Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of high-efficiency particulate air filtration on mortality and fungal infection among highly immunosuppressed patients: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND Patients with hematological malignancies who are treated with intensive chemotherapy or who receive bone marrow transplants are exposed to an increased risk of developing nosocomial fungal infections. The aim of this systematic review was to compare the effectiveness of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration with that of non-HEPA filtration in decreasing the rates of mortality and fungal infection among patients with diagnosed hematological malignancies and neutropenia or among patients with bone marrow transplants. METHODS Articles identified in a Medline search, guidelines, and books, as well as the bibliographies of review articles, monographs, and the articles identified by Medline, were researched. Randomized trials and observational studies comparing HEPA filtration with conventional room ventilation were selected for inclusion in the present review. RESULTS Sixteen trials (9 with death as an outcome and 10 with fungal infection as an outcome) that compared HEPA filtration with non-HEPA filtration were selected for meta-analyses. We discovered no significant advantages of HEPA filtration in the prevention of death among patients with hematological malignancies with severe neutropenia in randomized controlled trials (RCTs; relative risk [RR], 0.86 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.65-1.14]) and in studies of a lower standard (non-RCTs; RR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.60-1.25]). CONCLUSIONS The placement in protected areas of patients with hematological malignancies with severe neutropenia or patients with bone marrow transplants appears to be beneficial, but no definitive conclusion could be drawn from the data available.
Graph and network algorithms

Graphs provide a powerful tool to model objects and relationships among objects. The study of graphs dates back to Euler’s days in the 18th century, when he defined the Konigsberg bridge problem, and since then has been pursued by many researchers. Specifically, graphs can be used to model problems in many areas such as transportation, scheduling, networks, robotics, VLSI, compilers, mathematical biology, and software engineering. Many optimization problems from these and other diverse areas can be phrased in graph-theoretic terms, leading to algorithmic questions about graphs.
Job Applicants' Information Privacy-Protective Response: Exploring the Roles of Technology Readiness and Trust

Firms need to acquire a wealth of information about job applicants prior to offering employment. However, the recruitment process in most firms is plagued by rising personal privacy concerns. This article draws upon the socio-cognitive theory of trust to understand the interconnected relationships among technology readiness, disposition to trust HR professionals, institutional-based trust and information privacy-protective response. The conceptual model argues that job applicants’ responses to privacy protection is determined by their trust disposition on HR professionals and social networking sites and personalities toward social technologies. The model was tested with U.S. students using a job recruitment related scenario. The results provide an understanding of how job applicants respond to the privacy issue, and shed some light on the role of technology readiness and trust dispositions. This should help human resource professionals improve the recruitment process for hiring employees with perspectives that are consistent with organizational interest and culture.
A multicentre, open, non‐comparative phase II study of a combination of fludarabine phosphate, cytarabine and granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor in relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukaemia and de novo refractory anaemia with excess of blasts in transformation

The primary objective of this study was to determine the complete remission (CR) rate achieved with the FLAG (fludarabine phosphate, cytarabine and granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor) regimen in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) or de novo refractory anaemia with excess of blasts in transformation (RAEB‐t). Secondary objectives were to evaluate survival and toxicity. Induction treatment consisted of between one and two courses of FLAG. Patients achieving CR received between one and two courses of consolidation treatment. Eighty‐three of the 89 patients entering the study were eligible for assessment. CR rates were: 17 out of 21 (81%) in late relapse AML (Group 1), 13 out of 44 (30%) in early relapse/refractory AML (Group 2), and 10 out of 18 (56%) in de novo RAEB‐t (Group 3). Thirty‐four of the 40 responders (85%) achieved CR after one induction course. Median survival times were 1·4 years, 3 months and 1·6 years in Groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Other than myelosuppression, the FLAG regimen was not generally associated with clinically significant toxicity and was well tolerated by most patients including the elderly. The FLAG regimen offers a very effective alternative treatment for CR induction in poor prognosis adult patients with either relapsed or refractory AML or de novo RAEB‐t. FLAG delivers high‐dose treatment without increasing overall toxicity, an approach which is of particular value in older patients, who constitute the majority in these diseases. It is therefore an important advance in developing new treatment options for these patients.
Control of the Ciliary Beat by Cyclic Nucleotides in Intact Cortical Sheets from Paramecium

