Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pictorial Representation of illness and Self Measure (PRISM) – eine einfache Visualisierungsmethode für Forschung und Praxis

Communication between physician and patient has a deciding influence on the course of treatment in physical and psychological disorders. An understanding of the patient’s own subjectively experienced suffering is of great importance, particularly in somatoform disorders, i.e., those in which no organic causes can be found for the patient’s somatic complaints. We introduce here the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure (PRISM), a new visual method for eliciting and easing communication about subjective ‘Leidensdruck’, the burden of suffering due to illness. Initial empirical results gained by using this method with a group of patients with rheumatoid arthritis are presented. Also presented is the theoretical background of the visualisation method. A case report of a patient with somatoform disorder is presented to illustrate the clinical use of PRISM. The possibilities and limitations of this method are discussed. Schlüsselwörter Visualisierung · Leidensdruck · Regulierbarkeit · Arzt-Patient-Kommunikation
Combining cardinal direction relations and relative orientation relations in Qualitative Spatial Reasoning

Combining different knowledge representation languages is one of the main topics in Qualitative Spatial Reasoning (QSR). We propose a calculus, cCOA, combining, thus more expressive than each of, two calculi well-known in QSR: Frank's cardinal direction calculus, CDA, and a coarser version, ROA, of Freksa's relative orientation calculus. An original constraint propagation procedure, PcS4c+(), for cCOA-CSPs (cCOA Constraint Satisfaction Problems) is presented, which aims at (1) achieving path consistency for the CDA projection; (2) achieving strong 4-consistency for the ROA projection; and (3) more (+) --the "+" consists of the implementation of the interaction between the two combined calculi. The importance of taking into account the interaction is shown with a real example providing an inconsistent knowledge base, whose inconsistency (a) cannot be detected by reasoning separately about each of the two components of the knowledge, just because, taken separately, each is consistent, but (b) is detected by the proposed algorithm, thanks to the interaction knowledge propagated from each of the two compnents to the other.
The European Commission's White Paper on European Governance: The Uneasy Relationship Between Public Participation and Democracy

The European Commission's White Paper on European Governance has attracted numerous critical comments. Some scholars seem to suggest that the whole project was over ambitious and doomed to failure from the outset, since the Commission could not complete the project without calling into question its own functional self understanding. Broadly speaking, most of the comments in the White Paper draw attention to the neglect of what is considered the European Union's core problem, that is the presumed lack of democratic legitimacy.
FLAG: A Fuzzy Local FairRate Generator for Resilient Packet Ring

A local fairRate generator using fuzzy logic and the moving average technique is proposed for the resilient packet ring (RPR). The fuzzy local fairRate generator (FLAG) is designed to achieve both low convergence time and high system throughput, besides fairness. It contains three functional blocks, an adaptive fairRate calculator (AFC) to properly preproduce a local fairRate by the moving average technique, a fuzzy congestion detector (FCD) to intelligently estimate the congestion degree of the station, and a fuzzy fairRate generator (FFG) to precisely generate the local fairRate. Simulation results show that only the FLAG can stabilize all flows in parking lot scenarios with different finite traffic demands, compared with the conventional aggressive mode (AM) and distributed bandwidth allocation (DBA) fairness algorithms. Also, it attains a convergence time lower than the AM fairness algorithm by at least 7 times and the DBA fairness algorithm by at least 2 times in parking lot scenarios with greedy traffic demands.
The Impact of Leadership Styles and Leaders’ Competencies on Employees’ Job Satisfaction

