Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Should lung biopsies be performed in patients with severe asthma?

Asthma, and severe asthma, in particular, is increasingly recognised as a heterogeneous disease. Identifying these different phenotypes of asthma and assigning patients to phenotype-specific treatments is one of the current conundrums in respiratory medicine. Any diagnostic procedure in severe asthma (or any disease) should have two aims: 1) better understanding or identifying the diagnosis, and 2) providing information on the heterogeneity of asthma phenotypes to guide therapy with the objective of improving outcomes. Lung biopsies can target the large and small airways as well as the lung parenchyma. All compartments are affected in severe asthma; however, knowledge on the distal lung is limited. At this point, it remains uncertain whether lung specimens routinely add diagnostic information that is unable to be obtained otherwise. Indeed, whether a lung biopsy is indicated in the workup of a patient with severe asthma remains an individual decision. It is hoped this review will support rational decision-making and provide a detailed synopsis of the varied histopathological features seen in biopsies of patients with a diagnosis of severe asthma. Due to limited data on this topic this review is primarily based on opinion with recommendations arising primarily from the personal experience of the authors. Optimising use of lung biopsies in a diagnostic workup of severe asthma requires a multidisciplinary approach http://ow.ly/PdLW2
Randomized controlled trial on the effects of legumes on cardiovascular risk factors in women with abdominal obesity

BACKGROUND The effect of legume-based hypocaloric diet on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in women is unclear. This study provides an opportunity to find effects of high-legume diet on CVD risk factors in women who consumed high legumes at baseline. METHODS This randomized controlled trial was undertaken in 34 premenopausal women with central obesity. After 2 weeks of a run-in period on an isocaloric diet, subjects were randomly assigned into two groups: (1) hypocaloric diet enriched with legumes (HDEL) (n = 17) (two servings per day) and (2) hypocaloric diet without legumes (HDWL) (n = 17) for 6 weeks. The following variables were assessed before intervention, 3, and 6 weeks after it: Waist to hip ratio (WHR), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-sensitive-C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), nitric oxides (NOx), and Malondialdehyde (MDA). RESULTS Both hypocaloric diets reduced hs-CRP in 3 weeks and returned it to basal values after 6 weeks (P = 0.004). HDWL significantly reduced WHR [P = 0.010 (3.2%)] and increased TC [P < 0.001 (6.3%)]. Despite the significant effect of HDEL on increasing TAC in 3 weeks [P = 0.050 (4%)], the level of TAC remained the same in 6 weeks. None of the diets had any significant effects on NOx and MDA. CONCLUSION The study indicated that beneficial effects of legumes on TC, LDL-C, and hs-CRP were achieved by three servings per week, and consuming more amounts of these products had no more advantages.
A Data Transmission Scheme for Community-Based Opportunistic Networks

Opportunistic network that consists of mobile devices carried by social people is called community based opportunistic network (CON) which has community characteristics. Currently prevalent multi-copy routing algorithms in opportunistic networks have not considered these characteristics, therefore when these algorithms are used in CON, they will lead to high transmission delay and packet loss rate. This paper proposes a Community-based Data Transmission Scheme (CDTS) to solve these problems. CDTS organizes all nodes into different communities based on the contact frequency between nodes. CDTS adaptively adjusts the number of data copies in the network and data can be transmitted to target community mainly relying on active nodes. Simulation results show that CDTS can achieve satisfying data delivery ratio in community-based opportunistic networks and reduces the data forwarding times by 19.4% to 24.7%.
Comment on Crandall and Winston

In a paper published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives in the fall of 2003, Robert Crandall and Clifford Winston all but call for the repeal of the Nation’s antitrust laws. Their qualifications to make such a radical proposal are in doubt, but more importantly their purported review of empirical studies of overt price-fixing effects is shallow, biased, and naive. Crandall and Winston’s assertion that the direct benefits of convicting pricefixers are slight is central to their paper’s thesis. Their review is shallow because the five studies that they examine comprise less than 2% of the economic literature that quantitatively estimates the price effects of explicit price-fixing schemes; it is biased because the chosen studies find no or weak price effects, whereas the vast majority of such studies find significant positive effects on price during the collusive period; it is naive because the selected studies are either severely flawed or irrelevant.
Reappraising foreground contamination in the COBE-DMR data

