Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PROGNOSIS OF AORTIC STENOSIS; SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDICATIONS FOR OPERATIVE TREATMENT.

Introduction The growth of heart surgery has imposed on surgeons the responsibility of defining the indications for operation in the various disease entities that are being considered for surgical relief. Since the operations for acquired heart disease are as yet seldom without risk or known to be permanently curative, indications for operation in individual cases must be set against the background of the natural history of the particular disease. Review of the Literature In aortic stenosis, much study has been concentrated on the clinical course of the disease under nonsurgical treatment. In reviewing articles dealing with the subject, it is important to divide the cases reported into two groups: (1) those with pure aortic stenosis in which all complicating cardiac lesions except an insignificant degree of aortic insufficiency are excluded, and (2) aortic stenosis complicated with significant degrees of aortic insufficiency or with other heart lesions. Table 1 summarizes the
Generation of Tunable Millimeter-Wave and THz Signals With an Optically Injected Quantum Dot Distributed Feedback Laser

Generation of tunable millimeter-wave (MMW) and terahertz (THz) signals is experimentally demonstrated with an optically injected 1310-nm quantum dot distributed feedback (QD DFB) laser. A novel technique for MMW and THz signal generation is proposed, which is based on the dual-mode laser operation and the four-wave mixing induced in the QD DFB under single-beam optical injection into one of its residual Fabry-Perot modes. Coarse and fine tunability of the MMW and THz signals from 117 to 954 GHz is also demonstrated by injecting the external light into different residual modes of the QD laser and by controlling the injection strength and the initial frequency detuning.
How to Deal with Sports Activity Datasets for Data Mining and Analysis: Some Tips and Future Challenges

The aim of this paper is to briefly present the fundamentals of sports training to computational intelligence community and present a short description on recently released sport activity datasets for data mining and data analysis. Training plan for professional mountainbiker is presented in details. Moreover, tools for parsing sport activities files are discussed. Finally, tips and open challenges are exposed that refer to the data analysis and data mining of the proposed sports activity datasets.
Arg206 of SNAP-25 is essential for neuroexocytosis at the Drosophila melanogaster neuromuscular junction

An analysis of SNAP-25 isoform sequences indicates that there is a highly conserved arginine residue (198 in vertebrates, 206 in the genus Drosophila) within the C-terminal region, which is cleaved by botulinum neurotoxin A, with consequent blockade of neuroexocytosis. The possibility that it may play an important role in the function of the neuroexocytosis machinery was tested at neuromuscular junctions of Drosophila melanogaster larvae expressing SNAP-25 in which Arg206 had been replaced by alanine. Electrophysiological recordings of spontaneous and evoked neurotransmitter release under different conditions as well as testing for the assembly of the SNARE complex indicate that this residue, which is at the P1′ position of the botulinum neurotoxin A cleavage site, plays an essential role in neuroexocytosis. Computer graphic modelling suggests that this arginine residue mediates protein–protein contacts within a rosette of SNARE complexes that assembles to mediate the fusion of synaptic vesicles with the presynaptic plasma membrane.
The Business Case for Magnet®

The author describes the role of the chief nurse executive in delivering a business case for the Journey to Magnet Excellence™. Calculating a return on investment provides clear measurement of benefits of the credential and can be used to evaluate upfront resources that result in a longer-term gain. The range of cost savings that can possibly be achieved for a typical 500-bed hospital is presented. Although not every hospital will achieve the level of performance implied by the national assumptions, securing only a modicum of the potential level of cost improvement will ensure a multifold return on the investment required.
Accounting in Scandinavia : the northern lights