Previous studies have documented the impact of leadership styles on employees’job satisfaction. Also, it has been found that leaders’ emotional intelligence plays a significant role in determining leadership styles and predicting employees’ job satisfaction. However, it is argued in this thesis that for leaders to be competent they need to possess a number of competencies not only emotional intelligence. It is against this backdrop that the present study was carried out. Specifically, this study aimed at investigating whether leadership style and leaders’ competencies influence employees’ job satisfaction. To this end, 233 respondents working in various organizations located in Saudi Arabia and Jordan were selected to participate in the study. Leadership style/behaviour was measured by the 20-item Leadership Style Questionnaire developed by Northouse (2001). This instrument has 10 items to measure task-oriented leadership style and 10 items relational/people-oriented leadership style.Leaders’ competencies were measured by the Eight Universal Management and Leadership Competencies in 18 Skill Sets developed by the Profile Service Centre. This instrument contains three items to measure communication, three items for leadership, two items for adaptability, two items for relationships, two items for task management, two items for production, two items for development of others, and two items to measure personal development. Job satisfaction was measured by using the 5-item questionnaire developed by Brayfield and Rothe(1951). The findings revealed that leadership style and leaders’ competencies were statistically and significantly related to overall job satisfaction. Leaders’competencies were found to be the best predictor of job satisfaction. Moreover, it is found that competencies (in addition to emotional intelligence) like communication skills, solving problems, listening effectively, processing information, motivating successfully, delegating responsibilities, building personal relationships, focusing on working efficiently, taking action, and achieving results have a significant effect on forming leadership styles.The limitations of this study and the recommendations for future research are also discussed.
The Oropharyngeal Airway in Young Adults with Skeletal Class II and Class III Deformities: A 3-D Morphometric Analysis

Objectives 1) To determine the accuracy and reliability of an automated anthropometric measurement software for the oropharyngeal airway and 2) To compare the anthropometric dimensions of the oropharyngeal airway in skeletal class II and III deformity patients. Methods Cone-beam CT (CBCT) scans of 62 patients with skeletal class II or III deformities were used for this study. Volumetric, linear and surface area measurements retroglossal (RG) and retropalatal (RP) compartments of the oropharyngeal airway was measured with the 3dMDVultus software. Accuracy of automated anthropometric pharyngeal airway measurements was assessed using an airway phantom. Results The software was found to be reasonably accurate for measuring dimensions of air passages. The total oropharyngeal volume was significantly greater in the skeletal class III deformity group (16.7 ± 9.04 mm3) compared with class II subjects (11.87 ± 4.01 mm3). The average surface area of both the RG and RP compartments were significantly larger in the class III deformity group. The most constricted area in the RG and RP airway was significantly larger in individuals with skeletal class III deformity. The anterior-posterior (AP) length of this constriction was significantly greater in skeletal class III individuals in both compartments, whereas the width of the constriction was not significantly different between the two groups in both compartments. The RP compartment was larger but less uniform than the RG compartment in both skeletal deformities. Conclusion Significant differences were observed in morphological characteristics of the oropharyngeal airway in individuals with skeletal class II and III deformities. This information may be valuable for surgeons in orthognathic treatment planning, especially for mandibular setback surgery that might compromise the oropharyngeal patency.
Comparaison des politiques de rmunration en fonction des stratgies organisationnelles

A fully automatic electronic milkshake mixer (10, FIG. 1) in which an operator sets scoop dial control (34, FIG. 1), based upon the number of scoops of ice-cream or related products placed in mixer cup. The mixer cup (28, FIG. 2) rotates automatically by motorized lower drive wheels (48, FIG. 1), and a top cup rim container guide/wheel assembly (54, FIG. 1) engages mixer cup upper lip (56, FIG. 2). Different sized mixer cups rotate perfectly, for faster, more complete mixing. The mixer automatically shifts from low to high speed (anti-splash feature), and turns off automatically when milkshake is done. A "ready" light (42, FIG. 1) illuminates, and a chime (68, FIG. 3) sounds-volume control and on/off being adjustable. "Manual" momentary pushbutton (32, FIG. 1) allows manual control of mixing speed and time, if desired, while cup rotates. For next milkshake, electronic mixer returns to fully automatic mode.
bmjupdates+, a new FREE service for evidence-based clinical practice†

