Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationship between pre-hospital and emergency department Glasgow coma scale scores

Introduction : Pre-hospital GCS scores are used to make critical patient care decisions and to fill in gaps in hospital-based TBI surveillance, but they may not be accurate. Objective : To determine the relationship between pre-hospital (EMS-GCS) and emergency physician GCS scores (ED-GCS). Methods :Prospective observational study of 60 TBI patients with a field GCS of 8-13 and age > 18. ED-GCS, EMS-GCS, time of GCS and vitals signs were recorded. Analysis : Simple and multiple linear regression. Results : The median EMS-GCS was 13 and that for ED-GCS was 15. There was a significant linear relationship between ED-GCS and EMS-GCS (r = 0.45, p = 0.003). There was improvement in the prediction of ED-GCS when alcohol/drug use and age (but not time) were added to EMS-GCS. Conclusion : EMS-GCS is usually two points lower than ED-GCS, but the correlation between them is strong and independent of the time between score determinations. These results could prevent unnecessary procedures based on the EMS-GCS and improve the accuracy of TBI surveillance.
Performance modeling and evaluation for 10G-EPON systems

A passive optical network (PON) system is a cost-effective broadband access system whose use has been spreading worldwide. A key device in such a system is an optical receiver IC with a quick response and high sensitivity that realizes high efficiency in data transmission. This paper also reports burst-mode optical receiver ICs fabricated using 0.25 μm SiGe BiCMOS technologies for a 10G-EPON system, which is a promising access network for a next generation PON system. The results show that SiGe BiCMOS can provide high performance and cost effective receiver ICs for 10G-class PON systems. We use Performance Evaluation Process Algebra (PEPA) to evaluate a typical PON system's performance. The approach is more convenient, flexible, and lower cost than the former simulation method which needs develop special hardware and software tools. Moreover, we can easily analysis how changes in performance depend on changes in a particular modes by supplying ranges for parameter values.
Effects of heterogeneous risk factors on psychological distress in adolescents with autism and victimization experiences in Taiwan

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of various types of bullying victimization among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and examine the effects of victimization on the mental health of adolescents with ASD. Methods: The sample was collected from the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study (SNELS) database released in 2011. Variables comprising seven psychological distress (PD) items and four types of bullying victimization and family-, school-, and peer-related factors were included in a multivariate regression analysis. Results: Exclusion and verbal bullying were most frequently reported, 72.4% of students with ASD experiencing exclusion bullying and 66% of them experiencing verbal bullying. Among the victims, delayed bedtime, use of medication, and conflicts with parents significantly increased PD. By contrast, good relationships with parents and friends and liking school environments relieved PD symptoms. Furthermore, delayed bedtime after 12 a.m. enhanced the effects of exclusion victimization on PD in the participants. Conclusions: Our results indicated that bullying victimization among adolescents with ASD was a risk factor for their psychological well-being. Nevertheless, good parent–adolescent and interpeer relationships improved their mental health. Our results can serve as a reference in implementing strategies for motivating parents and teachers to pay more attention to the needs of adolescents with ASD. Implications for Rehabilitation More than 80% of adolescents with autism experience at least one type of bullying victimization. Bullying victimization attributes to a major factor influencing mental health of adolescents with autism. Good parent–adolescent and interpeer relationships can play beneficial roles in improving mental health of the adolescents.
Binge‐like postnatal alcohol exposure triggers cortical gliogenesis in adolescent rats

The long‐term effects of binge‐like postnatal alcohol exposure on cell proliferation and differentiation in the adolescent rat neocortex were examined. Unlike the hippocampal dentate gyrus, where proliferation of progenitors results primarily in addition of granule cells in adulthood, the vast majority of newly generated cells in the intact mature rodent neocortex appear to be glial cells. The current study examined cytogenesis in the motor cortex of adolescent and adult rats that were exposed to 5.25 g/kg/day of alcohol on postnatal days (PD) 4–9 in a binge manner. Cytogenesis was examined at PD50 (through bromodeoxyuridine [BrdU] labeling) and survival of these newly generated cells was evaluated at PD80. At PD50, significantly more BrdU‐positive cells were present in the motor cortex of alcohol‐exposed rats than controls. Confocal analysis revealed that the majority (>60%) of these labeled cells also expressed NG2 chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (NG2 glia). Additionally, survival of these newly generated cortical cells was affected by neonatal alcohol exposure, based on the greater reduction in the number of BrdU‐labeled cells from PD50 to PD80 in the alcohol‐exposed animals compared to controls. These findings demonstrate that neonatal alcohol exposure triggers an increase in gliogenesis in the adult motor cortex. J. Comp. Neurol. 514:259–271, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Space-Time Quantization and Motion-Aligned Reconstruction for Block-Based Compressive Video Sensing