Abstract The locomotor behavior of Paramecium depends on the ciliary beat direction and beat frequency. Changes in the ciliary beat are controlled by a signal transduction mechanism that follows changes in the membrane potential. These events take place in cilia covered with a ciliary membrane. To determine the effects of second messengers in the cilia, cortical sheets were used with intact ciliary membrane as a half-closed system in which each cilium is covered with a ciliary membrane with an opening to the cell body. Cyclic nucleotides and their derivatives applied from an opening to the cell body affected the ciliary beat. cAMP and 8-Br-cAMP increased the beat frequency and the efficiency of propulsion and acted antagonistically to the action of Ca2+. cGMP and 8-Br-cGMP increased the efficiency of propulsion accompanying clear metachronal waves but decreased the beat frequency. These results indicate that the cyclic nucleotides affect target proteins in the ciliary axonemes surrounded by the ciliary membrane without a membrane potential and increase the efficiency of propulsion of the ciliary beat. In vitro phosphorylation of isolated ciliary axonemes in the presence of cyclic nucleotides and their derivatives revealed that the action of cAMP was correlated with the phosphorylation of 29-kDa and 65-kDa proteins and that the action of cGMP was correlated with the phosphorylation of a 42-kDa protein.
Experiencia educativa en España desarrollando la cognición instruccional positiva

La presente comunicacion expone la aplicacion en Espana del programa CIP, basado en la Cognicion Instruccional Positiva (CIP), propuesta fundamentada en los enfoques psicologicos de Viktor Frankl (orientacion existencial del sentido de la vida) y de Martin Seligman (Psicologia Positiva), y en la educacion integral de la persona. La CIP desarrolla las tres dimensiones de las competencias vitales de esta formacion integral (Saber, Saber hacer y Saber ser) proponiendo un esquema de trabajo en cinco niveles: Analisis del problema, Expresion y reconocimiento emocional, Autoconocimiento, Reflexion y Bienestar. En primer lugar, presentamos los objetivos del programa CIP: el desarrollo de las competencias vitales, incrementando la tendencia al agradecimiento, la capacidad de perdonar y las fortalezas personales, aumentando de esta manera el bienestar o felicidad; mostrar su desarrollo segun las variables evolutivas (nivel academico) de los sujetos y observar las interrelaciones entre las variables estudiadas. En la segunda parte presentamos la implementacion del programa y los resultados del cambio en las dimensiones evaluadas. Y terminamos con las conclusiones extraidas de la investigacion y las posibles perspectivas futuras del programa.
Visual attention problems as a predictor of vehicle crashes in older drivers.

PURPOSE To identify visual factors that are significantly associated with increased vehicle crashes in older drivers. METHODS Several aspects of vision and visual information processing were assessed in 294 drivers aged 55 to 90 years. The sample was stratified with respect to age and crash frequency during the 5-year period before the test date. Variables assessed included eye health status, visual sensory function, the size of the useful field of view, and cognitive status. Crash data were obtained from state records. RESULTS The size of the useful field of view, a test of visual attention, had high sensitivity (89%) and specificity (81%) in predicting which older drivers had a history of crash problems. This level of predictability is unprecedented in research on crash risk in older drivers. Older adults with substantial shrinkage in the useful field of view were six times more likely to have incurred one or more crashes in the previous 5-year period. Eye health status, visual sensory function, cognitive status, and chronological age were significantly correlated with crashes, but were relatively poor at discriminating between crash-involved versus crash-free drivers. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that policies that restrict driving privileges based solely on age or on common stereotypes of age-related declines in vision and cognition are scientifically unfounded. With the identification of a visual attention measure highly predictive of crash problems in the elderly, this study points to a way in which the suitability of licensure in the older adult population could be based on objective, performance-based criteria.
Confirmation of Low-Titer, Herpes Simplex Virus-Positive Specimen Results by the Enzyme-Linked Virus-Inducible System (ELVIS) Using PCR and Repeat Testing

ABSTRACT The ELVIS HSV Id test kit (an enzyme-linked virus-inducible system) (Diagnostic Hybrids, Inc.) uses genetically engineered BHK cells to produce a detectable enzyme, beta-galactosidase, upon infection with either herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 (HSV-1) or HSV-2. Twenty six ELVIS-positive clinical specimens were selected for study by PCR and with monoclonal antibodies because they were originally low-titer HSV-positive specimens by ELVIS but HSV antibody nonreactive upon follow-up staining of the ELVIS monolayer. Twenty-one of 26 specimens were frozen, thawed, and retested with ELVIS without removing the cellular debris from the specimen; 18 were ELVIS positive and 3 were ELVIS negative on retesting. A typing result was provided upon retesting for 14 of 18 ELVIS-positive specimens (11 were HSV-1 and 3 were HSV-2) with HSV-specific monoclonal antibodies; no antibody signal was observed for 4 of 18 ELVIS-positive specimens. Sixteen of 26 specimens were subjected to blinded PCR analysis with two different primer sets, including all those that were repeat tested with ELVIS without success and those that had insufficient quantity for repeat testing. All 16 specimens analyzed were PCR positive with primer set 1; 15 of 16 were also positive with primer set 2, with the HSV type identified for all specimens (7 were HSV-1 and 8 were HSV-2). These results indicate that the original ELVIS result with these low-titer specimens was correct and further confirm the sensitivity and specificity of ELVIS HSV Id as a rapid, cell culture-based kit for the detection of HSV.
The Origin of Certainty in Lacan’s Seminar XI