The BMJ Publishing Group and the Health Information Research Unit at McMaster University are pleased to announce a new, advanced information service to support clinical practitioners to keep up to date and to find current best evidence for practice. The service, bmjupdates + (http://bmjupdates.com), has this goal: to provide clinical practitioners with the best new evidence concerning important advances in health care, exactly tailored to their interests . For a typical clinician, aiming to keep up with the most important “need to know” studies and reviews, bmjupdates+ uses a 2 step process (see figure below) to shrink about 50 000 articles per year in >100 clinical journals to the most important 1–2 articles per month, a “noise reduction” of over 99.9%. [][1] bmjupdates … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Presentation of an exogenous antigen by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) generally recognize peptides derived from endogenously expressed proteins in association with nascent major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. In contrast, peptides derived from exogenous proteins associate with MHC class II following endocytosis to an endosomal compartment. However, we have recently demonstrated that exogenous fusion proteins consisting of the binding and translocating domains of Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE) fused with CTL epitopes derived from either influenza matrix protein (PEMa) or nucleoprotein are internalized, processed, targeted to and presented by MHC class I (Donnelly et al. 1993, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1993. 90: 3530). PE is known to be internalized, processed in endosomes, and translocated to the cytosol during intoxication of cells. However, our present studies demonstrate that, unlike PE, PEMa does not require translocation to the cytosol to exert its effect. First, two inhibitors of PE toxicity that exert their effects at steps subsequent to endosomal processing had no effect on the sensitization of target cells for CTL‐mediated lysis by PEMa. NH4Cl, which inhibits PE by raising endosomal pH, and brefeldin A, which inhibits PE by disrupting the Golgi complex, did not inhibit sensitization of targets cells by PEMa. Second, PEMa was capable of sensitizing for lysis T2 mutant cells, which are defective in transport of peptides from the cytosol to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum for presentation by MHC class I. These results suggest that PEMa is proteolytically processed in endosomes, and association with MHC class I does not require nascent MHC molecules. Such a process may involve internalized MHC class I, and subsequent expression of the peptide‐MHC complexes on the cell surface would then lead to recognition by CTL.
Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx)‐related long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) down‐regulated expression by HBx (Dreh) inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis by targeting the intermediate filament protein vimentin

The hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) has been implicated as an oncogene in both epigenetic modifications and genetic regulation during hepatocarcinogenesis, but the underlying mechanisms are not entirely clear. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which regulate gene expression with little or no protein‐coding capacity, are involved in diverse biological processes and in carcinogenesis. We asked whether HBx could promote hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by regulating the expression of lncRNAs. In this study we investigated the alteration in expression of lncRNAs induced by HBx using microarrays and real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Our results indicate that HBx transgenic mice have a specific profile of liver lncRNAs compared with wildtype mice. We identified an lncRNA, down‐regulated expression by HBx (termed lncRNA‐Dreh), which can inhibit HCC growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo, act as a tumor suppressor in the development of hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐HCC. LncRNA‐Dreh could combine with the intermediate filament protein vimentin and repress its expression, and thus further change the normal cytoskeleton structure to inhibit tumor metastasis. We also identified a human ortholog RNA of Dreh (hDREH) and found that its expression level was frequently down‐regulated in HBV‐related HCC tissues in comparison with the adjacent noncancerous hepatic tissues, and its decrement significantly correlated with poor survival of HCC patients. Conclusion: These findings support a role of lncRNA‐Dreh in tumor suppression and survival prediction in HCC patients. This discovery contributes to a better understanding of the importance of the deregulated lncRNAs by HBx in HCC and provides a rationale for the potential development of lncRNA‐based targeted approaches for the treatment of HBV‐related HCC. (HEPATOLOGY 2013)
Temporal map formation in the barn owl's brain.