Part 1: Financial accounting The Consequences of CAPM Social Accounting in the Nordic Countries - from social accounting towards accounting in a social context International Diversity in Financial Analysts' Views on Accounting Part 2: Management Control Re-examining the cause-and-effect principle of the Balanced Scorecard Network accounting Managing the Person: Human Resource Costing and Accounting, Intellectual Capital and Health Statements Nordic Contributions to the Management Accounting Change Literature "Strategic" Non-Financial Measurement in an Organizational Context: A Critique Target Costing and Coordination - Framing Cost Information Sharing in New Product Development Crush the Crisis with Actions, Accounts and Accounting Part 3: Management Accounting Danish management accounting frameworks - A SWOT analysis and an Activity Based Costing comparison Part 4: Public sector accounting Northern lights on public sector accounting research - dominate traits in 1980 - 2003 Performance auditing and the production of discomfort From welfare state to market places Part 5: Method Approaches to case research in management accountings: The nature of empirical intervention and theory linkage
AIS Electronic

In today’s highly dynamic and competitive business environment, groupware technology can be one of the best solutions for today’s organizations. The key feature of groupware is to help various business processes operate more efficiently with fewer resources. The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of the important factors influencing the successful utilization of groupware. To achieve this objective, a model is developed to test the relationships between a variety of variables and groupware usage. By employing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study proposes that four variables are antecedents of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and have indirect effects on groupware usage through perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Survey research methodology is employed. The research hypotheses will be tested using LISREL. The research is ongoing and this paper presents the conceptual framework of the research, the theoretical foundation, and the research hypotheses.
Nitric oxide and beta-adrenergic agonist-induced bronchial arterial vasodilation.

In anesthetized sheep, we measured bronchial blood flow (Qbr) by an ultrasonic flow probe to investigate the interaction between inhaled nitric oxide (NO; 100 parts/million) given for 5 min and 5 ml of aerosolized isoetharine (1.49 x 10(-2) M concentration). NO and isoetharine increased Qbr from 26.5 +/- 6.5 to 39.1 (SE) +/- 10.6 and 39.7 +/- 10.7 ml/min, respectively (n = 5). Administration of NO immediately after isoetharine further increased Qbr to 57.3 +/- 15.1 ml/min. NO synthase inhibitor N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME; 30 mg/kg, in 20 ml saline given i.v.) decreased Qbr to 14.6 +/- 2.6 ml/min. NO given three times alternately with isoetharine progressively increased Qbr from 14.6 +/- 2.6 to 74.3 +/- 17.0 ml/min, suggesting that NO and isoetharine potentiate vasodilator effects of each other. In three other sheep, after L-NAME three sequential doses of isoetharine increased Qbr from 10.2 +/- 3.4 to 11.5 +/- 5.7, 11.7 +/- 4.7, and 13.3 +/- 5.7 ml/min, respectively, indicating that effects of isoetharine are predominantly mediated through synthesis of NO. When this was followed by three sequential administrations of NO, Qbr increased by 146, 172, and 185%, respectively. Thus in the bronchial circulation, there seems to be a close interaction between adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate- and guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-mediated vasodilation.
Temperature induces trade‐offs between development and starvation resistance in Aedes aegypti (L.) larvae

Heightened temperature increases the development rate of mosquitoes. However, in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae), the larvae of which commonly experience limited access to food in urban habitats, temperature effects on adult production may also be influenced by changes in the capacity of larvae to survive without food. We carried out experiments to investigate the effects of temperatures increasing at intervals of 2 °C from 20 °C to 30 °C on the growth, maturation rate and longevity of optimally fed larvae placed in starvation. Overall, both growth rate and starvation resistance were lower in the first three larval instars (L1–L3) compared with L4, in which growth of >75% occurred. Although increasing the temperature reduced the duration of each instar, it had a U‐shaped impact in terms of the effect of initial growth on starvation resistance, which increased from L1 to L2 at 20 °C and 30 °C, remained constant at 22 °C and 28 °C, and decreased at 24 °C and 26 °C. Growth from L2 to L3 significantly increased starvation resistance only from 26 °C to 30 °C. Increased temperature (>22 °C) consistently reduced starvation resistance in L1. In L2–L4, increments of 2 °C decreased starvation resistance between 20 °C and 24 °C, but had weaker and instar‐specific effects at >24 °C. These data show that starvation resistance in Ae. aegypti depends on both instar and temperature, indicating a trade‐off between increased development rate and reduced starvation survival of early‐instar larvae, particularly in the lower and middle temperatures of the dengue‐endemic range of 20–30 °C. We suggest that anabolic and catabolic processes in larvae have distinct temperature dependencies, which may ultimately cause temperature to modify the density regulation of Ae. aegypti populations.
The fitness costs of developmental canalization and plasticity