With the advent of all-sky Hα surveys it is possible to determine a reliable free-free template of the diffuse interstellar medium (Dickinson, Davies & Davis 2003) which can be used in conjunction with the synchrotron and dust templates to correct CMB observations for diffuse Galactic foregrounds. We have used the COBE-DMR data at 31.5, 53 and 90 GHz and employed cross-correlation techniques to re-evaluate the foreground contributions, particularly that due to dust which is known to be partially correlated with Hα (and free-free) emission. The DMR microwave maps are found to contain, as well as the expected synchrotron and free-free components, a component tightly correlated to the 140 � m dust maps of DIRBE. At 31.5, 53 and 90 GHz this emission is 6.3±0.6, 2.4±0.4 and 2.2 ± 0.4 � K/(MJy sr −1 ) at 140 � m respectively. When corrected for the contribution from thermal dust following model 7 of Finkbeiner, Davis & Schlegel (1999), a strong anomalous dust-correlated emission component remains, which is well-fitted by a frequency spectrum of the form ν −� where β � 2.5 in the DMR frequency range; this is the dominant foreground at 31.5 GHz. The result implies the presence of an emission component with a dust-like morphology but a synchrotron-like spectrum. We discuss the possible origins of this component and compare it with the recent WMAP interpretation. The better knowledge of the individual foregrounds provided by the present study enables a larger area of the sky (|b| > 15 ◦ ) to be used to re-appraise the CMB quadrupole normalisation, Qrms−PS, and the scalar perturbations spectral index, n. We find Qrms−PS= 15.2 +2.8 −2.3 with a power-law spectral index of n = 1.2 ± 0.2. These values are consistent with previous COBE-DMR analyses and the WMAP 1-year analysis.
At home with the technology: an ethnographic study of a set-top-box trial

The rapid growth and development of the Internet and the resulting growth in interest in access to network facilities highlights an increasing prominence of computer technology in the home. In this paper we report on a study of the social organisation of a number of domestic environments in the north west of England and consider the ways in which an understanding of the nature of the home is of interest to the developers of future interactive technology. Thus, in the first half of the paper we consider the everyday nature of home-life and in the second half report on an ethnographically-based evaluation of a prototype set top box for the provision of digital services to the home. In addition to reflecting on the nature of activities in the home we conclude by considering the design implications that can be drawn from an examination of these activities.
From go to woe How a not-for-profit managed the change to accrual accounting

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the process of change in an Australian not-for-profit organization, from a cash-based to an accrual-based accounting system. Its particular focus is the relationship between the image portrayed by accrual accounting adoption and the technical realities of the new system. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered from interviews, documents and meetings, and were contextualized and interpreted using institutional theory. Findings – The decision to change to accrual accounting was made at the top of the organizational hierarchy in response to institutional pressure to present a corporate image. The implementation of the new system was poorly conceived, inadequately resourced, and hampered by an authoritarian structure that effectively ignored the technical incompetence and training needs of many accounting staff. This resulted in an accounting system half way between cash and accrual, and very different from the system as it had been promoted. The process caused conflict at all levels of the organizational hierarchy. Research limitations/implications – Accounting in not-for-profit organizations is an under-researched area offering potential for fruitful research in a changing institutional landscape. This institutional approach, while offering just one interpretation of the qualitative data gathered in this project, provides valuable insights about the process of change. Practical implications – Not-for-profit organizations play a vital economic and social role, and need carefully to assess their responses to ongoing institutional pressures. In implementing change, they face the challenge of balancing the promotion of an institutionally acceptable image and the need for technical efficiencies. Originality/value – The examination of change in an organization provides a rich context for the exploration of the dynamic, problematic process by which a new accounting practice is embedded and institutionalized.
The choice of complete anonymity versus pseudonymity for aggression online

Anonymity is a factor that could lead to disinhibited behavior which is something that could cause damage to many online communities. Anonymity is a generic term and should be analyzed further into different states such as pseudonymity and complete anonymity. In this paper a survey was conducted in order to determine the differences between the two anonymity states in relation to aggression. The findings show that in general, there is no difference in how aggressive a user responds between the two or when users answer with their real names. However, when the differences were tested in context of how strong of an opinion users felt they had about a topic, users that selected ”extremely strong” as their opinion, were found to respond more aggressively under the state of pseudonymity. Based on the evidence of this exploratory study, user-centered design could improve online community behavior by changing the design process, specifically to the approach of anonymity.
Optimal multi-user space time scheduling for wireless communications

The multi-user MIMO space time scheduling problem is the prime focus of the paper. Optimizing the link level performance of the MIMO system does not always imply achieving scheduling level optimization. Therefore,design optimization across the link layer and the scheduling layer is very important to exploit fully the temporal and spatial dimensions of the communication channel. We address the design of the optimal space time scheduler for a multi-user MIMO system based on an information theoretical approach. We assume a partial feedback channel, namely a scaler rate-feedback channel, is available to the transmitter, but the full channel matrix is unknown to the transmitter. With the partial feedback, we find that the optimal resource allocation strategy is water-filling in both the temporal domain and spatial domain. The optimal scheduler should allocate all the power to at most n/sub R/ users at any particular instant. The optimal scheduler performance depends on the total number of users (K), the number of receive antennas at the base station (n/sub R/), and the number of transmit antennas at the mobile (n/sub T/). The scheduling gain increases with n/sub R/ due to the distributed MIMO configuration formed between mobile users and base station. With a single power feedback channel, the scheduling gain reduces as n/sub T/ increases, illustrating that transmit diversity hurts the scheduling performance in the case of scalar feedback. Finally, scheduling performance improves as K increases due to the multi-user selection diversity.
Crecimiento empresarial y corrupción: un análisis para la industria manufacturera colombiana durante el periodo 2000-2011