The Compressive Video Sensing (CVS) is a useful technology for wireless systems requiring simple encoders but handling more complex decoders, and its rate-distortion performance is highly affected by the quantization of measurements and reconstruction of video frame, which motivates us to presents the Space-Time Quantization (ST-Q) and Motion-Aligned Reconstruction (MA-R) in this paper to both improve the performance of CVS system. The ST-Q removes the space-time redundancy in the measurement vector to reduce the amount of bits required to encode the video frame, and it also guarantees a low quantization error due to the fact that the high frequency of small values close to zero in the predictive residuals limits the intensity of quantizing noise. The MA-R constructs the Multi-Hypothesis (MH) matrix by selecting the temporal neighbors along the motion trajectory of current to-be-reconstructed block to improve the accuracy of prediction, and besides it reduces the computational complexity of motion estimation by the extraction of static area and 3-D Recursive Search (3DRS). Extensive experiments validate that the significant improvements is achieved by ST-Q in the rate-distortion as compared with the existing quantization methods, and the MA-R improves both the objective and the subjective quality of the reconstructed video frame. Combined with ST-Q and MA-R, the CVS system obtains a significant rate-distortion performance gain when compared with the existing CS-based video codecs.
Hydroxy‐Safflower Yellow A inhibits the TNFR1‐Mediated Classical NF‐κB Pathway by Inducing Shedding of TNFR1

Hydroxy‐safflower yellow A (HSYA) is the major active component of safflower, a traditional Asia herbal medicine well known for its cardiovascular protective activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of HSYA on TNF‐α‐induced inflammatory responses in arterial endothelial cells (AECs) and to explore the mechanisms involved. The results showed that HSYA suppressed the up‐regulation of ICAM‐1 expression in TNF‐α‐stimulated AECs in a dose‐dependent manner. High concentration (120 μM) HSYA significantly inhibited the TNF‐α‐induced adhesion of RAW264.7 cells to AECs. HSYA blocked the TNFR1‐mediated phosphorylation and degradation of IκBα and also prevented the nuclear translocation of NF‐κB p65. Moreover, HSYA reduced the cell surface level of TNFR1 and increased the content of sTNFR1 in the culture media. TNF‐α processing inhibitor‐0 (TAPI‐0) prevented the HSYA inhibition of TNFR1‐induced IκBα degradation, implying the occurrence of TNFR1 shedding. Furthermore, HSYA induced phosphorylation of TNF‐α converting enzyme (TACE) at threonine 735, which is thought to be required for its activation. Conclusively, HSYA suppressed TNF‐α‐induced inflammatory responses in AECs, at least in part by inhibiting the TNFR1‐mediated classical NF‐κB pathway. TACE‐mediated TNFR1 shedding can be involved in this effect. Our study provides new evidence for the antiinflammatory and anti‐atherosclerotic effects of HSYA. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Knowledge of Stroke Risk, Signs of Stroke, and the Need for Stroke Education among Children with Sickle Cell Disease and their Caregivers

Objectives : This study assessed stroke knowledge and the need for stroke education among children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and their caregivers. Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted and includes: (1) structured interviews of 44 children with SCD and their 50 caregivers, and (2) a self-administered survey completed by medical directors of 22 SCD centers. The participants were interviewed regarding stroke knowledge and stroke educational materials. Results : Among the caregivers, only 34% named stroke as a complication associated with SCD, 36% were aware that their children were at higher risk, and 46% were not able to identify any warning signs of stroke. Only 11% of the children could accurately describe a stroke. Although 82% of the medical directors provided stroke information to caregivers, only 50% provided stroke educational materials to children. Caregivers and children were interested in receiving information about stroke. The preferred format for the educational material was a pamphlet for adults and a video for the children. Conclusions : Children with SCD, caregivers, and healthcare providers need and desire educational materials about stroke. Educational materials to improve knowledge about stroke may be an important strategy to increase completion of stroke screening tests.
Visual target detection is impaired at event boundaries

Boundaries between meaningful events are key moments in comprehending human action. At these points, viewers may focus on the event's contents at the expense of other information. We tested whether visual detection was impaired at those moments perceivers judged to be boundaries between events. Short animated football clips were used as stimulus material, and event boundaries were imposed by having the ball change possession. In a first experiment, we found that possession changes were perceived to be event boundaries. In a second experiment, participants were asked to keep track of 4 of 10 players and to watch for 120 ms probes appearing either at an event boundary or a nonboundary. Probe detection was less accurate at event boundaries. This result suggests that the segmentation of ongoing activity into events corresponds with the regulation of attention over time.
Market share and cash policy