Barn owls provide an experimentally well-specified example of a temporal map, a neuronal representation of the outside world in the brain by means of time. Their laminar nucleus exhibits a place code of interaural time differences, a cue which is used to determine the azimuthal location of a sound stimulus, e.g., prey. We analyze a model of synaptic plasticity that explains the formation of such a representation in the young bird and show how in a large parameter regime a combination of local and nonlocal synaptic plasticity yields the temporal map as found experimentally. Our analysis includes the effect of nonlinearities as well as the influence of neuronal noise.
Thermal plasma treatment of stormwater sediments: comparison between DC non-transferred and partially transferred arc plasma

The disposal of enormous amount of stormwater sediments becomes an emerging worldwide problem. Stormwater sediments are contaminated by heavy metals, phosphorus, trace organic and hydrocarbons, and cannot be disposed without treatment. Thermal plasma decontamination technology offers a high decomposition rate in a wide range of toxic organic compound and immobilization of heavy metal. In this study, we compared the treatment results between two different modes of thermal plasma: (1) a non-transferred direct current (DC) mode and (2) a partial DC-transferred mode. The reductions of total organic carbon (TOC) were, respectively, 25% and 80% for non-transferred and partially transferred plasma, respectively. Most of the toxic organic compounds were converted majorly to CxHy. In the gaseous emission, the accumulated CxHy, CO, NO and H2S were significantly higher in partially transferred mode than in non-transferred mode. The solid analysis demonstrated that the concentrations of Ca and Fe were enriched by 500% and 40%, respectively. New chemical compositions such as KAlSi3O8, Fe3O4, NaCl and CaSO4 were formed after treatment in partially DC-transferred mode. The power inputs were 1 and 10 kW, respectively, for non-transferred DC mode and a partially DC-transferred mode. With a lower energy input, non-transferred plasma treatment can be used for decontamination of sediments with low TOC and metal concentration. Meanwhile, partially transferred thermal plasma with higher energy input is suitable for treating sediments with high TOC percentage and volatile metal concentration. The organic compounds are converted into valuable gaseous products which can be recycled as an energy source.
Investigating Molecular Profiles of Ovarian Cancer: An Update on Cancer Stem Cells

Currently we are more and more improving our knowledge about the characteristics and the role of cancer stem cells in human cancer. Particularly we have realized that self-renewing ovarian cancer stem cells (CSCs) or ovarian cancer-initiating cells, and mesenchymal stem cells (SCs) too, are probably implicated in the etiopathogenesis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). There is clear evidence that these cells are also involved in its intra- and extra-peritoneal diffusion and in the occurrence of chemo-resistance. In assessing the molecular characteristics of ovarian CSCs, we have to take note that these cellular populations are rare and the absence of specific cell surface markers represents a challenge to isolate and identify pure SC populations. In our review, we focused our attention on the molecular characteristics of epithelial ovarian CSCs and on the methods to detect them starting from their biological features. The study of ovarian CSCs is taking on an increasingly important strategic role, mostly for the potential therapeutic application in the next future.
Malnutrition-Inflammation Score Independently Determined Cardiovascular and Infection Risk in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Background: The malnutrition-inflammation score (MIS) is an indicator of malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome and an outcome predictor in maintenance hemodialysis patients. However, its utility in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and its association with the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) have not yet been examined. Methods: All chronic stable PD outpatients in the PD center of the National Taiwan University Hospital in January 2006 were studied and followed for up to 18 months. The baseline MIS and CCI at the beginning of the study and the dates and causes of mortality or hospitalization during the study period were obtained. Results: A total of 141 PD patients were enrolled. During the study period, 8 patients died and 40 patients had at least one fatal or nonfatal major cardiovascular or infection event. The CCI correlated positively and significantly with the MIS (r = +0.344, p < 0.001). The MIS and CCI were both independent predictors of cardiovascular and infection events in the multivariate Cox proportional hazard model. For every unit increase in the MIS, the adjusted hazard ratio for mortality was 1.177 (95% confidence interval, CI, 1.050–1.320, p = 0.005). For every unit increase in the CCI, the adjusted hazard ratio for mortality was 1.180 (95% CI, 1.046–1.330, p = 0.007). Conclusions: MIS can predict fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular and infection events in chronic stable PD patients. The CCI, which is closely associated with the MIS, is an independent determinant of cardiovascular and infection events as well. Interventional studies are indicated to confirm the utility of the MIS in PD populations who undergo nutritional or anti-inflammatory treatments.
Certifying Confluence of Almost Orthogonal CTRSs via Exact Tree Automata Completion