Organisms are capable of an astonishing repertoire of phenotypic responses to the environment, and these often define important adaptive solutions to heterogeneous and unpredictable conditions. The terms ‘phenotypic plasticity’ and ‘canalization’ indicate whether environmental variation has a large or small effect on the phenotype. The evolution of canalization and plasticity is influenced by optimizing selection‐targeting traits within environments, but inherent fitness costs of plasticity may also be important. We present a meta‐analysis of 27 studies (of 16 species of plant and 7 animals) that have measured selection on the degree of plasticity independent of the characters expressed within environments. Costs of plasticity and canalization were equally frequent and usually mild; large costs were observed only in studies with low sample size. We tested the importance of several covariates, but only the degree of environmental stress was marginally positively related to the cost of plasticity. These findings suggest that costs of plasticity are often weak, and may influence phenotypic evolution only under stressful conditions.
Life cycle cost analysis of a standalone PV system

The purpose of this paper is to assess the viability of standalone photovoltaic (SAPV) systems for the supply of electricity in remote areas of Sarawak. In order to achieve the objectives, the life cycle cost (LCC) of a SAPV system was computed by means of net present value (NPV) technique. All anticipated costs were discounted to their present values by considering the time value of money. It was found that the capital cost makes up around 58% and future costs shares 42% of all expenses. PV modules contribute 9% and battery bank shares 52% with almost 8 days of autonomy at LLP of 0.01. Controller adds 5%, inverter 8%, civil work 17% and O&M 9% of total life time system cost. The estimated net energy cost from SAPV system was found to be US$2.5/kWh, which is 20 times higher than average electricity tariff in Malaysia. It is concluded that the SAPV systems could only be preferred where the extension of power transmission lines is expensive for the supply of electricity in isolated areas.
The Connecting School and the Intranet Librarian

A growing number of Scottish education authorities are providing intranet technology to schools. This article is based on grounded research investigating the role of the school librarian within an intranet environment. The evidence suggests that despite a lack of expectation by school library services and authority intranet officers, school librarians are taking on roles of intranet building, management, and content creation. It appears that far from distancing librarians from traditional areas of interest, their involvement in the intranet has promoted their relationship with whole-school resourcing and literacy support. Despite evidence that recent graduates are more likely to take on roles with the intranet, it is shown that a key factor is the attitude of the librarian and linking of the intranet to resource provision.
Diagnosing Glaucoma Progression

Identification of glaucoma progression is a diagnostic challenge. Most clinicians rely on functional testing, including various methods of visual field evaluation, and structural testing—optic nerve or retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) appearance. It can be difficult to detect true change over time using these methods due to long-term fluctuation, evaluator subjectivity, and testing variability. Additionally, physiologic change and nonglaucomatous disease can cloud the picture over longterm follow-up. Without a current gold standard, it is up to the clinician’s judgment using the tools available to determine if a measured change is clinically significant. The 5 major instruments used to track glaucoma progression are stereoscopic optic-nerve-head (ONH) photography, Humphrey visual field (HVF), Heidelberg retinal tomograph (HRT3), scanning laser polarimetry (GDx), and optical coherence tomography 3 (OCT3). Because effective treatment can slow disease progression and preserve vision, early identification of progression is important in glaucoma management. This has led to frequent follow-up testing over time, particularly as glaucoma worsens at different rates among various individuals. Once a true baseline has been established, confirmatory testing is required to verify the change. The key is to differentiate ‘‘noise,’’ or meaningless variation inherent in the testing process, from clinically meaningful changes. In other words, the change must exceed
Leg ulcers in peripheral arterial disease (arterial leg ulcers): impaired wound healing above the threshold of chronic critical limb ischemia.