This study analyses the impact of market share on corporate cash policy in a static as well as a dynamic framework. Using a panel data set of large firms in 14 European countries, we show that firms with high market share tend to have lower cash holdings. This relationship between market share and cash policy is most apparent when predation risk, measured using either the similarity of a firm’s technology with its industry counterparts or market concentration, is high. Since the precautionary motive can be expected to be more relevant in a competitive environment, due to higher predatory risk, our results strongly attribute to the understanding of the relevance of the precautionary motive in a firm’s cash policy. JEL classification: D21; G31; G32; L11
Pharmacological Characteristics of Alpha‐2 Adrenergic Receptor Subtypes

The adrenergic receptor family has three main members: alpha-1, alpha-2, and beta receptor types. Each of these three types contains three or more subtypes. There are currently four pharmacological (2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D) and three molecular (or genetic) alpha-2 adrenergic subtypes (2A/D, 2B, and 2C). Because different functions are likely to be mediated by different subtypes, much effort is being directed towards understanding the physiological roles of the various subtypes. However, little is currently known about the specific function mediated by the various subtypes.
BRAND PLACEMENT AND CONSUMER CHOICE : AN IN -

An in-store experiment was performed to investigate the effects of shelf placement (high, middle, low) on consumers’ purchases of potato chips. Placement of potato chips on the middle shelf was associated with the highest percentage of purchases. The results confirm the importance of item placement as a factor in consumers’ buying behavior. DESCRIPTORS: consumer behavior, experimental marketing, in-store experiments, shelf placement _______________________________________________________________________________
Exchange Rate Constants of Invisible Protons in Proteins Determined by NMR Spectroscopy

Although labile protons that are exchanging rapidly with those of the solvent cannot be observed directly, their exchange rate constants can be determined by indirect detection of scalar‐coupled neighboring nuclei. We have used heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy to measure the exchange rate constants of labile protons in the side chains of lysine and arginine residues in ubiquitin enriched in carbon‐13 and nitrogen‐15 at neutral pH. Exchange rate constants as fast as 40×103 s−1 were thus measured. These results demonstrate that NMR spectroscopy is a powerful tool for the characterization of lysine NH3+ and arginine NH groups in proteins at physiologically relevant pH values.
Culture Management in the UK Rail Industry

Organisational safety culture matters because it influences the way staff behave and perform at work. The importance of proactive safety culture management is highlighted by the number of major incidents where poor safety culture has been identified as a causal factor (e.g. Piper Alpha, Ladbroke Grove). As awareness of culture management has grown, organisations are increasingly seeking tools to help them ensure that corporate safety objectives are linked to a strategy for encouraging appropriate staff attitudes and beliefs. The CAS Organisational Safety Culture Analysis (OSCA) is a structured process that helps senior management teams define the safety culture that they need, measure how effectively this culture is embedded within their organisation and identify culture development priorities. This paper outlines the OSCA process and includes a case study describing how a UK rail organisation has made use of OSCA. (6 pages)
Abortive translation caused by peptidyl‐tRNA drop‐off at NGG codons in the early coding region of mRNA

In Escherichia coli the codons CGG, AGG, UGG or GGG (NGG codons) but not GGN or GNG (where N is non‐G) are associated with low expression of a reporter gene, if located at positions +2 to +5. Induction of a lacZ reporter gene with any one of the NGG codons at position +2 to +5 does not influence growth of a normal strain, but growth of a strain with a defective peptidyl‐tRNA hydrolase (Pth) enzyme is inhibited. The same codons, if placed at position +7, did not give this effect. Other codons, such as CGU and AGA, at location +2 to +5, did not give any growth inhibition of either the wild‐type or the mutant strain. The inhibitory effect on the pth mutant strain by NGG codons at location +5 was suppressed by overexpression of the Pth enzyme from a plasmid. However, the overexpression of cognate tRNAs for AGG or GGG did not rescue from the growth inhibition associated with these codons early in the induced model gene. The data suggest that the NGG codons trigger peptidyl‐tRNA drop‐off if located at early coding positions in mRNA, thereby strongly reducing gene expression. This does not happen if these codons are located further down in the mRNA at position +7, or later.
Th1 and Th2 cytokines in mice with invasive aspergillosis

With a murine model of invasive aspergillosis we investigated cytokine production by CD4+ T helper cells and the effects of cytokine administration or neutralization on the course and outcome of infection. Patterns of susceptibility and resistance to infection were obtained with different strains of mice injected with different inocula of Aspergillus fumigatus conidia. Mice surviving the primary infection also resisted a subsequent lethal infection that was associated with production of gamma interferon by CD4+ T splenocytes. Impaired neutrophil antifungal activity, observed in susceptible mice, was concomitant with a predominant production of interleukin-4 (IL-4) by CD4+ splenocytes. In these mice, exogenous administration of IL-12 failed to induce resistance to infection; in contrast, treatment with soluble IL-4 receptor cured more than 70% of the mice from primary infection and resulted in the onset of acquired resistance to a subsequent lethal infection. These findings indicate that in murine invasive aspergillosis, production of IL-4 by CD4+ T cells may be one major factor discriminating susceptibility and resistance to infection.
Corporate Equity Ownership and Expected Stock Returns