I would like to dedicate this essay to the Rochester Lacanian Cartel, including, among others, Ted Lechman, Antonio Garcia (the organizer of the 2012 conference for the International Journal of Žižek Studies), David White of St. John Fisher College, and our “Plus One,” Dan Collins. Portions of this essay first appeared in my posts to our on-line discussions, and the essay would have been impossible were it not for the significant insight of all of these participants, both in person and over the internet.
Consistency and Confoundings: Reply to Slamecka

Two issues are discussed. First, the vertical comparison method favored by Slamecka (1985) is subject to scaling problems that yield inconsistent conclusions, both within and across experiments. The existence of such inconsistencies is illustrated with data drawn from the literature, and the reason for such inconsistencies is illustrated with a hypothetical example. The second issue involves confoundings. Slamecka (1985) notes that the horizontal comparison method requires that degree of learning be confounded with list age. Similarly, the vertical comparison method requires that degree of learning be confounded with the performance level over which forgetting is assessed. The confounding noted by Slamecka is identified with a potential failure of Loftus's (1985) assumption that equal levels of performance imply identical states of the cognitive system. In situations where this assumption does fail, forgetting of high-learning and low-learning lists must occur for qualitatively different reasons, and any comparison of forgetting curves is therefore inappropriate unless made within the context of a strong theory.
UNA PROPUESTA PARA EL ANÁLISIS DEL FENÓMENO DE SACIEDAD SENSORIAL ESPECÍFICA 1 A proposal for the analysis of the sensory specific satiety phenomenon

RESUMEN Estudios experimentales han demostrado que los organismos tienden a ingerir mayores cantidades de alimento cuando sus componentes poseen propiedades sensoriales distintas, fenomeno conocido como saciedad sensorial especifica. Las interpretaciones que se hacen del fenomeno carecen de bases teoricas firmes y de rigor cientifico. Cabe hacer notar que existen dos diferentes efectos funcionales de estimulacion que producen los alimentos: sensorial y emocional. Estas variables se encuentran en constante interaccion, lo cual afecta la conducta ingestiva de los organismos. La teoria del reforzamiento condicionado asume la interaccion entre las propiedades sensoriales y emocionales de los estimulos, y plantea que las primeras pueden presentar propiedades similares a las segundas por medio de su presentacion en contiguidad. En el presente texto se propone que dicha teoria puede explicar el fenomeno, al tiempo que se sugieren algunas alternativas para un estudio mas eficiente de los eventos y un analisis mas fino de los datos generados. Indicadores: Saciedad sensorial especifica; Reforzamiento condicionado; Motivacion; Conducta alimentaria; Trastornos de alimentacion.
Linking genomics and population genetics with R

Population genetics and genomics have developed and been treated as independent fields of study despite having common roots. The continuous progress of sequencing technologies is contributing to (re‐)connect these two disciplines. We review the challenges faced by data analysts and software developers when handling very big genetic data sets collected on many individuals. We then expose how r, as a computing language and development environment, proposes some solutions to meet these challenges. We focus on some specific issues that are often encountered in practice: handling and analysing single‐nucleotide polymorphism data, handling and reading variant call format files, analysing haplotypes and linkage disequilibrium and performing multivariate analyses. We illustrate these implementations with some analyses of three recently published data sets that contain between 60 000 and 1 000 000 loci. We conclude with some perspectives on future developments of r software for population genomics.
An Empathic Virtual Buddy for Social Support

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in employing Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) as companions or coaches. These roles are typically performed by humans and require exhibiting certain social behaviors, such as providing social support. For interactions between users and coaching or companion ECAs to become truly social, providing social support is one of the tasks these agents should be able to perform. Social support can be defined as alleviating the emotional distress of another person. This thesis proposes a design for an 'empathic virtual buddy' that provides social support to victims of cyberbullying. It presents the underlying principles and an architecture for a prototype system, and provides both a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the support conveyed by the empathic virtual buddy prototype.
Copper Toxicity and Lipid Peroxidation in Isolated Rat Hepatocytes: Effect of Vitamin E