BACKGROUND Peripheral arterial disease is the only identifiable etiology in approximately 10% of leg ulcers. Clinical data on the management of these chronic wounds are scarce. OBJECTIVE We attempted to outline the threshold of systolic ankle pressure and ankle-brachial-index (ABI) below which arterial leg ulcers can occur and to outline the indication for revascularization in arterial leg ulcers. METHODS Diagnostic and outcome analysis was performed for 26 consecutive patients with arterial leg ulcers. We calculated sensitivities, specificities, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the identification of arterial leg ulcers among all 223 consecutive leg ulcer patients within a 3-year period, as well as the ROC curve for patients who required revascularization. RESULTS The systolic ankle pressure was 88 (18-130) mm Hg (median; 95% confidence interval) and the ABI was 0.60 (0.15-0.86), respectively. Eighteen patients (69%) were subjected to revascularization. By the end of the study, 24 patients (92%) healed completely, 1 improved (90% wound closure), and 1 patient had to undergo below-knee amputation for chronic osteomyelitis. During this study, the ankle pressure and ABI were poor in distinguishing those patients who required revascularization from those who healed without revascularization. CONCLUSION Most arterial leg ulcers do not meet the criteria of chronic critical limb ischemia, but they do not heal under conservative measures, either. A majority of these patients benefit from revascularization and should, therefore, be referred for arterial duplex ultrasound investigation or angiography. In our study, an ankle pressure below 110 mm Hg identified all patients (100%) who were subjected to revascularization procedures. However, controlled clinical studies are required to find the systolic ankle pressure and ABI below which revascularization can be recommended to speed up the healing time.
Teacher professional learning communities: Going beyond contrived collegiality toward challenging debate and collegial learning and professional growth

Professional learning community (PLC) is a current 'buzz' term in business and educational contexts, seemingly referring to anything from decision making committees to regular meeting groups or collegial learning teams. This paper explores the concept of a PLC within three significantly innovative schools, based on an examination of the relevant literature and also focusing on surveys and interviews. Findings indicate that, while there is broad consistency across the literature and within the innovative school cases in terms of core PLC elements of shared vision and values, collegiality, joint practical activities and student learning data, teacher inquiry and leadership support and opportunities, there are some pivotal PLC characteristics which heighten the professional learning impact. In this paper, using vignettes from the case study schools, these pivotal characteristics are related to developmental phases of PLC establishment. This offers valuable insights about nurturing more learning-focused PLCs, with significant benefits for teacher professional growth and ultimately for student learning.
Bearly Guilty: Understanding Human–Andean Bear Conflict Regarding Crop Losses

Conflicts between wildlife and humans are increasing worldwide, especially in areas where they coexist and share resources. To investigate attitudes and opinions of the human population towards human-Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) conflicts in two indigenous Aymara communities, Chuñavi and Lambate, Bolivia, semi-structured interviews were directed to an adult member of families in the communities. Simultaneously, we registered, monitored, and evaluated 70 farm plots to record evidence of Andean bear and other wildlife damage to the maize crops and plants. We found that the locals thought the bear caused the most damage when, in actuality, the most harmful issues identified for maize crops were environmental factors, followed by parrots and birds. Knowledge of the interactions between wild animals and productive systems can contribute to an understanding of Andean bear-human coexistence.
Breaking down the barrier: evidence against a role for heparan sulfate in glomerular permselectivity.