We investigate the cross-sectional predictive relations between stock returns of two public firms with one firm, the parent, owning partial equity of the other, the subsidiary. We find that high past returns of the subsidiary (parent) predict high future returns of the parent (subsidiary). The subsidiary-to-parent predictability does not exist before the ownership is established, remains intact after controlling for a variety of stock characteristics, and is stronger among stocks with higher barriers to arbitrage and lower degree of investor attention. The parent-to-subsidiary predictability is, however, unlikely to be caused by corporate equity ownership, but by other forces such as the industry lead-lag effects.
Structure of PolC reveals unique DNA binding and fidelity determinants

PolC is the polymerase responsible for genome duplication in many Gram-positive bacteria and represents an attractive target for antibacterial development. We have determined the 2.4-Å resolution crystal structure of Geobacillus kaustophilus PolC in a ternary complex with DNA and dGTP. The structure reveals nascent base pair interactions that lead to highly accurate nucleotide incorporation. A unique β-strand motif in the PolC thumb domain contacts the minor groove, allowing replication errors to be sensed up to 8 nt upstream of the active site. PolC exhibits the potential for large-scale conformational flexibility, which could encompass the catalytic residues. The structure suggests a mechanism by which the active site can communicate with the rest of the replisome to trigger proofreading after nucleotide misincorporation, leading to an integrated model for controlling the dynamic switch between replicative and repair polymerases. This ternary complex of a cellular replicative polymerase affords insights into polymerase fidelity, evolution, and structural diversity.
Methotrexate therapy for refractory chronic active autoimmune hepatitis

Chronic autoantibody-negative autoimmune hepatitis is a recognized clinical variant of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) (1). Patterns of response to corticosteroid therapy, relapse after withdrawal, and remission after therapy appear to be similar in AIH patients with or without positive autoantibody serologies (1). Standard treatment regimens for AIH include the purine analog azathioprine for steroid sparing (2). A variety of immunosuppressive medications have been used in nonrandomized fashion for patients who are intolerant of or unresponsive to azathioprine. Methotrexate, an antimetabolite that interferes with DNA synthesis, appears to have immunomodulatory properties. It has been used in patients with cholestatic liver diseases and granulomatous hepatitis (3, 4); however, there is only one published report of its use in AIH (5). We report on a patient with chronic autoantibody-negative AIH who had multiple relapses on steroid therapy and was allergic to azathioprine. Sustained response in terms of liver chemistries and histology was noted with methotrexate therapy. No adverse effects were noted. Methotrexate should be considered as an alternate steroid-sparing immunosuppressive agent in patients with AIH.
Corporate social responsibility and SMEs: exploratory study on dynamics of corporate and stakeholders perspective in Sports Goods Industry Meerut.

Business is increasingly forming societal values and norms and defining public policy and practice. With raising awareness business are requested by their customers, clients, shareholders and other parties of interest to account for their activities on the global scale in a transparent way. The whole issue of socially responsible business is based on the premise that companies have the right to choose. In this context there is a need to distinguish between philanthropy and compliance to labor and environmental standards. The adoption of standards may be either voluntary or compulsory in a given social, political and economic environment. The codes on labor standards developed by FIFA and the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industries (WFSGI), which are based on the relevant ILO conventions, look for creating a level playing field for all the traders of sporting goods in the international market. FIFA in its license agreements with companies has included a clause on child labour prohibition, as well as the broader model code of conduct of the WFSGI and the ILO declaration on "Fundamental Principles and Rights” at Work. The past reports on Sports goods industry by Christian aid society in collaboration with South Asian coalition against child servitude 1997 highlighting the situation of working children in Jalandhar and Meerut based SGI, world cup 2002 global march to protest on the use of child labour in the sports goods industry, and the study funded by ILO-IPEC and FICCI in 1998 on Jalandhar (football) are suggestive of –that ‘passing the responsibility is no longer an option’. How the SGI Meerut defines Corporate Responsibility? What initiatives it is taking for being socially responsible? Does the industry have achieved a balance in its economical, environmental and ecological dimensions or the triple bottom line? Is SGI Meerut managing business processes to add social, environmental and economical value in order to produce a positive sustainable impact for both society and the business? What is the tendency of business involvement in societal issues (in context to SGI Meerut)? What is the role of business in society (in context to SGI Meerut)? Do the tendency and role of business toward society have congruence when compared and also is it affected by the ownership patterns? CSR is dependent on which elements in SGI Meerut? Is SGI Meerut aware of the fact that there is a need to distinguish between philanthropy and compliance to labour and environmental standards? Does the SGI Meerut have developed strategies for CSR?