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval 0.66 to 2.18). Asthma symptom scores were also similar for the experimental and control groups (standardised mean difference -0. 06, 95% confidence interval -0.54 to 0.41). These scores showed a high degree of heterogeneity. No significant difference was noted for medication usage (standardised mean difference -0.14, 95% confidence interval -0.43 to 0.15). Peak flow in the morning showed no significant difference between the experimental and the control groups (standardised mean difference -0.03, 95% confidence interval -0.25 to 0.19). REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS Current chemical and physical methods aimed at reducing exposure to house dust mite allergens seem to be ineffective and cannot be recommended as prophylaxis for mite sensitive asthmatics.
The relation of the X-ray B-factor to protein dynamics: insights from recent dynamic solid-state NMR data

In addressing the potential use of B-factors derived from X-ray scattering data of proteins for the understanding the (functional) dynamics of proteins, we present a comparison of B-factors of five different proteins (SH3 domain, Crh, GB1, ubiquitin and thioredoxin) with data from recent solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance experiments reflecting true (rotational) dynamics on well-defined timescales. Apart from trivial correlations involving mobile loop regions and chain termini, we find no significant correlation of B-factors with the dynamic data on any of the investigated timescales, concluding that there is no unique and general correlation of B-factors with the internal reorientational dynamics of proteins.
Regulation of matrix metalloproteinases following cellular transformation

During progression towards malignancy, many tumor cells display changes in their repertoire of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs). The recent finding that many members of the MMPs are regulated by protooncogenes may explain the frequent observation of changes in MMP gene expression during progression of many tumor types. While studies involving enzymatic assays of MMPs are usually confined to one or a few MMPs, reverse transcription‐PCR (RT‐PCR) permitted the analysis of seven members of the MMP family and two members of the TIMP family in several normal and transformed cell lines. RT‐PCR permitted us to confirm the observation that MMP‐9 is activated following transformation and also to observe the previously unreported activation of MMP‐7 in SV40‐transformed cells. It has previously been found that MMP‐1, ‐2, ‐3, ‐8, and ‐9 are upregulated by phorbol esters; we have found that MMP‐10 is also upregulated by phorbol esters. The phorbol ester upregulation of MMP‐1, ‐3, and ‐10 was found to be abolished in cells transformed by SV40 virus. Several studies have shown that MMP‐1 is upregulated by an integrin‐mediated signal transduction pathway. This study demonstrates that MMP‐3 and MMP‐10 are also regulated by integrin‐mediated signal transduction and that upregulation by this pathway is abolished following SV40 transformation. In summary, the more global view of MMP expression afforded by RT‐PCR indicates that MMP‐1, ‐3, and ‐10 are regulated by both integrin‐mediated signal transduction and phorbol esters. While fibroblasts and transformed bone cells express several members of the MMP gene family, several other cell types do not express MMPs. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Novel Precoder Design for OFDM Receivers in Unknown Fading Channels

This paper presents a novel precoder design for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system using a channel estimator. First, an asymptotically tight approximation of the pairwise error probability (PEP) error with channel estimation error is presented and is shown to improve the existing upper bound of the PEP. Using the proposed approximation, a near-optimal power allocation scheme is derived and investigated and a new precoding scheme is introduced to improve the bit error rate (BER) performance of the receiver assisted by a minimum mean square error (MMSE) channel estimator. Both experimental and theoretical results included in this paper show improvement in the BER performance of a receiver with channel estimators utilizing the introduced precoder and power allocation scheme.
Successful Transcatheter Retrieval of the Embolized Coronary Stent During Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Stent dislodgement or embolization occuring during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a very seldom and potentially serious complication related to neurological events and peripheral arterial ischemia, loss of time and thus delayed optimal revascularization, resulting in worse outcomes. The most probable conditions associated with a higher risk of stent embolization are severe coronary lesion features (i.e., angulated vessel or calcified lesion), inadequate support of the guiding catheter, and physical properties of the stent used. Non-surgical and, if needed, cardiac or peripheral surgical retrieval techniques can be used for this complication. We report a case of embolization of a zotarolimus-eluting coronary stent into peripheral circulation during primary PCI and its successful retrieval using a snare catheter. J Med Cases. 2016;7(10):417-419 doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.14740/jmc2481w