The glomerular capillary wall is thought to function as both a size- and charge-selective barrier. The concept of charge selectivity emerged from a series of now classic studies that used tracers such as dextran, peroxidase, and ferritin to evaluate the influence of molecular charge on glomerular
Stargardt disease: linkage to the ABCR gene region on 1p21-p22 in Scandinavian families.

UNLABELLED Stargardt disease (STGD) or fundus flavimaculatus (FFM) is one of the most frequent causes of macular degeneration in childhood. The disease is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait and the corresponding gene has been localized to chromosome 1p21-22 and subsequently identified as the ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABCR) gene. PURPOSE To characterize Finnish and Swedish STGD families genetically, with special reference to chromosome region 1p21-22. METHODS We performed genetic linkage and haplotype analyses in five families of Finnish and Swedish origin with members affected by STGD or FFM. RESULTS Evidence for linkage between STGD and the ABCR gene region on chromosome 1p was found with a maximum cumulative two-point lod score for marker D1S188 (Z=4.04, theta=0.001). The affected individuals of all families, including the offspring of a consanguineous family, were found heterozygous for haplotypes spanning the ABCR gene. CONCLUSION The results support genetic homogeneity for a STGD/FFM gene defect on chromosome 1p21-22. A variety of haplotypes tightly linked to the ABCR gene region were found among affected individuals which indicate the presence of several independent STGD mutations in the Scandinavian population.
Low-affinity penicillin-binding protein associated with beta-lactam resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus has been associated with alterations in the penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). An intriguing property of all methicillin-resistant staphylococci is the dependence of resistance on the pH value of the growth medium. Growth of such bacteria at pH 5.2 completely suppressed the expression of methicillin resistance. We have examined the PBP patterns of methicillin-resistant staphylococci grown at pH 7.0. We detected a high-molecular-weight PBP (PBP-2a; approximate size, 78,000 daltons) that was only present in the resistant bacteria but not in the isogenic sensitive strain. In cultures grown at pH 5.2, the extra PBP was not detectable.
Comparison of testes structure, spermatogenesis, and spermatocytogenesis in young, aging, and hybrid cichlid fish (Cichlidae, Teleostei)

Testis structure, spermatogenesis, and spermatocytogenesis were compared in 13 species of cichlid fishes, belonging to the subfamilies Haplochrominae and Tilapinae. The species studied were either mouth brooders, in which fertilization occurs mostly inside the mouth of the brooding fish, or substrate brooders, whose eggs adhere to a substrate over which the sperm is ejaculated. In this study, the embryogenesis of testes anlagen and sperm production was followed in embryos and in fish up to 15 years old, as well as in hybrids of the two subfamilies. In cichlids, the testes are of the unrestricted type and primary spermatogonia develop along the entire length of the developing sperm tubule. The first primary spermatogonia are observed in the testes anlagen 2–5 days after fertilization and they continue to develop in cysts formed by the enveloping Sertoli cells and the intertubular elements. The dimensions of such primary and secondary spermatocysts are correlated with the number of spermatogonia they contain and the corresponding number of mitotic multiplications. The largest mature cysts attained 300 μm, and contained 2,200–2,400 spermatids in the mouth‐brooding species and 2,600–3,200 in the substrate‐brooding species. Despite the fact that in such cysts cytoplasmic bridges connect only the isogamete spermatids, the maturation of all cells and consequent spermiation is synchronized. Meristic characters distinguish the sperm of mouth brooders from those of substrate brooders, especially in the number of mitochondria and length of the flagellum. In older fish and hybrids, various changes can be seen in the gametogenic epithelium and intertubular cells. These include thickening of the connective tissue, formation of “yellow” groups of Leydig cells, cell apoptosis and degeneration, and, especially, formation of large spermatogonia, with large, electron‐dense nucleoli, that have the cytological characteristics of oocytes. The intra‐ and interspecific variability of sperm dimensions in the studied cichlids poses an interesting question in the context of sperm competition. J. Morphol. 256:285–300, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.