ABSTRACT: We investigated the role of lipid peroxidation as the mechanism mediating copper toxicity in isolated rat hepatocytes and the modulating effect of vitamin E. Hepatocytes, isolated from rats fed diets containing deficient (E—), sufficient (E+), and excess (E++) amounts of vitamin E, were incubated with CuCl2 (0-2400 μM) for 150 min. Dose and time-dependent decreases in hepatocyte viability (determined by trypan blue exclusion and lactate dehydrogenase release) due to copper toxicity correlated with production of malonyldialdehyde in E - and E+ hepatocytes. However, malonyldialdehyde generation did not accompany copper toxicity in E++ cells. Copper toxicity was enhanced in E— compared to E+ and E++ hepatocytes as assessed by cell viability studies and ultrastructural plasma membrane bleb formation. In vitro vitamin E repletion of E— hepatocytes restored resistance to copper and decreased malonyldialdehyde production proportionately. Thus vitamin E deficiency appeared to increase the susceptibility of hepatocytes to copper toxicity. We conclude that lipid peroxidation may not be the mechanism by which copper is toxic to isolated hepatocytes but that the site of injury may be thiol-rich cellular proteins.
Measurement and characterization of hot carrier safe operating area (HCI-SOA) in 24V n-type lateral DMOS transistors

Due to strong demand on smart-power technologies, LDMOS device has been widely used because of its compatibility with standard CMOS process. For most fabrication companies, this is an attractive reason to extend the existing technology applications. However, the device is vulnerable to hot carrier (HCI) damage. SOA in HCI is one of the major criteria to address the concern in LDMOS device design. There are a lot of reliability studies focusing on the HCI failure mechanism but not many literatures available on SOA characterization. This paper will focus on the HCI-SOA test methodology and characterization for n-type LDMOS device by adopting the conventional CMOS HCI test method. This will be a useful guideline for the industry on the device characterization process.
Collapse of the California Current During Glacial Maxima Linked to Climate Change on Land

Time series of alkenone unsaturation indices gathered along the California margin reveal large (4° to 8°C) glacial-interglacial changes in sea surface temperature (SST) over the past 550,000 years. Interglacial times with SSTs equal to or exceeding that of the Holocene contain peak abundances in the pollen of redwood, the distinctive component of the temperate rainforest of the northwest coast of California. In the region now dominated by the California Current, SSTs warmed 10,000 to 15,000 years in advance of deglaciation at each of the past five glacial maxima. SSTs did not rise in advance of deglaciation south of the modern California Current front. Glacial warming along the California margin therefore is a regional signal of the weakening of the California Current during times when large ice sheets reorganized wind systems over the North Pacific. Both the timing and magnitude of the SST estimates suggest that the Devils Hole (Nevada) calcite record represents regional but not global paleotemperatures, and hence does not pose a fundamental challenge to the orbital (“Milankovitch”) theory of the Ice Ages.
Isolation of acetylcholine receptors.

When ACh acts in an excitatory way, it increases the conductance of a post-synaptic membrane for Na+ and K+, leading to membrane depolariza­ tion. We shall use the term acetylcholine receptor (AChR) for those ma­ cromolecules involved in this transduction that bear the recognition site( s) for ACh and other cholinergic ligands. It is now widely believed that cho­ linergic receptors can be isolated, using techniques that parallel those em­ ployed by enzymologists. Early attempts (1-4) failed because it was not recognized that isolated receptors must possess rather precisely specified properties. These earlier attempts were thoroughly reviewed (5-9), there­ fore we shall restrict our treatment of the subject to current attempts. The key to the problem is the discovery of the right indices to follow as purification proceeds. Enzymologists can follow the catalytic activity in the various fractions they isolate. Receptologists have no such single index. In­ stead they must search for macromolecules that bind correct (but not incor­ rect) ligands with the correct affinity and correct reversibility, and that are present only in the appropriate amount in appropriate tissues. By "correct" we mean corresponding to the physiological response. The question of what quantity of AChR one should expect to find is an important and difficult one. Waser (10) used autoradiography of dried dia­ phragm (1 mm thick) of mice after exposure to curare and found it to ac­ cumulate in the end-plates. Its concentration was estimated to be 4 X 106 molecules/end plate. This number was employed by several workers to esti­ mate the concentration of AChR in d ifferent tissues. For example, Trams ( 11) estimated that 1.1 nmole/ g of A ChR should be found in eel electro­ plax. We combined the Waser data with Nachmansohn's estimate of 50,000 synapses per el ec troplax and calculated a concentration of 0.01 nmole/g for
Tolerance of Intravenously Administered Lipid in Newborns

ABSTRACT. The tolerance for intravenously administered Intralipid in 262 premature and sick newborns was studied. The serum concentrations of triglycerides and of free fatty acids were determined during total parenteral nutrition including Intralipid in a maximum daily dose of 2 g/kg. A serum concentration of 1.5 mmol/l or higher was found in 270 out of 985 triglyceride determinations (27.4%). In the 262 infants serum triglyceride concentrations were found elevated once or more in 117 cases (44.7 %). Serum free fatty acids concentrations were normal. A highly significant inverse correlation (p<0.001) between birth weight and triglyceride level was found. Elevated serum triglyceride concentrations were observed especially in preterm small‐for‐gestational‐age infants.