Suzuki et al. showed that properly oriented, right-stable, orthogonal, and oriented conditional term rewrite systems with extra variables in right-hand sides are confluent. We present our Isabelle/HOL formalization of this result, including two generalizations. On the one hand, we relax proper orientedness and orthogonality to extended proper orientedness and almost orthogonality modulo infeasibility, as suggested by Suzuki et al. On the other hand, we further loosen the requirements of the latter, enabling more powerful methods for proving infeasibility of conditional critical pairs. Furthermore, we formalized a construction by Jacquemard that employs exact tree automata completion for non-reachability analysis and apply it to certify infeasibility of conditional critical pairs. Combining these two results and extending the conditional confluence checker ConCon accordingly, we are able to automatically prove and certify confluence of an important class of conditional term rewrite systems.
A performance comparison of four supercomputers

"~tor superrs m a n u ~ non9mpanies the Fun'P-200, the Hitachi $810/20, and the NEC SX-2, which appeared as early as 1983. An early performance evaluation of the VP-200 and the $810/20, using benchmark codes designed to represent the Los A lamos National Laboratory (LANL) computing workload, showed that the VP-200 could be two to three times as fast as a single (9.5ns) CRAY X-Me/e4 processor for highly vectorized codes, although the scalar peoCormance of the two machines was comparable [51. The $810/20 did not peoCorm as well as the X-MP and the VP-200, largely because of a longer central processing unit (CPU) clock period and poorer scalar peoCormance. In 1985 and 1986 the LANL codes were used to test' the NEC SX-2, which executed "as fast or faster than any other existing single-processor" [6] computer. SX-2 performance on short vectors was 1.5 to 3 times that of a single (9.5ns) CRAY X-MP/48 processor, and 2 to 4 times that of the X-MP on longer vectors. Scalar performance of the SX-2 was comparable to that of the X-MP when the CRAY CFT77 compiler was used, and was twice as fast when the CRAY CFTI . 14 compiler was used [6]. The Hitachi $820/80, introduced in 1987 and regarded as a secondgeneration supercomputer, had essentially the same architecture as the $810/20, but used improved chip and wiring technology. Because of its improved clock rate, it performed almost twice as fast as the NEC SX-2 on highly vectorized codes in the LANL set [3], although its scalar performance was slightly worse than that of the SX-2 and about equal to that of a single CRAY X-MP/416 (8.5ns) processor. In this article we examine the performance of two more secondgeneration supercomputers, the Fujitsu VP2600 and the NEC SX-3, introduced in 1990. For comparison purposes, we include results obtained using a CRAY Y-MP and a CRAY Y-MP C90. The Y-MP was introduced by Cray Research, Inc. (CRI) in 1988 and a prototype was benchmarked by the Los Alamos group in 1988 [10]. The CRAY C-90, a successor to the Y-MP, was announced in November 1991, and was first benchmarked by Los Alamos that same month. Only singleprocessor results are discussed in this article.
Maternal transmission disequilibrium of the glutamate receptor GRIK2 in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is characterized by thought disorders, hallucinations and delusions. Genetic studies have shown a high linkage at chromosome 6q16-21. Among the genes located in this region is the glutamate receptor ionotropic kainate 2 gene (GRIK2 or GLUR6), a functional candidate for susceptibility to schizophrenia. In this study, transmission of GRIK2 was evaluated in 356 schizophrenic patients from three different clinical centers. Whereas paternal transmission shows equilibrium, we observed maternal transmission disequilibrium of GRIK2 in the largest population (p=0.03), which was still significant when all populations were added (p=0.05). These results are similar to the maternal GRIK2 transmission disequilibrium previously reported for autism, and support the presence of a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia at 6q16.