Este trabajo muestra la relacion que existe entre el crecimiento empresarial y la corrupcion privada en la industria manufacturera en Colombia. Esta investigacion indaga la dinamica de estas variables utilizando varias tecnicas mediante la implementacion de modelos empiricos: Las estimaciones con datos de panel (DDP) y el modelo de datos de panel dinamicos (DPDM). La tecnica (DDP) es implementado para estimar el crecimiento empresarial en la industria manufacturera utilizando como variables de decision el capital, el empleo y el emprendimiento, igualmente se evalua el comportamiento de las diferentes interacciones y los cambios suscitados en el crecimiento empresarial en los sectores que conforman la industria para determinar sus tendencias. El analisis de datos de panel dinamicos (DPDM) se realiza para determinar las variables que afectan el crecimiento empresarial. Las estimaciones del modelo (DDP) muestran que las variables seleccionadas para calcular el crecimiento empresarial se ajustan con el marco teorico propuesto en esta investigacion. El modelo de datos de panel dinamico aplicado revela que en la industria manufacturera los altos niveles de corrupcion privada tienen incidencia en el crecimiento empresarial, las tendencias generales evidencian que la corrupcion, sus efectos en el tiempo y sus tasas de incidencia en la industria, afectaron negativamente el crecimiento empresarial de cada sector analizado durante el periodo comprendido entre el ano 2000 - 2011.
Interactive Data Mining for Molecular Graphs

Designing new medical drugs for a specific disease requires extensive analysis of many molecules that have an activity for the disease. The main goal of these extensive analyses is to discover substructures (fragments) that account for the activity of these molecules. Once they are discovered, these fragments are used to understand the structure of new drugs and design new medicines for the disease. In this paper, we propose an interactive approach for visual molecule mining to discover fragments of molecules that are responsible for the desired activity with respect to a specific disease. Our approach visualizes molecular data in a form that can be interpreted by a human expert. Using a pipelining structure, it enables experts to contribute to the solution with their expertise at different levels. In order to derive desired fragments, it combines histogram-based filtering and clustering methods in a novel way. This combination enables a flexible determination of frequent fragments that repeat in molecules exactly or with some variations.
How Destructive is Creative Destruction ? Investigating Long-term E ff ects of Worker Displacement ∗

How long-lasting are the consequences of job loss for displaced workers? This paper addresses this question using matched employeremployee panel data from Norway for 1986-2000. We investigate the long-term impact of job displacement on future employment patterns and earnings. The focus is on workers who have been displaced by plant closing or been separated from downsizing plants. The results imply that job displacement have long-lasting negative effects on workers’ future earnings and employment. Contrary to expectations, workers who stay in the plant until the closing down suffer less severe consequences of displacement than the ones who separated from them before. The effects of job loss are stronger for workers with longer pre-displacement job tenure, and for workers who are separated from
Serum Metabolomic Response to Long-Term Supplementation with all-rac-α-Tocopheryl Acetate in a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background. The Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study, a randomized controlled cancer prevention trial, showed a 32% reduction in prostate cancer incidence in response to vitamin E supplementation. Two other trials were not confirmatory, however. Objective. We compared the change in serum metabolome of the ATBC Study participants randomized to receive vitamin E to those who were not by randomly selecting 50 men from each of the intervention groups (50 mg/day all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate (ATA), 20 mg/day β-carotene, both, placebo). Methods. Metabolomic profiling was conducted on baseline and follow-up fasting serum (Metabolon, Inc.). Results. After correction for multiple comparisons, five metabolites were statistically significantly altered (β is the change in metabolite level expressed as number of standard deviations on the log scale): α-CEHC sulfate (β = 1.51, p = 1.45 × 10−38), α-CEHC glucuronide (β = 1.41, p = 1.02 × 10−31), α-tocopherol (β = 0.97, p = 2.22 × 10−13), γ-tocopherol (β = −0.90, p = 1.76 × 10−11), and β-tocopherol (β = −0.73, p = 9.40 × 10−8). Glutarylcarnitine, beta-alanine, ornithine, and N6-acetyllysine were also decreased by ATA supplementation (β range 0.40 to −0.36), but not statistically significantly. Conclusions. Comparison of the observed metabolite alterations resulting from ATA supplementation to those in other vitamin E trials of different populations, dosages, or formulations may shed light on the apparently discordant vitamin E-prostate cancer risk findings.
The economic burden of tuberculosis and the need for private sector initiatives

Despite the unrelenting effort by the government, tuberculosis still poses a major health risk and remains today a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. In 2003 prices, the economic cost of TB – measured here as the aggregate loss in income estimated based on a selection model of income differential between those with TB and those without it - is about 3.26 billion pesos per annum. In comparison to direct medical costs of DOTS treatment, this estimate exceeds the low-end estimate of 1.81 billion pesos per annum and approximates the high-end estimate of 3.73 billion pesos per annum. Arguably, therefore, TB control is economically viable, but which requires wider private sector participation. However, despite the fact that many TB patients work or seek treatment in the private sector, the private sector’s role in the country’s TB control program has, until recently, not been articulated, as revealed by the inventory of TB and other relevant policies. Increased private sector participation, however, is now expected with the PhilHealth’s TB-outpatient benefit package, but whose design and implementation must be strengthened to make it a wider window of opportunity.
Analysis of circuit conditions for optimum intermodulation and gain in bipolar cascomp amplifiers with non-ideal error correction

The cascoded-compensation or 'Cascomp' amplifier offers excellent distortion reduction and thermal distortion rejection, but has not seen widespread use because of a limited gain and increased complexity compared with other topologies. The original theory showed that with the addition of an ideal error amplifier the circuit will completely compensate distortion for suitably chosen degeneration and bias values. This research presents a new, rigorous mathematical proof for conditions of compensation. The authors further develop the proof to include the non-idealities of the error amplifier. It is shown that there exists a second bias point, not exposed by the original analysis that offers improved gain while maintaining distortion cancellation. By reducing the error amplifier degeneration resistance, one can increase a Cascomp circuit's overall gain by several dB while maintaining theoretically perfect distortion compensation. A robust bias point is proposed, which takes the advantage of this new theory by optimising circuit values resulting in a comparatively broader and deeper third-order distortion null. The proposed theory is confirmed with simulation and measurement that show agreement within the bounds of process and component error limits.
Health and Biomedical Informatics: Opportunities and Challenges for a Twenty-First Century Profession and its Education

Summary Objectives Characterize the health and biomedical informatics workforce, its professionalization, and its education. MethodsLiterature review and analysis. Results Although the value of health information technology is increasingly well-documented, there are still barriers to its widespread adoption around the world. One of those barriers is a well-defined and competent workforce for developing, evaluating, and implementing systems. There are plenty of opportunities in health and biomedical informatics, yet there also is still much that we do not know about this workforce and its education. Conclusions Continued efforts must be made to characterize and understand the optimal organization and education of this workforce.
Numerical Simulation of Restenosis in a Stented Coronary Artery

Nowadays, cardiac disease is one of the most common cause of death. Each year almost one million of angioplasty interventions and stents implantations are made all over the world. Unfortunately, in 20-30% of cases neointimal proliferations leads to restenosis occurring within the following period of 3-6 months. Three major factors are believed to contribute mostly to the edge restenosis: (a) mechanical damage of the artery’s wall caused by the stent implantation, (b) interaction between the stent and the blood constituents and (c) endothelial growth stimulation by small (lower that 1.5 Pa) and oscillating wall shear stress. Assuming that this last factor is particularly important, a numerical model of restenosis basing on wall shear stress distribution in the stented artery was elaborated. A numerical simulations of the development of in-stent restenosis have been performed and realistic geometric patterns of a progressing lumen reduction have been obtained. Keywords—Coronary artery disease, coronary blood flow, instent restenosis.
Different Infectivity of HIV-1 Strains Is Linked to Number of Envelope Trimers Required for Entry

HIV-1 enters target cells by virtue of envelope glycoprotein trimers that are incorporated at low density in the viral membrane. How many trimers are required to interact with target cell receptors to mediate virus entry, the HIV entry stoichiometry, still awaits clarification. Here, we provide estimates of the HIV entry stoichiometry utilizing a combined approach of experimental analyses and mathematical modeling. We demonstrate that divergent HIV strains differ in their stoichiometry of entry and require between 1 to 7 trimers, with most strains depending on 2 to 3 trimers to complete infection. Envelope modifications that perturb trimer structure lead to an increase in the entry stoichiometry, as did naturally occurring antibody or entry inhibitor escape mutations. Highlighting the physiological relevance of our findings, a high entry stoichiometry correlated with low virus infectivity and slow virus entry kinetics. The entry stoichiometry therefore directly influences HIV transmission, as trimer number requirements will dictate the infectivity of virus populations and efficacy of neutralizing antibodies. Thereby our results render consideration of stoichiometric concepts relevant for developing antibody-based vaccines and therapeutics against HIV.